When I set up this blog at the end of last year I didn’t
really know what to expect. I wasn’t exactly sure how or how much it could grow. Ultimately I wanted people to read it, but for
great food tips, rather than just my own vanity. A part of me did like the idea of being
invited by restaurants/bars though (maybe a little bit of my own vanity then).
But when I was asked to try Barrio East’s brunch
menu, I toyed with the idea, but then decided that if it was somewhere I would
go anyway, then just maybe some freebie food was ok with an objective viewpoint. So off H and I went to Shoreditch on bank
holiday Monday.
I really like their other outposts for drinking
(Barrio North on Essex Road in Angel, and Barrio Central on Poland Street in
Soho) – especially excellent happy hour mojitos (a simple cocktail but easy to
ruin). But I hadn’t made it for drinks
in Barrio East, so it was a good chance to check it out in sober daylight – it’s
bigger than the other two, with the same colourful look and feel.
They decided to introduce weekend brunch, and now serve at the weekends from 11am to 3pm, with a menu of Latin-inspired
eggs, burritos, beans and Bloody Marias.
Maybe sensibly I decided against tequila in a Bloody Maria at 12pm, with
great watermelon and ginger juice instead.
I went for the Mexi-Can – toast with lots of creamy avocado
piled on top, poached eggs, punchy jalepeno peppers and bits of crunchy tortilla, with an extra chorizo sausage on the side. A great combination, and a massive portion. H had the breakfast burrito filled with
scrambled eggs, tomato, guacamole, sour cream and extra chorizo,
with some fried potatoes on the side – it could have done with some beans or
something inside for a bit more texture, but was tasty and equally giant.
These would have been the perfect cures after rather
a few mojitos or tequila shots in their bar the night before. But maybe it’s best not to return to the
scene of the crime that soon….maybe just space it out a few days.