I’m writing this whilst sat in Lantana Cafe which is tucked away down a small street in Fitzrovia. I’ve come here to do my Christmas shopping online as I just can’t face the shops and our wifi contract has ended at the flat. Why have I come all the way to Fitzrovia, I hear you ask? Well, Lantana Café has been on my “must visit in London“ list for quite some time and I wanted to visit before the year is up. Sadly, their wifi is shocking, or maybe it’s just my ipad, so I’ve given up on shopping and have come offline to write this post. Lantana is one of the many Australian cafés now in London (with Brickwood being another) serving breakfast and lunch during the week and brunch on weekends. It’s ironic really that I’m here as I’ve just decided to move to Australia, a dream of mine since my friend Mel emigrated when we were both 15.
You can expect to find a bit of a wait at this small but bustling café, especially on weekends, but it’s well worth it. I tucked myself away in the corner and ordered my regular, skinny flat white. The coffee was lovely, it was my favourite roasters Squaremile after all, but like I find with every flat white I order, they aren’t overly hot and soon go cold. This doesn’t bother me one bit as I don’t mind cold coffee, especially when it’s as creamy as this.
“Close that ruddy door” is the thought that comes to my mind, don’t you just hate it when people leave the door open in the middle of winter so the rest of us freeze to death, you would think they lived in a barn. That’s what my dad always says anyway. Rant over, all be it to myself, it was time to look at the menu. There’s plenty of options to choose from including a favourite of mine, grilled banana bread and a daily special of bubble and squeak, grilled pork & leek sausages, pear chutney and a fried egg. This sounded divine but I’d had enough of fried food and needed some fruit inside me so I went for a bowl of toasted muesli, vanilla yogurt and baked pears. This arrived in a flash and I did feel like I was being rushed a little so I thought I’d check it was ok for me to stay for a bit to blog and they were very welcoming.
So here I am not wanting to move from my quiet corner in Lantana café, the perfect place for weekend brunch and, I expect weekday lunch also. I hear they do a lovely array of salads and sandwiches and their cakes look pretty tasty too, the comforting kind (brownies, muffins, polenta cake) not the filled show-off kind. The staff are all very helpful and after pondering whether I actually have the guts to quit my job (which I happen to like), leave my London friends and family (who I happen to love) and start a new life in Australia, I think I’ve made my decision. I could get used to life like this.