Salvation Jane - City Rd EC1

I have always been a big fan of Lantana - I remember thinking that I had finally found somewhere in London that did breakfasts like I remembered from Melbourne.  The fact that I only worked round the corner was an added bonus and I have bought a lot of coffee, many breakfasts and way too many blondies from Lantana.  So I was delighted when I heard that Shelagh, owner of Lantana, was planning to open a sister cafe in Shoreditch and have been hanging

 to check it out.  As an aside, for some reason whenever I talk about Salvation Jane, I keep referring to it as Proud Mary, not quite sure why....  Anyway I finally made it there yesterday - I had a lovely Saturday East End coffee adventure (more to come on that) and made sure that Salvation Jane was on the itinerary.  Situated just where the East End morphs into the City, this is a really different location for the Lantana crew and the interior is also very different from what regulars are used to in Charlotte Place.  It is much more industrial and modern than the mothership - but it kind of fits into the locale.  I perched myself up

 at the bar and ordered a flat white and a blueberry friand.  I was presented with this rather fine specimen

with an expertly poured swan on top - the coffee is of the same quality as Lantana and I loved my flattie made with Square Mile beans.  I am a late convert to the friand but have taken to them with gusto and this blueberry version was a perfect sidekick to my coffee.  So nice one Shelagh - you've opened a really cool cafe to your (hopefully) expanding empire, long may you thrive.

Lantana Take-Away - Charlotte Place W1

You can never have too much Lantana as far as I'm concerned, so I was very happy to see the new Lantana take-away shop is open, next door to the existing cafe.  One of the issues with Lantana was the space - it got so crowded in there during peak times and sometimes the take-away coffees took a while to be made.  Solution: open a new take-away outfit next door to free up the cafe for eat-ins.  Genius.  The new take-away shop is clean and simple - offering a selection of cakes and yummy stuff to go with the consistently good coffee.  I had some delicious toasted banana bread today - I used to hate anything with banana in it, even though I liked bananas...not sure why but banana cake, banoffie pie, Barney Banana ice-creams (any Aussies reading this will know what these are) all made me want to barf, then suddenly a few years ago it was all OK and thank God for that because now I can enjoy the joy that is toasted banana bread.  Still no word on where the previous occupant of this space, Viet Baguette has gone - if anyone knows, please let me know. 

Lantana - expanding?

Looks like one of my favourite cafes, Lantana in Charlotte Place is expanding next door into the shop that used to be occupied by the much-missed Viet Baguette (when is that re-opening by the way - and where??)  So good news for all those Lantana fans!

Lantana - Charlotte Place W1

I have had many great take away coffees from Lantana (love that name) but had never "eaten in" - I think mainly because every time I'd been in there the lunchtime rush was on and there were no seats. I had read really good things on other blogs and I kinda felt like I was missing something - the place was funky, the take away coffee was good and the cakes looked nice but I didn't get the vibe I get from say Milk Bar. That has now all changed - I'm a fully paid up member of the Lantana fan club. The secret to loving this place is to eat here and spend some time here - I loved everything about it. The atmosphere here is great - particularly if you grab an early lunch and beat the crowds; the service was really good and the women working here reminded me of friends in Melbourne who I miss; the coffee was top notch (I had a flat white and a macchiato); and the food - SO good. I would go so far as to say that at Lantana, I had one of the best sandwiches I have ever eaten - big call I know but their "Bert" sandwich with bacon, rocket, fried egg, tomato and aioli on delicious toasted bread is everything a sandwich should be. The crunch of the bread, the salty bacon, a perfectly just runny-enough egg, the freshness of the rocket and tomato and the creamy aioli (man I love aioli) were a perfect combo. Next time I am hung-over I am definitely turning to Bert. The cake selection is good too - the brownies looked great (I abstained) and they have a selection of "friands" - which will raise a chuckle from certain quarters, as I have been known to rant on about these innocuous yet delicious cakes. I had never heard of them before I moved to the UK 10 years ago and then suddenly about 3 or 4 years ago it seemed like everyone back in Australia was talking about them and it drove me nuts - "what the f*ck is a friand?" I moaned and why is everyone so obsessed with them. The answer is they are very like financiers or madeleines ("and what the f*ck are they?" I hear you ask).  Friands are made with ground almonds and come in a variety of flavours. They seem to go perfectly with strong, well made coffee. So there you have it - Lantana has won me over so much I am even discoursing on bloody friands. Anyway make sure you check this place out - it is on Charlotte Place, which I think has to be one of these most charming laneways/streets in central London.