Exmouth Market Grind

Finding a lovely new spot for brunch that’s within walking distance of your front door is like finding a fiver in the back pocket of jeans you’ve just dragged out of the back of your wardrobe. It’s unexpected and it’s awesome. Exmouth Market Grind is that fiver for me though truth be told, it’s totally a tenner.

Sat where the lovely little Café Pistou used to be on the corner of the market, it’s got a 5* location and boasts a menu that mixes the traditional – full English or baked eggs anyone? – with the modern – wild boar eggs Benedict and breakfast burritos over here please – which means you’ll be able to please every sort of breakfast hunter in your party.

Inside it’s open, airy and modern, marrying marble beautifully together with blush pink menus and coral coloured booths. Staff are super lovely finding a table for four with the minimum of fuss on a busy Spring Saturday morning and noting requested menu changes with nary a raised eyebrow but a warm acknowledgement and cheery smile.

Yoghurt & granola bowls at a neighbouring table looked fresh & virtuous and there are several small plates on offer as well as breakfast dishes. If you order anything as a side – and really why you wouldn’t, it is the weekend after all! – you owe it to yourself to make it the chorizo stuffed dates with pancetta & labneh which will now forever be known to me as the Dwayne ‘Rock’ Johnson of the menu in that they are enormous and excellent. Casting shadows over the dish, they absolutely dwarfed the sourdough toast that came alongside, were perfect for mopping up the sweet, smoky, golden-oil streaked yoghurt and provoked the table next to us to lean over and ask hungrily what they were. FYI, it’s so satisfying when other people get food envy from your order.

A breakfast burrito was crispy and squidgy and stuffed with avocado, scrambled eggs & sausage while eggs Benedict with wild boar & chilli were splendid with incredible sunset coloured yolks spilling generously over the creamy hollandaise drenched muffins. Three house ground coffee blends were up for selection and met with approval by the caffeinated people in our group while the option to make it brunch of the bottomless bubbly sort for £12 make it a great shout for the next long boozy girls breakfast in your diary.

Exmouth Market isn’t exactly short of places to eat well in which means anyone moving in there had better bring their A game and fair play to Grind, they’ve done that in spades. Book yourself in there now then tell me you’re not jealous that I get to call it my local…I won’t believe you. 

Unexpectedly located at Islington, the latest branch of the Grind chain of coffee shops has arrived. I headed there for dinner with a mate during the soft launch, and it was interesting! The best dishes we had was their octopus, the chicken and their pate on bruschetta. These were tasty, and you wouldn't expect coffee experts to make such great food but there you have it! It feels like a slice of Soho in Islington, which is a little out of place, but when you've got another great cafe to add to the 'up and coming' district, it's always welcome. It can be a little hard to find the entrance since the door is so unassuming, but it's worth the find. Try their coffee cocktails if you have a chance as well, since they use their own beans :)