We live in uncertain times. A man who resembles nothing so much as a thatched blancmange and who sports hair resembling an ambitious runaway hamster who hopped a freight train to Trump Towers, got in on the ground floor in the post room and slowly worked his way up to the heady heights of The Donald’s dome is a main candidate for presidency, CO2 levels are rising dramatically and I lost my SIM card inside my brand new iphone last week. Therefore, we turn to fixed points in a scary world, and there is nothing as comforting as a good brunch on a rainy Tuesday morning.
And so to The New Club on Kings Road, a hipster enclave overlooking the old pier. It advertises itself as an American diner, but with its stripped pine floors, mismatched chairs and shabby-chic murals, this is New York by way of Shoreditch. I made a private bet with myself prior to arriving that I would see at least two bearded chaps on Macbooks, making free with the wifi to update the website for their vegan food delivery start ups and was gratified when I beat my own estimation and spied three solid manbuns. Apart from these guys, the clientele was mixed – a few families, some couples and my dining companion, Rose, and I. Nearly every seat was full, and on a rainy Tuesday lunchtime in October, this would indicate that the New Club is not yet old news.
I ordered a latte, which came with a rather attractive heart swirled into the foam (so far, so hipster) and, despite never having been a sweetcorn fan, the Mexican eggs – a platter of organic eggs, chilli tomato sauce, cheese, caramelised corn and pepper salsa, served with corn tortillas. This came beautifully presented, with three medium dollops of sour cream and a clump of crunchy spring onions, which provided a nice flavour and texture contrast to the melted cheese. The tortillas had just the right amount of bite and the eggs, when cut open, were a lovely buttery yellow. This was offset by a generous amount of cheese, and a deliciously tangy tomato chilli sauce – definitely worth the 8 pound price tag.
Also on the menu was grilled sourdough with a poached egg and za’tar pesto (‘riding a fixie’ on the hipster scale), a decent-looking full English, and a vegetarian option with halloumi, as well as cinnamon buttermilk pancakes (‘playing a ukelele’) and a variety of burgers, including a green burger, with a butternut squash and cashew fritter and chilli jam (‘extolling the virtues of vinyl while drinking a pint of artisanal real ale’). Brunch is served until 3:30pm, which I applaud, and then a dinner menu from 5:30pm.
Service was pleasant – brisk and friendly – and really, there are few better ways to beat the Tuesday blues than cosying up with a better-than-average latte overlooking the rain-lashed old pier. I’ll definitely be back (on my fixie) to try out the dinner menu.
1 latte – 2.25
1 Mexican eggs – 8.00
Ambience: 9/10
Service: 8/10
Food: 9/10
Hipsterishness: 10/10
reallyinconvenient 