An annoyingly abrupt, unforeseen interruption of mildly Arctic wind made my wait for Mimi at West Ham tube station feel like an eternity. I hadn't prepared for any kind of cold breeze outfit wise - seemingly, neither had the girl whose dress flew up in the wind to reveal her underwear-less derrière - so I really couldn't wait to get on the tube.
Borough Market was our destination, and it would be my 2nd visit thus far. I went not all that long ago with my mum back in the beginning of Feb and had this:
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| Prawn Pad Thai from Khanomkrok |
It was, just, I mean, it was - hang on, let me find a word suitable enough, bare with...
CELESTIAL.
So, as a result of my previous experience, my high hopes were - well - high.
It was busy - it was lunchtime, and we were people-weaving like ne'er before. Punched in the face by the tantalising aromas of vegetarian indian cuisine, paella, pulled pork, and ethiopian curries, we made our way through the crowd - knowing that making the decision on what to have was going to be tougher than an overcooked leg of lamb. Its safe to say our stroll through the stalls selling baked goods was nothing short of sexual. We were simply reduced to groans and noises, no fully formed sentences left our mouths - infact, if we recorded our dialogue during this time, it would probably be marketed as soft porn.
I will quickly brush over the fact that what I had wasn't actually that great. I went for a pulled pork baguette type thing, with a cheese sauce and salad etc. It was 'aight.' It filled a hole and that was it. I wasn't angrily disappointed, but definitely a little disheartened. So, I'll move back onto the more triumphant findings.
As aforementioned in previous posts, Mimi shares a love of baked goods, and so our plan was to peruse all the stalls, pick out 2-3, and then head to Monmouth Coffee (I'll tell you about that later.) A stall had caught my eye on one of our many strolls around the market, a stalled called 'The Free From Bakehouse' - considering my interest in baking, and healthier baking, I was interested to find out what one of their products would taste like. It was a tough choice between a Peanut Butter and White Chocolate blondie (would probably try that if/when there is a next time) or the Raspberry and White Chocolate Brownie - made with 64% peruvian cocoa solids.
100% gluten and wheat free, it was one of the fudgiest I've ever had. Super rich and indulgent with every bite, this brownie was smooth and decadent - and exceedingly photogenic by the looks of it.
My last 2 purchases were from the same stall, 'The Cinnamon Tree Bakery' fronted by a charasmatic silver fox with an accent. I'm not going to lie, his rather mysterious charm teamed with his generosity in letting us taste anything we seemed interested in was half the reason we went back.
We both picked up an almond macaroon the first time round, agreeing that it was a good choice considering we had both decided we wanted to try something we wouldn't normally go for;
Wonderfully chewy, this macaroon was a good choice.
BUT. The winner was the triumphant White Chocolate and Sea Salt Cookie.
It tasted like, almost like, popcorn. On first glance, I thought - oh, you know, the salt will just be on the top and you'll get that savoury flavour when you reach the middle where its all sitting - BUT OH NO. NO. The salty flavour ran all the way through the cookie, till the very last morsel, continually hitting your tongue paired with the creamy sweetness of the white chocolate. Amazing. It was a very crunchy cookie, not super soft - but I was ok with that, because the flavouring was so sublime and so skilful.
We concluded our day with a trip to the much raved about Monmouth Coffee Co, a beautifully simplistic building, with minimalistic aesthetics, oozing with cool and nonchalance.
Not knowing what 'good coffee' is, and knowing that this place supposedly delivered just that, I was eager to know/taste what all the fuss was about. Being a novice I got a latte, and at £2.70 I didn't feel as though I was being ripped off. One thing I loved was where you picked up your coffee, they had 2 giant bowls of brown sugar - none of that murderous white stuff, so I put in 1 and a half spoonfuls praying it was enough to please me.(Thankfully, it was.) It was only when I got through over half of the coffee that I realised this stuff was good. Real good. My latte was like velvet; it was smooth and silky and left me wanting another one. Mimi went back the next day. I died a little inside.
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| Heres to you, Monmouth. |
Another lovely day with one of my most treasured friends.
Till next time!
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