The Blue Legume has never been noticed by myself, the many times that I have walked along Upper Street. It has a unique characteristic blue aubergine-like vegetable artefact as part of its sign!

There is outdoor seating at the front, which then goes through into the cafe area! The kitchen, counter and cake fridges are in the middle of the cafe area and then there is extra seating area at the back! The back area seemed like it had a lot of daylight coming into it!

The weekend brunch started off with smoothies! I had the berry smoothie and my friend had the spirulina one! Both were presented to us beautifully in sugar edged glasses and a Viennese biscuit on the side! A bright colourful start to our Sunday!

My berry smoothie was delicious! I’m not sure which berries were in it but I think that I could also taste banana! My friend said that her spirulina one was equally enjoyable with a sweet apple like flavour! This surprised me as from its green colour, I was expecting it to taste bitter!

The Blue Legume had many items on the menu including breakfast dishes, salads, burgers and paninis. I narrowed it down to two of the breakfast items, one which was a Mediterranean breakfast of grilled halloumi, feta cheese, poached egg, olives, jam and toast. But then I decided to go for the classic eggs florentine!

The eggs florentine came with some salad. The poached eggs were cooked with hard yolks, as I had asked for them to be as such! The hollandaise sauce had a lovely tangy flavour and the toasted muffin was soft! It also had a good amount of spinach!

The staff were friendly and provided us with a great service! The Blue Legume had a really cute and quirky feel to it. The tables were all decorated with pretty delicate pink flowers in small vases! The ceiling was covered with different styles of mirrors. I only noticed this once my friend pointed it out! There was a grandfather clock as part of the seating area! It felt a bit like you were in a country style cottage!

The Blue Legume is a gem of a place with lovely staff and good quality food!

The Blue Legume, 177 Upper Street, Angel, London, N1 1RG

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As soon as you enter Base, there is the counter fridge displaying lots of tempting food! Some of the food is inside the fridge and some is placed openly on the top. The food has a Mediterranean influence with dishes including roasted vegetables, couscous, quiches and salads.

There is beige cushioned seating along the wall to go with the dark wooden furniture. The tables are close together but this is inevitable as Base is a fairly small restaurant. There is also some seating outdoors.

Base has quite a broad menu and the waiter told us that as well as the menu, we could just choose from the counter fridge.

A light lunch was what I had in mind, so I thought that a wrap would be a good choice! I was presented with a big wrap, cut in half, where one half would have been plenty!

The wrap was generously filled with lots of pan fried aubergine, humous, big chunks of tomatoes, cucumber and fresh parsley. It also came with some salad. The vegetables were really tasty and fresh, especially the aubergine and the tomatoes.

Base definitely does not skimp on its portion size! My friend chose the fish cake made from a combination of salmon, cod and haddock. It was served with salad and tartare sauce. Again, it was a big portion and made for a satisfying filling lunch!

There is a range of drinks from regular teas, coffees, iced drinks to exotic smoothies and juices. The tea is served by the pot.

Base is a lovely place to come to for good quality fresh food. The staff are friendly and provide good service. Base seems like a popular place as it was very busy at lunchtime!

Base, 71 Hampstead High Street, London, NW3 1QP

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For some unknown reason, Med Kitchen has not been one of those places that I have wanted to try. I’m not sure why this has been the case for so long. But I’m so glad that we went to this restaurant and gave it a go! We really did have such a pleasant dining experience at this particular Med Kitchen in Islington!

The roasted Mediterranean vegetables with couscous and chickpeas was very filling and tasty. It had plenty of strips and chunks of courgettes, peppers, red onion and aubergine. It was supposed to have harissa  in the dish but I wasn’t sure if it would be too spicy for me. So the waitress kindly suggested that I could have it separately on the side. That was great as I could add it to my suit my taste buds. The whole dish and the flavours worked well together. I was glad that the couscous was not coated in olive oil, as it did not need it at all.

My friend had the slow roasted lamb, feta and onion stew and she thoroughly enjoyed her meal too. The chunks of lamb were perfectly cooked and were tender. This dish was served with sesame and onion flatbread. This fresh bread was perfect to dip into the gravy of the stew!

The waitress that was serving us was really honest and we truly appreciated this. When I asked her if the fish was fresh, she told us that it was on some days but on other days, it could be a day or so old. Also, when it came to the coffee, I was originally going to order a mocha. I asked her if this was going to be a big drink, like a latte usually is, but she told me that it was more like an espresso. So, I had a cappuccino instead.

As I mentioned I had the cappucino to end the meal. It was a really good rich, creamy hot drink. A nice touch was that the hot drinks were served with a little biscuit! The tea was served by the pot which is something that I always prefer!

Med Kitchen was a relaxing place to come for our evening dinner. But I can see it being a good restaurant to come to for breakfast or lunch as well. The atmosphere was nice with the soft music playing in the background. There was a range of seating with the cosy cushioned seats along the back wall. I also liked the open kitchen area making up part of the restaurant area. It was great that the waitress was so truthful and didn’t just give us false information so that we would order quickly. It made a huge difference to our whole evening dinner. It made us feel that it was a more of a personal and friendly evening out.

Med Kitchen, 370 St John Street, London, EC1V 4NN

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