Food and Drink Guide - East London

Some of you may know that as well as working as a freelance designer and making homewear products I also work as a creative tutor. I recently started a new part time job at Homemade London, I'm now the manager so please check out the workshops as its very likely I'll be the one teaching. To celebrate my new job Simon decided it would be a good idea to do a tour of places we have been meaning to visit around our flat the day before I started.

It turned out all these places were food and drink related so I thought why not write a post all about them? Simon and I are big foodies so I'd like to think we have good taste, I hope that if you live near Hackney you will visit these cafes / pubs soon.

After a lie in we decided that our first stop should be Esters right around the corner from our place. I've been meaning to go for ages and kept reminding Simon about it as it looks so gorgeous from the outside. It was bloody fantastic. It was lunch time so I had the aubergine & yellow pepper escalivada with goat's curd and basil oil.  Simon went for the asparagus, cannellini bean hummus with soft boiled eggs and rose harissa. I almost got food envy when I saw Simon's order arrive but once I had tasted mine I needn't have worried. We also went for the homemade lemonade and peach soda which were equally refreshing.

After a twenty minute walk to London Fields we found ourselves at Violet Bakery.  It was such a hot day and luckily the very lovely lady behind the counter set up a table for us outside. It was difficult to decide what to eat as they were preparing a huge batch of caramel as well as Hazelnut meringues with vanilla roasted apricots. I've been a few times before and always love the dark chocolate cupcakes with salted caramel icing, so I went for one of those. Simon got one of the delicious blondies.

The last stop of the day was our favourite pub The Railway Tavern. Its rare to find a place to drink in london that is beautifully decorated and also has Countryside pub atmosphere. Basically the Railway Tavern is a proper pub. The true charm of this place is highlighted by the fact that it is located on a quiet residential street somewhere between Dalston and Islington. The inside is tastefully decorated with Mid Century tube signage and posters and the seating is subtly upholstered with fabric used on the underground. They have a great selection of ales and ciders which change quite regularly.

I hope you enjoyed my mini food and drink guide, and make sure to visit them all soon!