Kensington Cafe

20.07.2009 Kensington Cafe, Kensington Gardens, North Laine, Brighton.

Situated smack bang in the Laines and enjoying it’s own special outside balcony space to boot, this gem of a cafe is a prime spot for people watching and is always bustling.

We thought it’d be a good idea to test drive Kensington’s fry ups during a weekday so, making good use of a quiet monday morning off work, we make our way to the Laines where, behind a tiny doorway up a brightly coloured flight of stairs, we ascend into the cafe proper.

Inside is cosy with brightly coloured walls contrasting nicely with the bare wood floors giving the cafe a  homely, bohemian feel. There’s a nice balcony outside where you can eat and watch all the frenetic shopping going on in the Laines below, but we were happy making use of the muted lighting and comfy big wooden booths indoors.

Music was an eclectic mix of the mellow, Sinatra / REM , to the not so mellow but nookytastic Placebo and QOTSA. Staff are very welcoming and friendly and there is a nice laid back feel to the place.

Well what about the grub? Having worked up an appetite from walking up the stairs we decide to order the Big breakfasts – I order the big Veggie and Dan the Big Meaty. Both are £5.15 with toast and tea or coffee included – making them excellent value. There are smaller breakfasts on offer at £3.95 and a vegan option, as well as the usual assortment of salads, jacket potatoes, chip n dips and burgers.

Breakfast is soon served so we tuck in. I opted for scrambled eggs this time and they were deliciously light, fluffy and eggy tasting. The veggie bacon was also a welcome addition. Coffee was filtered hot and strong and served in a big mug. D particularly liked the sausages and said his fried eggs were cooked perfect with just the right amount of gooeyness. The only quibble is that we both thought the food could have been served a little hotter.

All in all a really good value fry up in the heart of Brighton’s best shopping district and a fun place to eat, relax and watch the world go by.

of insane cults and unheard of idols

More pics from Ditchling Road / Oxford Place.

Lanes Patisserie and Cafe

06.06.2009 Lanes Patisserie and Cafe, Ship street, Brighton.

(Apologies for the lateness of this post, but I have only just got my photo’s back from a hard drive that keeled over and died like an old dog in the desert last month.)

Every time I walk past this place I’m reminded of the sweety house in Hanzel and Gretel and this pink palace near Ship Street certainly looks good enough to eat.  So what about the inside? Downstairs there’s a range of delicious looking cakes and treats to tempt passers by and a takeaway service providing all the usual lunch time essentials – the sandwiches are very good value and the cheese coleslaw baguette is a regular favourite of mine.

The eating area upstairs is fairly small and decorated in a bright minimilist style with a dark tiled floor blending nicely with the cream and light olive green walls and the bay fronted window providing lots of light. Big mirrors and stained glass windows  provide added points of interest. Not so great were the wooden flowers on our table which loked a bit sad to me but sad looking flowers were certainly not going to dampen our appetite.

As usual, I ordered the Veggie breakfast and Dan had the Full English. Other lunch specials on offer were the Steak pastie and Pepper sauce for £2.95 and Ravioli at £3.95. The  Veggie breakfast cost  £4.15 and  the Full English £5.15. Drinks were extra.

There was no background music so breakfast was a little muted but  though it was busy, this being a Saturday, there was a pleasant relaxed feel to the place and service was friendly and brisk.

LPC Meaty Breakfast

Both breakfasts were very good with a home cooked flavour to them. The bacon was cooked nice and crispy round the edges and it was nice having two slices of toast with each breakfast. I would have preferred less beans with the veggie and maybe some mushrooms or hash browns to add variety but I did get three sausages which were very tasty. Coffee was served piping hot and strong and tasted delicious. The toilets, which are situated on the floor above at the top of what must be the narrowest stairs in Brighton, are clean and bright and get extra nooky bonus points for having the most delightful smelling anti bacterial handwash in the world.

LPC Veggie Breakfast

The Building Wraps Around Me

Somewhere round by the Prince Regent swimming pool.

Phoenix Art Junky Indoor Market

Sunday June 28th – Still trying to fill the Sunday morning browsing gap left by the relocation of our beloved boot fair it was fun checking out the one day flea market down at Phoenix Brighton. This summer bazaar brought together a variety of affordable art and jewellery made by local artists as well an eclectic mix of stalls selling books, badges, buttons an’ bows and all things arty and junkalicious in between. With loads of interesting stalls to look through, some yummy home made refreshments on offer and all indoors so sheltered from the British summer, this ticked all the right boxes in the rummaging stakes.

Best buy was this beautiful bracelet made by Lux & Love. Check out her web page for more precious jewels, voodoo gems, vintage and reclaimed jewellery.

And speaking of all things gorgeously Mexican, Voodoo and Gothic, check out Brighton artist Mahni Dare’s awesome props, puppetry and much more at Mahni-Monsta.com.

Glassed

A new story has been added to our sister blog Shadows Time for the month of July. Called Glassed, this started out as an attempt at writing Flash Fiction but at 1,300+ words is still a little long winded.

I’ve also added some links to other stuff that’s been good to read lately. So enjoy!

First aid for bees

Bumble bees are amazing creatures and with their gentle buzzing and bumbling flight they epitomise all that’s great about long lazy summers. Best of all they make honey! They are also incredibly important to our ecosystem and unfortunately are in dramatic decline. So every bee counts.

During the summer it’s not unusual to come across a grounded bee that’s been caught out by a cold spell or sudden down pour (like the one I found in our road, below, following last tuesday’s torrential rain) – sometimes they are so busy working they forget to drink and just end up exhausting themselves. If you come across such a bee in distress don’t walk away! Use a piece a card to pick her up and move her somewhere safe where she won’t get stepped on.

move the bee somewhere safe so she won't get stepped on

Bees need energy and warmth to fly so find somewhere sunny where he / she will be able to warm up and if possible leave some food nearby for her to feed on. Honey / water solution is best but sugar will do in a pinch. If the weather’s really bad or if it’s getting dark it may be possible to keep her overnight provided you feed her.

some honey and warmth will get them back to normal in no time!

Remember – by saving a Queen you may well be saving the whole nest! And without bees there would be nothing to pollinate our crops and other plants and the human race would die off in 7 years.

Find out more about these amazing, gentle creatures and how to encourage them into your garden here.

The Green Tomato

03.07.2009 The Green Tomato, 100 Western Road, Brighton.

The Green Tomato describes itself as a Deli cafe, with a range of fresh made sandwiches, baguettes and wraps to eat in or take away, as well as some delicious sounding and reasonably priced salads and specials- and the Hot Chicken Salad with chicken, mixed leaves, tomato, cucumber, olives and french dressing for £3.95 looked particularly scrumptous. They also serve a range of All Day Breakfasts which of course is why we are here. I ordered the Veg (2 sausages, 2 eggs, 2 hash browns, tomato, mushrooms, beans and toast) and D the Big One ( 2 eggs, 2 bacon, sausage, beans, 2 hash browns a choice of tomato or mushrooms and toast) both cost £4.95 and drinks are extra.

While waiting for the food we have a chance to check out the interior. The Green Tomato has a fresh contemporary feel with comfy black leatherette seating contrasting nicely with the pastel mauve and mint green walls. Reading material on offer includes a selection of red top tabloids and freebie local magazines and newsletters. Madonna’s greatest hits are playing in the background (Vogue,  Justify my Love etc) which is always a good thing in my book. Service is friendly and  efficient. Drinks arrive quick and the coffee is delicious and hot – served in a big round mug with extra nooky bonus points awarded for using fairtrade sugar.

Breakfast is good too – it’s served piping hot on warmed plates and tastes as good as it looks. Eggs are served sunny side up and the veggie sausages, while not at all sausage like, were particularly nice. D appreciated the hash browns, an unusual addition in most meaty breakfasts, and overall said this was one of his best. Toast was of the thick white doorsteppy variety. As you can see from the photos, portions were good and generous, making this an all round breakfast experience we definitely will be coming back to repeat.

Ditchling Road / Oxford Place

Some great stuff being done round the old Buxtons building at the moment. It’s too good for my ailing camera and the failing summer light to do justice to so go check it out for yourselves  – and all done by  the same bloke no less – imagine having a whole street to yourself to paint. Amazing.

100 Reasons to Love the Seaside

Number One: The Sea!

Are we really only halfway through the week? The weekend seems so far away…. Last Saturday marked my first swim in the ocean this year (though I’m using the term loosely here- spluttering around trying not to swallow too much sea water more like) and it was wonderful, here’s hoping for a long hot summer (and I wonder how many of us are seriously considering throwing a sickie tomorrow…..)