English Breakfast in Nörjske

Tucked away in leafy Edgbaston are three little restaurants that look like they should hardly get any footfall, and yet they stay open. They’re too near to drive, but I wouldn’t want to walk the 20 minutes home in the dark of midnight. The first is Simpson’s, one of Birmingham’s Michelin starred restaurants where Daniel and I celebrated our engagement and the Michelin star makes the trip worth it in a taxi. Next is the Highfield, Roz at TheFoodieCouple has reviewed it and it’s also lovely for a slightly special occasion, a true gastropub where we sometimes take the car to have a drink and a chat on weekday evenings. Finally is Nörjske, one of the strangest little bars there is in the city.

Yummy breakfast

On Saturday, with the stress and emotion of the wedding six weeks behind us, life began again relatively stress-free, a normality that I haven’t had since last Summer. It was a sunny morning so we walked down to Nörjske for brunch. The whole place feels like it would be beautiful in the winter! Downstairs is a bright little rustic-style deli that’s perfect for the lunchtime take-away crowd, a big selection of British and Scandinavian themed sandwiches and paninis, with Scandinavian products for sale in woven baskets and wooden pallet shelves. An outdoor seating area is ready prepared with patio heating and blankets. Upstairs is very clean, floor to ceiling windows allow so much light in – the white wooden booths look so welcoming. Everywhere is white and bright, with faux-fur blankets and wintery woodland animal cushions.

The brunch menu is not altogether Scandinavian, we had an omelette and eggs benedict. My dish was two little halves of bread roll that were the perfect amount to mop up the two poached eggs, together with crumbled ham hock with a beautiful hollandaise sauce. The omelette was perfectly runny in the middle and looked enormous but tasted so light. It was an indulgence but with our wedding six weeks behind us we basked in the delight of knowing that we didn’t have to be anywhere or talk about anything specific, enjoying an hour and a half of delicious food, laid-back music and a lovely view over St George’s Church.

French Fancies in the City

Hidden away with so much promise at the back of The Cube on Commercial Street, we’d walked past so many times over the last few months, dreaming about little French pastries, hoping for it to open. We were supposed to go running, but I had a phone call from Daniel at about six o’clock on Wednesday evening to ask if I wanted to go for a coffee because Madeleine Fine Coffee House was finally open for coffee and cakes.

Madeleine Fine Coffee House

My first impression was that it was very quiet, it’s a bit hidden so what if nobody knew about it?! But we asked the waitress who said they’d had a big rush at lunchtime so we felt quite good that we’d caught them at a quieter time to enjoy the atmosphere. I was expecting something quite opulent like La Durée, and in comparison it very stark and modern, but the wooden tables and seventies print upholstery still gave it a very rustic and traditional feel. I love the exotic flowers on the table at the door, and the cakes on the counter looked divine, from little muffins to enormous chocolate chip cookies and a bowl full of madeleines. There’s also a range of flavoured lemonades, tangerine, rose, grenadine, everything looks delicious!

Yummy Plum Tart

They will start doing a full menu from Monday, I assume to include baguettes and yummy salads. And they open for breakfast from7am! It’s actually the same owners as the Brazilian Rodizio Rico which we’ve been drooling over for months too, and reading this interview with Mr Nayla in the Birmingham Post, it looks like they are here to stay! There’s another restaurant next door that’s not quite open yet, Bun and Bowl – a burger place – that’s owned by the same family, so we’ll be trying that out as soon as we can too.

We had a hot chocolate and a coffee, each came with a little madeleine cake and the hot chocolate was so rich and full of flavour. Our bill was a bit more than the size of the portions, but that rich chocolate was worth it. Coupled with a plum tart it was a lovely little surprise visit and I can’t wait to go back there for a proper look!

Glace – Artisan Ice Cream in the Ciudad

24.01.2014

Escondido en las callecitas de La Roma, se encuentra un heladería preciosa – Glace – que venden sabores raros pero deliciosos. Como los días de invierno mexicano son tan diferentes de los de Inglaterra, normalmente tomamos un “helado diario” en las placitas de Coyoacán, Querétaro, y claro en la Ciudad.

Glace in Mexico City

Nos fue recomendado por el padre de Daniel, y después de un par de horas en explorar los Parques de España y de México, encontramos Glace para probar un heladito diferente de lo normal de vainilla o guayaba. Situada al fondo de un calle casi anónima, nunca lo verías si no supiera. La tienda de madera y la dama muy amable dan la impresión de una operación muy artesanal y llena de pasión por el sabor. La dama nos permitió probar casi cada sabor, de miel con lavanda hasta el té verde. Si estoy honesta, no me recuerdo el sabor que tomé, creo algo de canela. Una delicia inesperada en las calles de La Roma y La Condesa.

No me recuerdo los precios, ni la dirección, pero el blog Sin Mantel me ayuda : Ensenada 8, $30 el sencillo y $50 el doble, @glacehelado.

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Hidden away in the beautiful backstreets of La Roma is Glace, a beautiful little ice-cream shop selling unusual but mouth-watering flavours. As Winter days in Mexico are so different to those we have in the UK, we usually enjoy a “daily ice-cream” in the little plazas and squares of Coyoacán, Querétaro, and of course in Mexico City.

It was recommended to us by Daniel’s dad, and after a few hours exploring Parque de España and Parque de México, we found Glace for an ice-cream, out of the ordinary flavours of vanilla and guayaba. Located at the end of an almost anonymous road, you’d never see it unless you knew it was there. A wooden shop front and very friendly assistant gives the impression of a very rustic operation with a passion for flavour. The girl let us try nearly every flavour from lavender honey to green tea. Honestly though I can’t remember what flavour I had, cinnamon I think. A lovely little unexpected delight in the streets of La Roma and La Condesa.

I don’t remember the prices or the address, but the Sin Mantel blog helps me out here : Ensenada 8, £1.30 for a single, £2.20 for  a double, @glacehelado.

Random Moments of Delight