The Sandwich Box

4a Gillespie Road, N5 1LN

Back up Blackstock Road, to see a man about a door, again ...

Mainly because I wanted a long lie, and stayed in bed until the last possible moment, I ended up at 11.15am in Blackstock Road not having had a thing to eat or drink since I got up at 9am. So before finishing up with the door man and heading home, I decided breakfast was in order.

I popped over to the Star Express, cheerfully contemplating some nice bubble and squeak, blithely forgetting that Arsenal were at home today. It was rammed. Thankfully last week, we had walked down Gillespie Road for the tube, so I remembered The Sandwich Box.

The Menu:
As the name suggests, it's more of a sandwich/lunch type place, but they do a breakfast and a breakfast bap in amongst the baked potatoes, sandwiches and cafe specials. Full breakfast with tea and toast for £3.95 fit the bill.

The Meal:
It's a tiny place, and the only seating is outside, but they have some heaters and the sun is shining so I don't feel the cold too much. Tea, toast and breakfast arrive fairly promptly, all elements hot and tasty. The staff are friendly and the older ladies working there fuss over the young men having breakfast beside me.

The tea was so good another mug was required before heading off, so the whole lot came to £4.85.

What I liked:
The friendly service, good value for money, sitting in the sunshine.

What I didn't like:
Nothing really - it delivered exactly what it promised.

Will I go back?:
If I'm in that neck of the woods, yes. I doubt you'd get a better brew anywhere.

Star Express

154 Blackstock Road, N4 2DY

Just what the doctor ordered after a slightly drunker than planned Friday night. Rather than being able to have a nice long lie, we had to be up at 9am to meet a man about a door. Having done this, in order to face the rest of the day (including a trip into town), a cooked breakfast was required.

We've never been to the Star Express before - there are loads of greasy spoon cafes up and down Blackstock Road, so we picked the nearest one and headed in.

The Menu:
Every conceivable combination of breakfast ingredients. Mr PP swithered between the Builder's Breakfast and the Mega Breakfast, and opted for the Mega in the end- 2 sausages, 2 rashers of bacon, beans, 2 eggs, beans and a fried slice. I opted for the No.3 breakfast with fried slice instead of toast - 2 rashers of bacon, mushrooms, egg and bubble & squeak. We both chose tea.

Our Meal:
The cafe was very clean and quiet - I sometimes find the necessity to have a tinny radio playing some awful commercial station really irritating, and was pleased to recover from the last remnants of my hangover in peace.

A nice strong cup of tea (obviously served with milk already in - there is no other way to drink tea is there?) was followed soon after by the breakfast. It was well cooked, and I particularly enjoyed the fried slice, which was not too greasy. The quality of the ingredients was good for the price, and I've certainly had a lot worse. In essence, it absolutely hit the spot. No pictures because we were so hungry we were halfway through before I remembered!

Both breakfasts, and some Kit-Kats and Dr Pepper for the tube, set us back the princely sum of £10.40. Bargain!

What we liked:
Clean surroundings, value for money food, the variety of breakfast ingredients on offer - I love some bubble for breakfast.

What we didn't like:
Not much - it did exactly what it promised to do.

Will we be back?:
If in the area, in need of a breakfast then yes, definitely.