Review: Town Mill Bakery

The Virtues of Fresh Ingredients

On top: an egg and bacon sandwich, served with ketchup
Below: my egg-in-a-basket served with roast tomato and onion relish

I expected seafood to be the culinary highlight of my time in Dorset, but here I am writing about a bakery. The food here was so good that we came back for breakfast twice while in Lyme Regis, and my partner bought a loaf of bread to take home as well. That's definitely unusual, especially for me, as I'm always gunning to try new places no matter how much I may have enjoyed a meal somewhere. 

Review: Kalm Kitchen Café

The Café That Does Everything

Waffles with fresh fruit, berry coulis, maple syrup and sour cream

Kalm Kitchen is the café that does everything I need a café to do. The coffee is good, the selection of teas acceptable, and cold teas are stocked throughout the year. They do breakfast, lunch and Sunday brunch, and maintain a well-stocked counter of muffins, brownies and other tray bakes for the times in-between. Most items are reasonably priced (you can have a decent lunch here for £6) and the staff are always friendly and helpful (except the boss, who is friendly and helpful and scary). The place started life as Glutton and Glee, before changing ownership and rebranding to Kalm Kitchen. A brief dark period followed – the cakes on the counter disappeared and extras on sandwiches became miserly – but that period has passed now. I don’t know the story behind the takeover, but I have come to like the changes. The new owners added some counter style seats, which may not be all that comfy but it means the café (which is tiny!) can now serve more people. The elaborate cream cakes are no longer regular fixtures, but tray bakes, cupcakes and brownies have taken their place. Early on during the switch these would run out too quickly, but nowadays they seem to stock enough to keep them going till closing time. My favourites are the richer options (of course), such as the peanut butter brownie or orange cannoli. 

Cake & Biskie in Soho

Review: Cutter & Squidge

Biskies: a Cutter & Squidge creation.
Think of a soft cookie & cake dessert sandwich :)

Some of the earliest reviews I posted on this blog were about cake in Bangladesh. I've written (and complained!) about dessert at many venues since, but I've never really posted about any other bakeries or confectioners. I admit I've gotten into a habit of depending on chains and supermarkets. Trouble is, while I know independents that do good coffee, their sweets are rarely worth a special mention. Cutter & Squidge bucks that trend completely. They serve amazing cake and a nifty invention of their own called a biskie - best described as a mini cookie and cake sandwich. I first found them by chance one night in Soho, when we were walking around after an early dinner in search of something sweet. This was always a normal thing to do in Asia, where cafés and the like open late, but everything shuts so early in the UK! Luckily Cutter & Squidge had the right idea, and their then pop-up was still open around 8 pm. I bought myself a huge slice of their Choc O'Berry Dream Cake, which turned out to be extremely delicious. The cake itself was rich and moist, with generous helpings of flavoured cream filling the layers and covering the outside. Fast forward a few months and they now have a permanent store on Brewer Street in Soho, which is great news for anyone with a sweet tooth. Their new store opens later than most cafés, which remains a plus, though bear in mind it's not late enough for post-dinner dessert. 

The interior, bright and expressive.
More seating than some of the other similar shops
in the area, but I can see it getting busy.

I've visited several times with friends, squeezing into the relatively small space. The venue has a few tables at the back, along with some counter-style seating by the windows. The interior, as seen in the photo above, makes me think "bright-plastic-happy", and while I realise it won't be to everyone's taste I feel its true to Cutter & Squidge's overall branding. The store operates the usual pick and pay at the counter approach, and staff will bring over your drinks or order if it's not something they can just hand you over the counter. Apart from cakes and biskies, the menu on the wall lists a small selection of hot and cold drinks, as well as a few sandwiches. Notably, they do a salted caramel matcha latte - which is great as even today there are too few places in London that serve matcha lattes. If you order one just remember to stir the drink properly, as otherwise you'll finish a rather bland cup like my friend, only to discover all of the caramel left at the bottom!

"OMG It's Green":
green tea and raspberry "Dream Cake"

Eating as a group meant has meant I've sampled quite a bit of what Cutter & Squidge has to offer, and almost everything has been as impressive as that first Choc O'Berry cake. Amongst the cakes, the Banoffee and the Chocolate and Hazelnut stand out as excellent takes on classic flavours. I've also tried the OMG It's Green pictured above, and while I liked it, I remember wishing for a slightly stronger flavour flavour. Amongst the biskies, the rich Salted Caramel Brownies or lighter S'mores are safe choices. I'm torn between what I like more here, the cakes or the biskies, but a Key Lime Pie biskie my partner once had is definitely my favourite. Imagine two layers of soft biscuit with a filling of lime curd and vanilla cream cheese, finished off a crunchy meringue topping! Unfortunately this was a special edition, and I've not seen it since. This is something to bear in mind about Cutter & Squidge - they do rotate what's on offer any given day, and not all the flavours you see online are always available at the store. 

Close-up: a S'more biskie

There is also the issue of almost Marmite-like personal preferences to the food they serve. I love my cakes to be lavished drenched in cream and frosting, but I know not everyone does. I also love the soft cookie dough texture of the biskies, along with their cream/sauce/curd garnishes. Yet I have friends who aren't fans - apparently the biskies' soft and hard textures feel odd. Just a little something to be aware of before making a visit. And speaking of visiting - a note on the costs. Biskies cost around £4.50 each and a slice of cake will cost almost £6. These prices won't come as a surprise once you experience (i.e. have trouble consuming) the generous portions, but they're still a bit higher compared to other stores. Given the quality of the confectionery, I wouldn't have minded, but prices for their full cakes online verge on the ridiculous and they lose points for that. Carry outs cost a little less, and the price of hot and cold drinks are quite competitive. But of course, you're not coming here for drinks!


Food: 8/10

Service: 7/10

Atmosphere: 7/10

Value: 5/10

Final Score: 7/10

Contact Information

A: 4 Brewer Street, Soho, London, W1F 0SB
T: +44 (0)20 7371 7056
W: www.cutterandsquidge.com

NB. The final score, while influenced by the sub-scores, is a qualitative reflection of my overall impression of the establishment.

Review: Spuntino

The London to-do list, part 2 of n

Three 3 oz mini burgers, or sliders, from Spuntino

Spuntino was another one of those places I'd read rave reviews about when I first moved to London, but their gimmicky website - which lists their address and nothing else in flickering text - did them no favours in terms of motivating me to visit. Minus half a point right there. I should also mention their stools-around-a-bar approach to seating: another reason I stayed away for a while. I use restaurant meals to catch up with friends and being perched around a bar doesn't offer the most effective setting.

The interior

However, a friend and I arrived here drenched to the bone after an unsuccessful attempt at checking out the Notting Hill Carnival. The day was far too wet to enjoy anything outdoors so Spuntino was my suggested back up plan. We walked in around lunchtime and found the space conveniently deserted. The guys at the bar were friendly and affable, and one quickly got us some popcorn and tap water as we dried off and decided what to order.

Review: The Delaunay

The London to-do list, part 1 of n

Based on what I've tried, the Delaunay is possibly the best
confectioners in London

So it seems that my time in London is coming to an end. My job brought me here two years ago and now it's moving me away again. I'm sure I'll be back - London isn't one those cities that people never come back to. I've actually kind of slacked off on reviewing London restaurants. This is partly because my schedule has meant I've spent a lot of time eating in random places that have been quite good, but not good enough to motivate an immediate review. However, over the last few months I've been trying to rectify this by trying out places that have either come to me highly recommended or are special to me in some way. As with any to-do list, it's been growing ever since its inception and I'm not sure when it's going to end, but expect this to be the theme for the next few posts.

The interior: vast, with dark wooden furniture and panelling,
white table cloth and smart service.

I found the Delaunay online while looking for a place to brunch. Central London is a bit far from Richmond though and I'd never made the trip until recently when I popped in for cake after dinner at Koya with a friend. The cakes, I have to say, were the best I've had in London and will be heavily influencing the food score for this review. The Delaunay is a great place to keep in mind for something sweet and a coffee late at night. I vowed to come back for a fuller meal, and so made plans for brunch with two other friends I'd have had to come to Central London to meet anyway. I'd made a reservation online and upon coming in we were shown straight to our table. The main interior of the restaurant, past the bar and it's few tables, is a rather grand room of gleaming wood and white table cloth bustling with people. A bit noisy, which I suppose can be a good or bad thing depending on what kind of vibe you're in the mood for. 

Review: King's Confectionery

Finally cake, but only in little slices

Soon after my disappointing experience at Cooper's, I started to seek out a new cake place near my grandma's. King's came to mind immediately, but the problem with them used to be their Banani location. Now they seem to have expanded all over the capital, and I was happy to discover that they had a branch in nearby Wari. Wari, by the way, seems to have everything now and it’s about bloody time! I'd been to King's a few times before and generally their cakes were better than Cooper's. 

Displays like this always make me happy

Review: Cooper's Bakery Bangladesh

The quest for good cake in Bangladesh

I first discovered Cooper's when I came back to Bangladesh for college in the mid 2000s. Good cakes of the round, celebratory kind are hard to come by in Dhaka, so I went in feeling skeptical. I walked out with a small chocolate cake that I remember being impressed with. I went back a few times after that for their pasties, snacks, etc. and I remember the place fondly.  Fast forward to 2012, and I was back in Dhaka and Coopers was still around. Recalling my previous positive experiences, I went in to get a cake for my little brother. Unfortunately, it seems like everything has gone downhill since I was last here. 

I wonder where they got it?