ginger and white

o and i spent sunday around north west london, hampstead heath to be specific. our breakfast was a good if slightly harassed affair. we went to the brew house in kenwood house. o was a bit cranky as he’d hadn’t had a snack which made the queue for brunch seem inordinately long. once we were seated outside with our more than generous helping of free range scrambled eggs and sides of mushrooms and tomatoes we were distracted by the wind and some bumble bees. the upside was that the eggs were fantastic – creamy and loose textured. to me that’s a bit of a marvel given how difficult it is to make scrambled eggs in large quantities. but i have to agree with o that it was hard to enjoy brunch when one was being harassed by the elements and having to queue and self-serve. we are both very self-service friendly but brunch is one of those meals that needs to conduct itself at a leisurely pace.

after brunch o and i wandered through the park and eventually found ourselves on hampstead high street. hampstead high street is mostly a proliferation of chains – food and clothing alike. i was here for ginger and white, a decidedly british cafe tucked into perrin’s court. o and i placed our orders after a little deliberation and sank into a slightly distressed and very comfortable leather sofa. o wasn’t particularly impressed with his cold coffee stating with conviction that he can make as good a one at home. i had a lovely chegworth apple and strawberry juice which was sweet and tart at the same time. with it i had a rather generous slice of blossom cake – really a syrup cake with citrus and some polenta. o ordered a friand which came with a crown of raspberries that stained its custard coloured top. the blossom cake was good but having being told that it had polenta i much missed the gritty crunch. in other words it was too smooth a texture. the friand on the other hand was really good, bursting with almond flavour and complimented well by the raspberries.  having looked up a friand, you may be interested in knowing that it’s the australian version of the french financier which is basically an oval shaped cake make with ground almonds.

as o and i finished our coffee and cake, two women came in and ate breakfast at half past four – soft boiled eggs with toast soldiers and a side of baked beans. i guess there is something for everyone at ginger and white.  

4 perrins court

london nw3 1qs