Just a quick post to say if you’re around Soho tomorrow morning (14 December) from 8-10am, Giraffe Bar & Grill (11 Frith Street, W1D 4RB) is offering one free meal along with soft drink or hot drink from the resto’s new “Wide Awake Breakfast” menu to each guest with no purchase necessary. Meal choices include country ham, aged cheddar and smoked tomato bloomer butty, a sweet waffle topped with Greek yoghurt, fresh strawberries and orange blossom honey, a “brekkie burrito” of scrambled eggs, chorizo, jalapeno chillies, cheddar cheese, avocado and salsa wrapped in a tortilla or the bangers and eggs (fried or scrambled) on a toasted doorstop of bloomer.

Photo/Alex_Pink 

A taste of what’s what in recent and upcoming London food and drink news:

A Natural Wine Fair is coming to London. The brainchild of Isabelle Legeron MW (aka “that crazy French woman“) and UK five wine importers representing dozens of natural wine producers, the fair will host more than 100 wine producers for three days at Borough Market 15 – 17 May. For those not yet hip to the world of natural wines, they’re a step up from organic and biodynamic – produced without chemicals and additives and are made with grapes grown in a natural environment without the use of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides. The results are intriguing, can vary wildly and definitely worth a sip. For details visit www.thenaturalwinefair.com.

Spitalfields pub, the Water Poet, has released a mouthwatering summer barbecue menu. Not your usual barbecue, the menu includes a spiced monk fish burger, a pork, ale and watercress sausage dog, coconut and chilli marinated lamb skewers, marinated Mediterranean vegetables with buffalo mozzarella and olive focaccia and more – all served with an array of sides with prices starting at £7.25. Most Saturdays will see the Poet cranking a full hog roast. All the grilled bits are available to view on the food page of www.waterpoet.co.uk.

“Global burger” chain, Giraffe, has announced “the coolest ice cream competition in the UK” to be held at their Belsize Park and South Bank restaurants on 31 May from 3.30 to 5pm. One for the kids, “Brain Freeze” will have contestants “dressing up Jude’s award-winning ice cream as they compete for a year’s free supply of the frozen stuff”. There will be two free sessions. Reservations are required and only eligible for children between two and ten years old. The winner of each session will receive a family meal for four, with pictures taken from the day posted onto Giraffe’s Facebook wall. Visit www.giraffe.net and www.facebook.com/girafferestaurants for details.

Tatler’s Restaurant of the Year 2009, Quo Vadis, is in the process of refreshing its menu and wine list and décor. The menu is to be “more concise” and feature British seasonal ingredients at more accessible prices. Starters now include dishes such as chilled cucumber and coriander soup (£6.50), ham hock terrine and piccalilli (£8.20) and English asparagus with a poached Bantam egg (£9.50), with main courses such as Cornish red gurnard with clams and sea beet (£18.50); Montgomery cheddar waffle with spring vegetables (£15.50) and rabbit baked in a sourdough crust (£17). Puddings include Pimms Jelly (£8) and strawberry and custard tart (£8). European wines from sustainable, organic or biodynamic producers will be more prominent on the wine list. As for the décor, solid oak tables have replaced the white linen tablecloths. And to get the most of the restaurant’s buzzing Dean Street location, “generous” seating has been added to the outside terrace. Changes will be effective from Monday 9th May. Londonist hopes to get in there soon for a sneaky peek.

Photo/Chris Osburn

With London’s dining venues clamouring in a bid to offer the best batter and the tastiest toppings, there’s certainly no shortage of options.

Argentine ice-cream parlour Freggo on Swallow Street takes the generosity award, with free pancakes for everyone who buys a coffee between 9am and 6pm tomorrow. Not a bad deal, though the tossers amongst you might be more interested in beating Also Zilli’s world record of 117 flips in a minute. Just pop into Zilli Fish on Brewer Street any time from 8am to give it a go.

Elsewhere, chocolatier William Curley joins in the festivities, working his magic on the likes of caramelised banana and chocolate sauce pancakes (£7.50) from his Ebury Street shop in Belgravia. And if even this level of sugar-clad indulgence feels a little tame, then you can always take Giraffe up on its Pimp Your Pancake offer and go for a super-size Shrove Tuesday. From £5.95, you can choose toppings ranging from Crunchie bars to Baileys sauce and order as large a pancake pile as you like at any Giraffe restaurant.

For the more savoury minded, The Water Poet in Spitalfields has created a dedicated pancake menu, with intriguing filling combinations available from midday, including sprouting broccoli, walnut and stilton as well as sweet sensations such as a Black Forest pancake with Meantime Chocolate Porter, cherry compote, ice cream and chocolate sauce (both £7.95).

Alternatively, those in Soho may wish to head down to The Gay Hussar. Renowned for its history of political plotting and caricatures of politicians, the timeless hideaway can boast being the first Hungarian restaurant in London and majors in palacsinta — traditional Hungarian pancakes, which are available across starters, mains and desserts to allow for a complete pancake blow-out.

The Botanist on Sloane Square will also be getting in on the action, with pastry chef Boyne Kleyhnans devising some particularly refined crepes to eat either on their own or as part of the restaurant’s acclaimed afternoon tea. And there’ll be luxurious fillings of lobster and the like at Hix Selfridges; breakfast pancakes at Morton’s on Berkley Square; Scotch pancakes with maple syrup, clotted cream and strawberries at The Garrison on Bermondsey Street; and American-style pancakes and cocktails available all day at Eagle Bar & Diner in Fitzrovia. That’s not to mention the obvious stalwarts: Crepeaffaire, My Old Dutch Pancake House and Creme de la Crepe.

What else is going on? Let us know the ones we’ve missed in the comments below…

Photo by nic0

]]> From this morning through to Friday the 18th, a handful of Giraffe restaurants throughout the UK will be offering free coffee between the hours of 8am and 10am. London locations are the Brunswick Centre and High Street Wimbledon Giraffe restaurants. Choose from an 8oz latte, a cappuccino, an espresso or tea (maximum of two drinks per day per customer). As far as we can tell, there are no strings attached to this offer (well, except maybe with the teabags) and folks are welcome to simply walk in, demand some free java and scram. Nice. But if you do find yourself hankering for a little (or a lot) of something to eat, we recommend the pancakes. More at www.giraffe.net.

Photo by nic0

]]> http://londonist.com/2009/09/free_coffee_this_week_at_giraffe.php/feed 0 http://londonist.com/2009/07/review_breakfast_at_giraffe.php http://londonist.com/2009/07/review_breakfast_at_giraffe.php#comments Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:45:17 +0000 Chris Osburn http://londonist.com/?p=13678

Photography courtesy of Giraffe

UK “world music family restaurant” chain, Giraffe, recently invited Londonist over to sample the breakfast menu at their Marylebone location (6-8 Blandford Street, W1U 4AU). It’s a pleasant place: nice lightning, comfy seats. We certainly wouldn’t be averse to going back (we’d downright welcome an opportunity if only they offered free WiFi). However, this was our first visit to a Giraffe. The faces-of-smiling-”ethnic-people”-as-wallpaper was a tad hokey for our sensibilities. Further, walled slogans such as “eat together, live forever” made us cringe a little. And (while we’re at it), we never really got Giraffe’s “global burgers” concept either. Is that just a high falutin’ name for a meatball or merely a reference to world beef consumption and its role in global warming? Whatever, we weren’t there for the décor or the burgers.

We were there for the breakfast … which we enjoyed. The smoothies were spot on. The coffee was commendable. The pancakes (£5.95) … ooh the massive stack o’ banana and blueberry pancakes with maple syrup … were utterly awesome. As for the huevos rancheros (£6.95), they were too deconstructed and prettified – inoffensive and ample but not terribly flavourful. While the eggs Benedict (£6.95) looked pretty rockin’, other nearby dishes, such as eggs on foccacia (£3.95), appeared mediocre at best.

According to some gathered up promo materials, giraffes have the largest hearts of all animals. We reckon that has something to do with why this long-necked beast was chosen as the totem for this resto chain. We certainly got a sense that the staff at Blandfod Street were of the big hearted variety. Service was attentive and above average for Central London.

Brekkie at Giraffe? It’s a hit or miss affair with the hits adding up to a more than respectable net positive experience. Visit them online at www.giraffe.net.