Thursday 23 February 2012

Nero - Nearly

So last weekend, actually no, the weekend before I was up early with Baby Spiller on a Sunday morning. I did the good daddy thing and took him out for a walk to let Mrs Spiller catch up on some sleep. I decided to sit down for a coffee (alright two) while I was out and given I was out so early Nero was one of the only options available.

That said it was a good time to give Nero a go because it was quiet, I was able to get a seat easily.

Here's the low down:

The order was
  • small cappuccino
  • single espresso
  • pain au raisin
Initially I didn't get my espresso but that's understandable, most people don't expect someone to be buying a shot of espresso for their 3 month old son! With that corrected I took my two coffees and pastry and sat down, grabbing the mornings sports section for a read.

The espresso was fine, good in fact.

Cappuccino  - what I like about Nero is they do a proper small sized coffee, it only comes with 1 shot but that's fine although on this occasion the coffee hardly came through at all. Not a very strong flavour.

On this occasion the milk was done quite well for a chain store, creamy with small bubbles - not soap suds. So good work there.

The biggest disappointment was the pain au raisin. I should have known better than getting food from one of these places. Goodness knows where the pastry was made but it was disappointing. Serves me right I suppose for buying food in a chain coffee shop.

Of the big chains, Nero is probably my favourite, partly because you can get a proper sized coffee and also it is usually a good flavour, however not on this occasion. And thinking about it I occasionally get a coffee from Nero in Surbiton on the way to work, the last couple have been poor, I wonder if they've changed their coffee supplier or have had a bad batch.

Apart from the food and coffee the atmosphere of Nero is decent, as you would expect. It was nice being somewhere spacious and quiet. One downside was that they had their aircon turned up high which blew the paper around as I read it. But that's a small issue really.

Right, the scores:
Coffee
Hot: 9/13
Aroma: 7/13
Flavour: 7/13  (espresso good, cap average)
Texture: 10/13
Presentation: 8/13

General
Service: 6/13
Food: 5/13
Atmosphere: 6/13

Overall 7/13.

Nero is still my pick of the chains but in Balham there isn't much excuse for going there unless it's really early and no where else is open.

Caffe Nero on Urbanspoon

Saturday 18 February 2012

Dee-light-ful

I'm sorry I'm sure I'm not the first and won't be the last to use Dee-Light-Ful in a review of this great new addition to Balham. Dee Light bakery has made quite an impact in very short time. I think most people that have been there agree that it is a great addition to Ritherdon Road. After such a great start I can see Dee Light Bakery becoming one of the big stars of the Balham food and coffee scene.

I've been to Dee Light on a few occassions now but was anticipating leaving my review of this one till the end of my odessy, however after a bad lunch at Horti-culture we felt we needed a nice coffee and cake to lift our spirits. We intended to go to Trinity Stores, another favourite, but they were full. So we headed down to Dee Light. By this stage it was getting a little late in the day but we were still able to get our coffee and cake.

The order:
1 single espresso
1 flat white
1 lamington
1 coconut cake


The lamington, before we knew how great it was going to be


Unfortunately the flat white was a bit too hot and a bit weak. I'm not sure if the heat spoiled the coffee flavour or not, whatever it was it wasn't quite the intense espresso flavour coming through that you expect of a flat white. The milk, apart from possibly being too hot was well streched so had a thick creamy texture.

The espresso was good, great full, intense flavour which stayed in the mouth.

The lamington was definitely the highlight, and a big highlight too. Thick icing which was solid, soft sponge with cream and jam inside, it was perfection.

The coconut cake was also very very good. The cake was quite heavy but in a good way, it was balanced perfectly with a thick smothering of icing, yum.

I was pleased to see they've finally got a till after using a bowl for their takings for a while. Not sure they've got their card machine installed yet, I think they'll need one as I imagine some people will go expecting to buy a load of delicious fresh bread and end up ordering more than the change in their pocket can afford.

So really just the one gripe, they're still yet to get their flat white consistently right but I think they can get there.

Scores:
Coffee
Hot: 10/13 (although maybe the flat white was too hot)
Aroma: 8/13
Flavour: 7/13  (espresso good, flat white average)
Texture: 12/13 (proper flat white milk)
Presentation: 9/13 (looked great)

General
Service: 9/13
Food: 11/13
Atmosphere: 11/13

Overall 10/13.

So they might struggle to have the best coffee in Balham based on that visit but I think they will be contenders, if there is a final I suspect they will be there.

Another draw for some people will be the gluten free options, I can't speak for them but I do they have some. On the other hand I don't think they had Chai Latte on the menu, I think this place should do a Chai Latte, but that's just my (and Mrs Spiller's) opinion.

If you haven't been to Dee-Light, go. It's great, it's got a good vibe, very open and friendly. Chances are you will get a good coffee and make sure you have an empty stomach when you go because the food is yum.

As this is a popular new place there's been a couple of other reviews about which are worth a read...
swishjunction
glutenfreecakelover

I can't find any listings on the main restaurant/cafe revew sites but have tried adding it to Urban Spoon so hopefully more people can find this hidden gem.

Tuesday 14 February 2012

Horti-culture: a bit agricultural

I had not visited Horti-culture, on Bedford Hill, before Saturday, and to be honest after Saturday I have no intention of ever going back.

Wasn't last Saturday a perfect winter day. Snow remained from the day before, any patches that had thawed were covered with fresh frost. The skies were clear and there wasn't much wind to speak of so it was relatively comfortable to be outside enjoying the fresh air. I was looking forward to going for a walk with Mrs Spiller and heading out for coffee and lunch.

We decided to give horticulture a try. I was conscious that many of my reviews to date have been of places where I have some amount of history. I wanted to try somewhere new, Horticulture fitted the bill.

They offer a breakfast menu with all the usuals and a lunch menu which has tapas and main size plates. We decided to get a few tapas; patatas bravas, cheese, bread, chorizo pate on toast and fennel sausage - they all had SSpanish names.

I ordered a cappuccino, Mrs Spiller had a decaf mocha.

So lets start with the coffee, it was probably the highlight, cappuccino had good milk, thick, not soap suds on top. The taste was good too. Nothing exceptional but a well done cappuccino.The decaf mocha was also quite good.

The food was average.
  • The chorizo pate on toast was bad. Basically mushed up chorizo on stale toasted bread, not a good taste at all.
  • Breads weren't the nicest
  • Cheese was a hotch potch of what they had lying around, including a hunk of Parmesan which wasn't really practical on a cheese plate with no implement sharp enough to slice through it.
  • Patatas bravas weren't bad, although I think the fact that the chef had to pop next door to buy potatoes suggests they weren't expecting anyone to order them all weekend.
  • The sausage was the highlight of the food.
Probably the worst bit though was the atmosphere of the place. It's one of those places where once you sit down you start wondering whether it is bad form to get up and leave. Certainly not a place you feel special in - hard to put a finger exactly on what was wrong. It's sort of like when you're in another country, you don't know how to tell a good restaurant from a bad one and when you get in there you're not sure if you're being given worse service/food because you're foreign - you assume if they were this bad all the time they wouldn't still be in operation.

So there you go, not a glowing experience, and no I would not recommend trying this place - sorry. I wish I could say otherwise because I am all for supporting independent businesses, but they have to offer something of value, and this place doesn't.

Scores:
Coffee
Hot: 9/13
Aroma: 7/13
Flavour: 7/13
Texture: 10/13
Presentation: 8/13

General
Service: 6/13
Food: 5/13
Atmosphere: 4/13

Overall 6/13.

Please note my opinion is based on just one visit, having had a look online there do appear to be some positive reviews, have a look at them here:
Top Table
Qype

Sunday 5 February 2012

The Fat Delicatessen - Something a bit different

Make no mistake, this place is really good. I've always struggled though because I had pigeon holed this place as a cafe, and it just isn't. It is probably a deli/restaurant rather than a deli/cafe. Now that I've got that in to my head I think I'm set to enjoy this place more often.

After the snow last night I was looking forward to heading out for a hot drink in Balham to soak up a winter vibe that hasn't really been around so far this winter. The Fat Delicatessen was quite a good place to do this, it's quite spacious but with a homely, deli feel, and plenty of space to unload coats before settling in. We were sat at the long benches towards the front (not in the photo below). It might be a little less roomy at the tables at the back but there you go.

Interior photo from The Fat Delicatessen website

The order:
Cappuccino
Single shot espresso
Hot chocolate
Tap water

Jam on toast
Green bean, feta, olive and sun blush tomato salad
Baked aubergine with mozzarella and rocket
Pot roasted chicken with chorizo, broad beans and peas


Love their menu

Espresso was very good. Hot, well balanced flavour which fills the mouth and stays with you. Very happy with that.

Cappuccino on the other hand was a bit watery, I don't think the espresso shot was able to handle the milk, not that there was too much milk but maybe the shot wasn't intense enough. Also the cap was a bit sudsy, although not the worst I've seen. It wasn't an offensive cappuccino, it just didn't stand up very well in a place that you would think would do a really robust coffee. Actually thinking about it, I have had good cappuccinos from here before so maybe this was just not their best work.

The hot chocolate was very very good. Large, great flavour right throughout and not to sickly at the end. I've had hot chocolates here before on the recommendation of a friend and would usually have one when I'm here because they're always good.

The food was also very good, my chicken was probably a bit dry, which I wouldn't have expected from a pot roast and the baked aubergine could have been hotter but all the food was very tasty and thoroughly enjoyed.

The drinks, hot choc at the back was probably the highlight

Bean, feta etc. salad



Pot roast chicken, a bit dry but yum and I like the dish it was served in, complete with lid.

The service was generally good, the chap who initially served us seemed new and didn't strike me as a natural but he was friendly as were all the other staff (who were also highly competent).

Reading the above sounds a bit negative but this was a very enjoyable outing and I'm really pleased we have The Fat Delicatessen in Balham. I like the vibe, it has a real authenticity about it which I love. It's also very chilled and it's a bit different to anything else so it's good for a change.

Scores:
Coffee (these are based on both cap and espresso so the average cap probably lowers the scores here, I'm not going to take into account the fact that I have previously had very good cappuccinos from here because that wouldn't be fair on the places that I don't have a history with.
Hot: 8/13
Aroma: 7/13
Flavour: 7/13
Texture: 8/13
Presentation: 7/13

General
Service: 8/13
Food: 9/13
Atmosphere: 9/13

Overall 8/13.
 
I'll be back here for sure, but maybe more as a restaurant/deli occasion, next time maybe a glass of red wine would accompany my food a bit better!

Their website
http://www.fatdelicatessen.co.uk/

Other reviews:
swishjunction
twelvepointfivepercent
urban-vegetarian
trusted-gourmet
aforkfulofspaghetti


Fat Delicatessen on Urbanspoon


Wednesday 1 February 2012

Notes Music Coffee

I've thought long and hard about reviewing this place, it's not in Balham so outside of my 2012 challenge to try every coffee shop in Balham.

However I was meeting a friend, he had suggested Notes and given he is one of the more precious coffee drinkers I know I figured this place would probably be good.

As some context this was a late Friday afternoon coffee before a stag party, I'd had a full on week at a conference and was pretty shattered, I needed a caffeine hit. I ordered a flat white, single espresso and glass of tap water.

Having burst in and ordered drinks it wasn't till I sat down that I appreciated the atmosphere of this place. What a great combination of music, wine, coffee shop. They've done a great job of it, it all works together. I'd say at its heart it is a brilliant coffee shop with the rest built around but it all works so well. It's probably in a location that can pull it off too, although given my forays into the city are few and far between I don't really know.

So the coffee was sensational, particularly the espresso. The flat white was very good but the espresso had it all, strong aroma, sharp distinctive flavour that fills the mouth and stays with you. These guys know what they're doing and I don't think they make a big song and dance about it.

We were at the Trafalgar Sq branch, there's another at Covent Garden although I'm allergic to Covent Garden so probably won't go there. I'm looking forward to going back to the Trafalgar Sq branch to sample some food and music too.

As it's not part of my coffee challenge I'm not giving scores but this place is very good and I'll be back for sure.