Boozy, Bottomless, Brunch

"How do you like your eggs in the morning?" - Dean Martin

Long, lengthy and alcohol-fuelled brunches have long been the favourite pastime of the residents of the Upper East Side in NYC. Blair Waldorf is the epitome of a perfect brunch hostess, and leaves me gasping for a Mimosa. However, the trend is spreading across the world. For example, in Qatar and Dubai, traditionally dry/non-alcoholic states, ex-pats can often be seen eating opulent, five course brunches whilst sipping on Champagne. Us Brits on the other hand, have traditionally always been more likely to wake up to porridge or a bacon sandwich, and are far more likely to want a huge cup of tea, milk and two sugars, with our all-day breakfast. 

So imagine my joy when I discovered that FORGE & CO on Shoreditch High Street have started doing a bottomless brunch, i.e free refills on Prosecco throughout your meal! Hells yeah! My BFF came to stay this weekend, so we strolled down there on Saturday lunchtime. I would definitely advise booking a table as it was pretty busy, but with bottomless Prosecco for £10, its easy to see why. 

The menu was of a good standard, with sweeter dishes such a Eggy Bread with Mixed Berries & Mascarpone, and an Elderflower Fruit Salad, to dishes such as an Oxheart Burger and a Full English Breakfast (which came as a vegetarian option too). I really really wanted to have the Smoked Mackerel, Poached Egg and Potato Salad, so I was disappointed to find out it was sold out! Sacre Bleu! So I did the classic menu panic and went for the old faithful Eggs Benedict. 

I feel like they could definitely have improved the appearance of this, as it was a little underwhelming for £8, considering how good the Hoxton Bar and Grill is, just round the corner. It felt a bit unfinished. However, it did taste great and probably one of the best Hollandaise sauces I've tried in a while. The free Prosecco refills deal only works when you have food, so clearly we ate slowly and ordered a dessert to get our moneys worth! 

To be honest, I think I actually preferred the dessert to the main, it was sooo gooey and chocolatey and yummy (maybe that was due to being on my 8th glass of Prosecco...) My advice? Order the Full English Breakfast, I had major food envy of the girls next to us.

On the Sunday, we stayed local and headed to BLIGHTY COFFEE, on Blackstock Road, round the corner from my flat in Finsbury Park. We were feeling slightly jaded due to the 12 hours of drinking the day before... 

This is a super cute cafe, serving proper coffee and proper breakfasts in the heart of North London. There are various levels to sit at, from stools and tables in the entrance room, upstairs with vintage style sitting room and sofas, and a surprisingly large garden with a decked seating area and a ping pong table. 

I started with an Orancino - a latte with orange zest and chocolate. It was ridiculously tasty, and had a tartness that stopped it from being too sickly. I've been thinking about it ever since tbh. 

My friend chose the Bacon Butty and I chose the Sausage Sanga. We were just expecting a basic sandwich, so you can imagine our delight when we were faced with these bad boys... 

Fresh bread rolls, perfectly cooked herby sausage, crispy bacon, lettuce and tomatoes made this a very satisfying breakfast. They were served on individual wooden boards which was a nice touch. So yum...

I thought I'd share a couple of my recent eggy recipes, as you know I just can't get enough of those delicious ovals of joy... Anyway, something I rustled up in 5 minutes after a long day at work was guacamole, bacon, and a poached egg, on wholemeal toast. It sounds simple but it was so effective, and the guac gave it another dimension as opposed to using plain avocado. Definitely try this at home. 

My second eggventure (sorry) of the week was carb free, in order to pretend that I'm going to be beach body ready (hate that phrase) by August.

So, I had a poached egg, fried mushrooms, bacon lardons, and spring greens sauteed in garlic. I wanted to use mushrooms as my friend suggested it, and I had never really thought about using them. It was ever so quick and easy, perfect after another long day at work...

That's all from me this week, have an eggcellent weekend!

Don't forget to check out my Instagram for more frequent posts: @yaasica_lucia :) 

Lots of Love, 

Yaasica Lucia XXX