Tuesday 1 February 2011

S&M Cafe - London

(Now closed)

48 Brushfield Street
London
E1 6AG


Opening Hours
Monday - Friday 7.30am - 10.30pm
Saturday & Sunday 8.30am - 10.30pm


As you pass you may wonder what on earth goes on inside! Fear not, nothing sinister happens at Spitalfields S&M (sausage & mash) Cafe, just great british grub being served.


Plenty of tables, welcoming staff, a great atmosphere and great food await inside.


A bloody good mug of tea with the bag left in so you decide how strong you wanna go, posh sugar lumps too.


It may not look that amazing in the photo but it did taste incredibly nice!


Christmas was a month behind me and it was that long cold period that im not a huge fan of. The saving grace was another Klubfoot Reunion show at Islington Garage in London, bands playing this time were Mad Sin, Coffin Nails & Caravans. Despite 10pm early doors we decided to stay over the night in Liverpool Street as there was an after show happening at Phibbers on Holloway Road till late. We were fairly sensible leaving the after show at just 12.30pm as we wanted to look along Brick Lane the next morning before heading back to Norwich. This also gave us time to revisit S&M Cafe, a few years back when I last visited I hadn't been particularly impressed so it was time to see if things had changed...

Upon entering - There are lots of tables quite close together on the ground floor and some sofas upstairs. This place is always busy and very popular, people sit reading papers and working on their laptops. There is certainly a great atmosphere and it is a nice environment to be in. 9/10

Service - Grab your chosen table and the waitress will be over before you know it. The staff here are really friendly and efficient and look like they enjoy there jobs. My wonderful girlfriend who was with me wanted to change the black pudding on hers for extra mushrooms, not a problem. 9/10

Contents - 1 sausage, bacon, black pudding, fried egg, mushrooms, half a grilled tomato, beans and toast & butter. 8/10

Presentation - I need to mention that during this visit my iphone was being a nightmare, freezing and being slow so not many photos could be taken. Anyway, when the food arrived it looked good but the popped egg yolk stood out straight away and the sausage looked like its time in the frying pan had got cut short. 6/10

The food - Looks can be deceiving as despite my visual concerns about the egg yolk and sausage I can tell you that everything tasted out of this world! The sausage was a top quality meaty delight, the bacon was smokey and tasted great, good quality black pudding was served and cooked just perfect. Portabella mushrooms to die for resided by the fried egg that although truly delicious did suffer from that fatal popped yolk wound. The beans fitted in perfect ensuring many a moist moment alongside the grilled half tomato that actually tasted like a tomato, result! (my faith in tasty tomatoes is being restored!) I am a fried bread fan but the thick buttered toast served did work perfectly with this fry up, a real pleasure to eat! 9/10

Value for money - We paid £7.95 for the all day breakfast and £1.80 for a good mug of tea. We both thoroughly enjoyed everything and considering it was in the city of London and quality ingredients were used we felt it was a fair price. 7/10

Veggie option - Vegetarians will not be disappointed, see website link above and click on "our food and drink" and then "breakfast and brunch" to view the veggie options on the menu.

Overall - Well worth a visit as the food is delicious and quality ingredients are used. It really is a nice place to spend some time, even with a hangover. The popped egg yolk would be my only concern but the egg was still good so not the end of the world! 8/10

4 comments:

  1. S&M is a bit of a tradition of mine. Sets you up for a good day perusing the T-shirts on sale by local designers on a Friday. I love the pseudo 50's diner vibe, the squeezy tomato sauce bottles and the many beautiful and happy ladies that work there. It's very kitsch and very cool!

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  2. It's a sad day when you find out that one of the best fry up spots in the world has closed down....Where do I get my fix in east london now?

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  3. Oh no, sad to hear it has closed down, thanks for letting me know though. Have you tried Breakfast Club close by? There is a link on the blog.

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  4. A strange name for a food shop, but it looks like a great place nonetheless!

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