Central Cafe, 1 Station Approach, Selborne road, London, E17 7LP

Walthamstow is generally a pretty good place for food in my experience as it
is a racially diverse area and you don't get one nation's food dominating.
There are very few places to eat right near the main railway station
however. I was therefore quite pleased when I was introduced to this cafe
after doing an assessment and over all I would say it turned out to be quite
a find.

This is really your typical London cafe. It sells all the breakfast stuff
including bacon, sausage, black pudding, eggs, Bubble and Squeak etc. It
also does roast dinners with lamb chicken beef pork etc. and there are also
a few pasta dishes and the odd pie to be had. I chose a breakfast type of
meal consisting of sausage, egg, black pudding, Bubble and mushrooms with a
black tea and a diet coke. Quality of sausages is one of the things I look
for in a cafe. If the sausages are good then it is likely that other things
have been well taken care of. Here the sausages were better than many I
have had in local cafes. they had some meatiness about them and they
weren't just sponge. this being said they were by no means premium butcher
sausages either. They were probably at the top end of average, and in fact
they were better than many cafe offerings. The black pudding was quite
tasty and it again had some texture and spiciness to it. The mushrooms were
fresh and the egg was fried with a hard yoke which is how I prefer a fried
egg.

It was the bubble and squeak that really did stand out in this cafe. It was
clearly home made. The mash was smooth and creamy and there was plenty of
cabbage and peas in it. This is probably the nicest bubble I have had
anywhere in London and the cafe is worth a visit for this alone with the
rest of the food providing steady though not exceptional backup.

The staff behind the counter were generally helpful and I would certainly
revisit this cafe again if in the area. It is open quite long hours to,
from 6 AM until 7 PM every day accept Sunday when it does not open at all.

I give this cafe 6.5 out of 10 and would say that over all it is at the top
end of average with sensational bubble and squeak.

A'la Pizza, 201 Mile End Road, Stepney Green, London E1 4AA

This is another in my occasional Kebab Roll review series. When I first
thought of checking out some of these rather dodgy chicken shops and putting
my thoughts on them down for future reference, I rather liked the idea of
completing this little project in Lent. After all, most people give things
up for lent so why not take something up instead?

Well I'm going to fail I think. the quality of the kebab meat in many of
these places is really quite dreadful and eating it gives me no pleasure.

A La Pizza is poor. the meat is not as spongy as that from the Halal Bite
but it has no taste and in fact it actually tasted less than fresh to me. I
had a piece of Tandori chicken with my meal which tasted tough and old.
This shop does 6 inch pizzas for £1.50 but they are thin and greasy. This
shop actually used to be one of the better chicken shops at one time and it
was the first to bring in grilled chicken. The owners have changed and I
can say that the kebab roll now costs about £2.50 but it and the rest of the
food was not only of low quality but it was not fresh either . It also took
over 10 minutes to prepare the kebab even though the shop was empty so sadly
I cannot give this establishment more than 3.5 out of 10. It seems to me
that even the locals have abandoned this place as well!! I would definitely
give it a miss.

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E Pellicci Cafe 332 Bethnal Green Road London E2 0AG

This is quite a well known cafe which has been run by Italians since the
1950s at least. I have seen quite a few reviews that talk about the classic
looks and the friendly atmosphere of the cafe but I wanted to find out a
little more about the food so I went there yesterday lunch time.

This cafe sells a few home made pasta dishes and other dishes often found in
cafes such as chicken escallop with spaghetti or in a sandwich. On the day
I visited there was also a home made steak pie available as well as roasts,
chops, all day breakfasts and the other kinds of food one may expect to find
in a greasy spoon cafe.

E Pellicci is not really a typical greasy spoon however as many of the
dishes are home made and some attention appears to be paid to quality rather
than just providing cheap frozen products fried in the cheapest possible
oil.

I was told that ham off the bone was available and that chips were home made
rather than frozen so I chose Ham, chips, a sausage on the side and peas.
this gave me a chance to check out the basics which is often a good idea on
a first time visit.

The chips were hot, clearly home made, quite crispy but somehow rather
uninspiring. They reminded me of chips we used to get at school which were
also home made but a little tasteless. fresh fried chips should be a bit
comforting and warming and yes they do need to taste a little fried even if
they are fried in vegetable oil. These were better than fries but they did
not excite me.

The ham was of good quality and actually it was very plentiful though it was
cut rather thin. peas were frozen I think and quite acceptable for a cafe.
The sausage was not the thickest I have ever had and it was not up to the
standard of top quality premium sausages from a good butcher or supermarket
but they were a lot better than some of the economy poor quality sausages
found in many cafes and they at least met expectations.

I had a white coffee and a can of lemonade to drink.

The coffee may have been filtered but it was a little bitter and low
quality. It was better however than some of the really horrible coffee
offered in many greasy spoon cafes.

Staff were generally helpful and they did a good job of walking between
visitors and regulars alike and checking they were ok and the range of
customers was really quite amazing. there was an old guy and his mother
that I would have expected to see eating somewhere posher. I got the
impression this couple was known but that they were occasional visitors.
There were also a number of local construction workers some students and
quite a few tourists.

Over all, E Pellicci seems to be a good quality cafe that has become quite
famous. I have not tried the home made food and if I am back in the area I
will certainly check it out. I would compare it to Nico's cafe in many
respects. Nico's is Greek for sure but they also make quite a lot of home
made dishes. In E Pellicci the raw ingredients may be better. the
sausages are for sure. The ham was great though it could have been thicker.
Chips were disappointing and coffee nothing to shout about.

Over all I would go back to E Pellicci if I was in the area but I would
not travel a long way specially to go there. I paid £8.60 for one sausage,
ham, chips, peas and a coffee plus a can of lemonade to drink. I thought
this was a little overpriced so despite the helpfulness of the staff I can
only give it 7 out of 10

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The Fly in the Loaf, 35 Hardman Street, Liverpool L1 9AS

The Fly in the Loaf is one of a few pubs in Central Liverpool that sell a
good range of real ales. This pub has a lot of hard surfaces inside and it
can perhaps sound a little loud but it has plenty of space and it can
accommodate plenty of people. There are generally at least 5 or 6 draft
ales on as well as a good range of bottled European lagers and the usual
British lagers on draft. Staff generally seem to know something about their
ales and the service is efficient and staff are very helpful.

While I have visited this pub quite often in the evenings for beer, I
visited it last Sunday for the first time to try the food. I had a
Minestrone soup for starters which had plenty of vegetables in it as well
as pieces of pasta. the soup was also pleasantly spicy and due to the
chunky nature of this soup it was almost a small meal in itself. It was
served with good quality crusty bread.

The main roast consisted of Roast beef, Yorkshire pud, roast potatoes,
mashed potatoes, mashed carrot and Swede, cauliflower and peas as well as
gravy.

This was a good big roast and on top of the soup it certainly filled me to
the brim!

The meat was good quality, tasty and thick. I would say it was a little
tough but taste made up for this. the roast potatoes were crispy and good
though to match the very best I would have liked them to be a little more
fluffy in the middle. \The mashed potatoes and mashed carrots and Swede
were both rich and smooth. the peas and cauliflower were not overcooked and
the Horseradish sauce was plentiful and reasonably hot.

I love stuffing whether you normally have it with beef or not and its a
shame this wasn't offered. the beef and roast potatoes were both good and
my slight criticism should not put you off the food. at £10.00 for a good
quality soup and a very acceptable plentiful roast this is a worthwhile
place to go for a good roast and I give it 7.5/10

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