Brunch at Chamomile Cafe, Belsize Park

Thursday 11 October 2018 Belsize Park, London NW3 4BU, UK

Brunch at Chamomile Cafe, Belsize Park
England's Lane is a hidden gem of a street in Belsize Park, a pretty area in north-west London. I talked about moving to London back in February and I've loved getting to know the area and more importantly, the amazing brunch and coffee spots right on my doorstep. This street is quite simply bakery, brunch and coffee heaven. 

There are no less than six coffee shops along this one street, and I can confirm I have now tried almost each one since I moved. One I hadn't tried until recently was Chamomile Cafe*, which originally opened in 2003. A month ago they changed the menu so I thought this would be the perfect time to get my brunch on with a friend. 

To put it bluntly, the place was rammed with people on a drizzly Saturday afternoon when we arrived. I had been informed by a nice waitress ahead of the review that we should expect a 10 minute wait for a table so we weren't too taken aback by the wait, but more importantly, we were hit by the immediate warmth of the place from the moment we wandered in.

Brunch at Chamomile Cafe, Belsize Park
Brunch at Chamomile Cafe, Belsize Park
If you've ever watched the Mitchell and Web sketch about the man with the office that's too small, I'll have to say it did feel a little like that as we waited, awkwardly moving out of the way of people leaving as they got in the way of the people paying at the counter, leaving us in a strange limbo with other people by the door. 

However, all the confusion disappeared as soon as we sat down at our table. We were greeted warmly by a friendly waitress and given lots of time to look over the menu. It took us a long time to decide what to eat, the brunch options were incredible! We ordered some coffee while we waited, I mean you should all know by now that I'm a huge flat white fan.  

After agonising over a few options, I went for the honey and lemon waffles, which came with honey mascarpone, honeycomb, lemon curd and bee pollen sprinkled over the top, as I have a ridiculous sweet tooth and I was craving something sweet but zesty. My girl Charlotte meanwhile opted for the grilled banana bread with peanut butter, greek yoghurt, toasted pecans and maple syrup.  

Brunch at Chamomile Cafe, Belsize Park
Brunch at Chamomile Cafe, Belsize Park

Despite the fact that the cafe was jam-packed, the food arrived quickly and it looked stunning on the plate. The waffles were warm and soft, and the combination of the lemon curd and mascarpone was heavenly. The pieces of honeycomb gave the dish a gorgeous crunch too so a huge thumbs-up from me! 

Whilst Char's dish looked a bit less insta-ready, who's really going to complain about having that much peanut butter on a plate?! I stole a quick bite of her banana bread and it had a beautiful texture, pairing perfectly with the lightness of the greek yoghurt and maple syrups and pecans. We weren't rushed from our table once we had finished our meal, which is one of my pet hates in restaurants, so we were able to sit and chat with our coffees at our own leisure. By this point of the afternoon it was a bit quieter in the cafe too so the atmosphere was little calmer.

Brunch at Chamomile Cafe, Belsize Park We were positively stuffed by the end but the portion sizes were good for the price of the dishes. I would say that this area of London can feel a bit pricier than others, but it's definitely similar to brunch prices in places like Clapham and Balham. Our dishes cost £9.50 each, and coffees came in at around £2.50.

While it's not somewhere I could afford to visit every weekend for brunch, I would certainly recommend it if you have a long day ahead exploring in London or if payday has just rolled around! It felt like a real treat and I can't wait to head back there.

Have you visited north-west London yet for brunch? Where are your favourite spots? Tell me all!

Thanks for reading!

*This is a collaboration post. I had a meal at Chamomile Cafe in exchange for a review. However, all opinions are my own! For more information, see my disclaimer

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Brunch at Chamomile Cafe, Belsize Park
 

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