Cadence (SE19 2AA)

2a Anerley Hill, London SE19 2AA

http://www.cadenceperformance.com/cafe/

I know two things about “serious” cyclists:

1. They always moan about their weight
2. They eat a lot of carbs. 

Sometimes, they will moan about their weight while eating carbs. And the most annoying thing is that they are not fat.

I once attended a cycling event with Ben and overheard the following conversation:

Guy 1: I tried on some skin suits, but most were too baggy in the arms.

Guy 2: What size did you end up getting?

Guy 1: Ladies small.

Which probably explains why Cadence, a bike shop, has a café area serving some of the richest, most delicious cakes you will find. My particular favourite is the raspberry and lemon sponge, but there is usually a very wicked chocolate Guinness cake on offer as well.

Unfortunately I don't have my own cake photo, but I managed to find a calorie free one online. 

During one visit I was left at a table alone, while Ben chatted at length with one of the mechanics in the workshop. I ordered two slices of cake for us to share, but by the time Ben joined me I’d demolished both and only a few lonely crumbs remained. “Don’t worry” he said, “I’ll just have a muesli bar”.

If you enjoy stuffing your face in the company of fit, toned, sweaty, shaved-legged men wearing lycra, this is the place for you. The only downside is that the coffee is (apparently) to be avoided.

Never mind the “bike workshop” aesthetic & décor, I just come here for the cake. 

CakeMyDayLondon Rating

Amandine (E9 7HD)

176 Victoria Park Rd, London, Greater London E9 7HD

http://amandine-cafe.tumblr.com/

I love this place. I love it so much that I would live here if I could and just eat cake all day.

Amandine Café is tucked away down a side street around the corner from the well known Lauriston Road. We stumbled upon it one day after finding that all the tables in all the cafes on Lauriston Road were taken. Dejected, we turned the corner onto Victoria Park Road in hopes of finding a cafe with a spare seat. I’m so glad we did.

On our first visit to Amandine our table was strewn with toy rubber dinosaurs, thereby earning it the moniker of the “Dinosaur Café”, which is how we will refer to it now and forever.

Eat or be eaten. 

Their cakes are delicious. All of them. They serve a wonderfully dense and flavoursome chocolate and guiness cake (see picture above), and I also have fond memories of their lemon meringue cake (see picture below). Imagine… meringue in a cake! Heavenly.

The inside seating area is cosy to say the least, but there is a postage stamp-sized courtyard out the back that is perfect on sunny days. 

A slice of their Lemon Meringue was like eating sunshine. Whatever that means. 

The courtyard also has a bountiful cherry tree, which sadly seemed to be feeding the neighbourhood birds rather than customers… tsk tsk. Hopefully next summer they won’t let this wonderful crop to go waste and perhaps cook up a cherry pie or two. 

A perfect little hideaway for urban palaeontologists.

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You don’t bring me Flowers (SE13 5ND)

15 Staplehurst Rd, London SE13 5ND

http://www.youdontbringmeflowers.co.uk/

We (being husband Ben and myself) discovered this café one day by accident, en route to another café nearby which had closed down (unbeknown to us until we turned up to find a locked door). 

Playing with my new smart phone (oh the joys!), I typed “coffee” into Google, and this little place came up in the search results. What a fantastic find! As the name implies, it is a café-cum-florist… or is it a florist-cum-café? No matter.

What's not to love about this setting?

  

Spread over two floors and stylishly decorated, this little shop offers up “proper cakes” prettily displayed on an array of cake platters. 

Records play on a real record player. 

Your order is brought to your table arranged on a floral-printed tray. 

What is not to like?

I will now only eat cake off a floral tray. 

The cakes are simple but sublime, the aesthetic is eclectic and thoughtfully put together. Off the upstairs dining area is an adorable little courtyard, perfect for sunny days. The dining area itself is beautifully decorated with comfy sofas and rickety tables.

I will keep coming back here whenever I feel the need to be transported into a floral fantasy world.

CakeMyDayLondon Rating

L’eau A La Bouche (E8 4PH)

35-37 Broadway Market, London E8 4PH

http://www.labouche.co.uk/

Situated on the ever popular and frequently busy Broadway Market, L’eau a la Bouche is guaranteed a heavy footfall, which accounts for our frequent difficulty in finding a free table. 

My favourite spot to sit inside is in the left hand corner at the junction of two large windows – one overlooking Benjamin Close, and the other looking out onto Broadway Market. This spot is a real suntrap and maximises both light & warmth, so is perfect on cooler days. I don’t have a favourite spot to sit outside, since each time I’ve been here all the tables outside have been fully occupied.

Their cake selection is manly – no frilly, creamy pale-coloured sponges here. It’s a solid selection and while it’s not too cakey (aside from the staple offering of carrot cake), they do serve a mean Portugese custard tart.

Manly cakes. Girly doilies.

The café is a combined gourmet deli and coffee shop, appealing to the upwardly mobile urban hippie (the staff can best be described as “alternative” and “laid back"). 

I was bowled over on one visit by the bear-face coffee froth on Ben’s latte. This is not a euphemism. I’ll spell it out… Ben’s latte had a bear face imprinted onto the froth. If that’s still not clear, then check out the photo. 

Beats seeing the Virgin Mary on a slice of toast any day. 

Why the sad face Mr Coffee Bear?

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The Haberdashery (N8 8PL)

22 Middle Lane, London, Crouch End N8 8PL

http://www.the-haberdashery.com/Home.html

Crouch End packs an unexpected punch with a high concentration of cafes in a fairly small radius on and around the high street. 

The Haberdashery is just off the main road, tucked into a quiet side street. It has won a few awards (Best Coffee Shop in London (London Lifestyle Awards) and Best Caffeine Fix in London (Grazia Magazine) to name but two), so I came with high expectations.

The verdict? Well, a little mixed. The Haberdashery gets top marks for its “eclectic and vintage décor” (as described on their website). It really is quite sweet, with a wall feature comprised of colourful tea cups, crocheted tea-cosies in the shape of owls on shelves and artwork decorating the whitewashed wood-panelled walls.

I enjoyed their Victoria Sponge with filling that tasted of real strawberries, although the sponge itself was a tad dry. Ben’s Orange Polenta cake was the real winner, and I managed to sneak in a few mouthfuls when he wasn’t looking.

If you look carefully you can see where a mouse has nibbled Ben's cake

But… there is a but.

I thought the prices were a little on the high side and at the top end of what one would pay for a slice of cake. 

The ambiance was destroyed by the overbearingly loud 1950s rock & roll music (rockabilly?) cutting through the small space, drowning out any hope of actually relaxing with one’s own thoughts. I regretted not sitting outside in the tiny rear courtyard, but the weather was too chilly for me.

On both occasions we have visited, the staff seemed rather obsessed with where customers sat (and could not sit). This might be to maximise the ratio of number of customers per table, but it felt a little OTT, kind of like when you visit someone's house and aren't allowed to sit in their "special chair". That said, Ben and I have such a chair at home, covered in expensive plush fabric and even our cats know not to sit on it. Now that I have put that into words, it does sound pretty strange. 

But back to the cafe. 

Perhaps reflective of the area’s distance from central London and plethora of “family homes” in the vicinity, The Haberdashery was at times too crowded with strollers and little people, making it feel more like a parent’s club than a hip urban hangout. 

Even so, it’s a great place to visit if you’re in the area even if just to see the cutesey interior. 

CakeMyDayLondon Rating