Tag Archives: eggbaconchipsandbeans

Mr G’s Cafe, Stepney

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I did it again. I visited another Cafe in the East End to try out the Eggbaconchipsandbeans meme. This time it was the magnificent Mr G’s on Mile End Road in that lovelies of all East End quarters, Stepney. Mr G’s has a bright orange, friendly sign over his door that invites his guests into the small but cosy cafe.

The gentleman behind the counter (Mr G. himself?) takes your order, passes it through the window to the smiling chef and before you can fully open The Guardian and try to find the magazine, you already have an enormous plate in front of you. And if I say enormous, I mean enormous.

This is not just a plate full of eggbaconchipsandbeans. This the mother of all plates of eggbaconchipsandbeans. The chips are well done and have a decent crunch and desperately try to cosy themselves up to the sea of beans, that is covering the most magnificent two slices of bacon I have ever had, both in size ans in taste. The whole ensemble looks more like a picture of Andy Warhol and I was almost tempted not to spoil its beauty and just worship it silently, but then the hunger took over and soon this wonderful meal was unfortunately history.

The condiments are well placed and the tables are so clean that you might think you’re seeing double:

While one is silently chewing, the sociable gentleman behind the counter entertains his regulars with surprisingly erudite banter and keeps the atmosphere relaxed and positive. You leave MR. G’s not only well fed, but indeed also spiritualized, marvelling how you functional yet inspiring the interior is. Le Corbusier would have liked it here.

It doesn’t get much better than Mr. G’s, you know.

MrG’s Cafe, 222 Mile End Road, London E1 4LJ

Noah’s Ark, Ilford

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Now, I would never, ever try to compete with Russel Davies’s Eggbaconchipsandbeans, but for once in my life I wanted to at least try to emulate the amazing experiences he must have when he sneaks into a new cafe, camera at the ready, poised to picture another perfect plate of food. So, when I had a morning to spend in Ilford (the less exciting East of London’s East End) I found this little gem of a cafe and, wielding my trusty TX1, entered the premises and uttered for the first time the eternal words:

Can I have Eggsbaconchipsandbeans please?

And it worked. After 5 minutes (in which I wanted to write numerous letters to the Daily Mail, as this was the only paper that was lying around) this arrived in front of me (with two enormous slices of fresh buttered bread and a smile)

Now this looks as good as most of Russel’s cafes. The cup of coffee was lovely and fresh, the smiles genuine and the price fair. The beans were desperately clinging to the edge of the plate, not to be pushed into the abyss by the generosity of the cook. The chips were lovely and not too dark, while the bacon made an almost teutonic statement of hegemonical prowess draped over a a third of the porcellain, and only the egg retained a modicum of modesty.

They had more lovely stuff on their menu:

I am now a part of the gobal brotherhood. I will worship in the altar of the greasy spoon as often as my ever expanding waistband will allow me. But I will defintely return to this, my first place of epiphany.

Thanks, Russel.

Noah’s Ark,

10 Chapel Rd
Ilford, IG1 2AG