Negronis on the chalk board, Dot Cotton taking a drag in the bathroom, and a Spotify playlist you can download at home. This is the next generation of greasy spoon.
Norman's café in Tufnell Park, North London, is famed for its hearty food at heart-warming prices. On an average weekend morning a queue of brunchers, hangover cure-seekers, and fry-up fanatics will be waiting patiently outside the door.
"He laughed in my face and said: you'll never get a seat on Saturday." The woman on the table next to mine explains to her friend why they just HAD to meet on a weekday. Even now, on a Wednesday (25 January 25), all seven of the tables are nabbed.
I mull over a nostalgic menu of set breakfasts (served all day) starting at £9, ham, egg and chips for £8 and even rice pudding with jam for £6. When I order the £9 chicken escalope sandwich I don't quite realise how much food I am in for.
It might be layered in slices of supermarket-style white bread but I am hesitant to call this a sandwich. The escalope is monstrously large. It is no lunchbox filler; I don't think I even own a lunch box that would fit this thing inside. A knife and fork job, for sure.
Flecks of salt hide in the crispy breadcrumbs but jump out with each bite. Every mouthful is a perfect combination of crispy, salty, coating and soft chicken. Overwhelming but moreish, this is exactly the kind of dish the phrase "dig in" was created for.
The bottles of ketchup and vinegar stare up at me from the table but their service is not needed. The gigantic salt shaker certainly isn't. Slices of red Leicester add a hint of sweetness and the spicy mayo (although not exactly spicy) provides a creamy, tangy, addition. As I struggle to finish everything on my plate Luther Vandrose sings over the speakers: "Never too much."
Things are clearly not done by halves in Norman's. Chefs Elliot Kaye and Richie Hayes went all in when they ditched working for high-end London restaurants such as Lyle's and Leroy's to open their ode to British café culture - during a pandemic, no less.
That much-loved café culture is clearly cultivated here. The small space is filled with a mixture of single diners treating themselves on their lunch breaks, friends meeting for catch-ups over fried eggs, and even passers-by popping in for a coffee to go.
Norman's might have been born in November 2020 but it shows a great amount of respect for its greasy spoon elders - evident in both the menu and the decor. The lino floor is chequered black and white. The curtains are chequered red and white.
There just also happens to be a little merch corner for us tote-bag-loving millennials. And a framed print of Dot Cotton smoking a cigarette that looks like it came straight from Etsy in the bathroom.
The Negronis on the chalk board have their fun on Friday nights when the cafe becomes a cozy bar selling everything from a £3 Guinness to a £9 Bloody Mary between the hours of 6pm and 10pm. Unlike daytime hours (Wednesday to Sunday 10am to 3pm) you can book a table for the evening.
If you are looking for a lip-smacking, belly-filling meal for less than a tenner in London this new-age nostalgic caff might just be the perfect spot. Just get there early if you're planning to visit on a weekend - don't say I didn't warn you!
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