rebekah and i both woke up early on sunday (what extra hour, huh?), and were both feeling a little less-than-ave so decided the best way to kick our impending colds in the balls before we head to norway this weekend, would be to feeeeeed them, and take them for a walk. with a last minute decision to head east, the 'where though?' decision was very much left to rebekah to decide; i just needed to know where we were meeting.
i met her just after 11 at hoxton overground, and we wandered up to hoxton street market and across to ginger pig. i've read some great reviews about the cafe, but never been, so was excited to get in and get something to fill my pie hole. strangely, the only menus on the tables were the 'breakfast drinks' ones, which offered such options as 'bloody mary' and 'espresso martini', and although it was prrrrobably after midday somewhere in the world, we were keen on something a little less... alcoholic.
we each grabbed one of the freshly pressed juices - hers, something with ginger and carrot, mine - something with banana and strawberries (and bloody delicious), before making the crucial decision about what we were going to eat. it was still pre-midday, so we were on the breakfast menu (which is not correct online, but here's the brunchy one for variety). nevertheless, there were big choices to made - pancakes or corn fritters? smoked salmon or haddock roe (ew, no)?
well, i went for the corn fritters, poached eggs, smashed avocado, smoky bacon and grilled tomatoes. and the only thing i regret is not asking for the bacon to be cooked extra crispy, because... that damn meal was sensational, but the bacon was not the one. it was kind soft and squidgy, and it was difficult to know which bit was meat and which bit was fat, and at least when the fat is crispy, then i don't care. it made me feel a bit... special... inside.
the fritters though - incredible. who doesn't love a bit of sweet corn in their breakfast? the (incorrect) menu calls them sweetcorn and courgette, which is probably right, because i can't see them offering more than one kind of corn fritter, can you? there was lots of suspiciously green bits in the fritters, so it very could have been courgette. whatever it was, it was good. and, we all know that avocados just make everything better, right?
but maaaaan alive, those portions were insane. for a pre-lunch meal (let's not get carried away and call this breakfast when it's clearly not a bowl of cereal, okay), it was enormous. it took me two attempts to clean my plate, and even then, no. there was no chance. rebekah tried to help by eating one of the fritters, but... there was just so. much. food. a bit of a waste, but really reasonably priced, so i shant complain.
for the two giant plates of food, three juices and a coffee, we paid just over £15 + service each, which, is pretty good i reckon, right? so, if you ever find yourself stuck in hoxton, and fancy a big brunch or just a yummy juice, a warm cafe and some free wifi, i'd definitely suggest heading down to the ginger pig cafe. do it, and thank me later.
