Now…y'all love a runny egg yolk, right? Right. Noone that comes to a blog called 'Food Goblin' and gets beyond the homepage doesn't like a runny egg yolk. So, it's with full confidence that I'll share with you a new spot for these I discovered recently: Cafe Loren in Camden.
Cafe Loren is a cute little Middle Eastern cafe perched under the bridge in Camden Market famous for all things…shakshuka. Shakshuk-what? Shakshuka is a Middle Eastern dish of eggs baked in a sauce/stew of tomatoes, peppers and onions, often spiced to the gills. Wikipedia heralds it as from Tunisia and Moroccan Jewish descent. Wherever it's from, it's bloody glorious and now that it's on my radar I intend to eat a lot of them.
Cafe Loren has a whole Shakshuka menu with a whole load of different varieties. I tried their glorious Homeshuka, pictured above, of roasted bell peppers with onions, garlic and tomatoes sitting on a bed of hummus (aka – the whole inside of the bowl is spread with a centimetre of hummus) with 2 poached eggs on top, and served with THE MOST DELICIOUS PITTA BREADS EVER. The capital letters are serious here, folks – these were mental. Perhaps I'm simply a total peasant when it comes to pitta breads and don't know what I've been missing but seriously, these were incredible. Thick, puffy, more like doughy English muffins than the dry ovals we're used to from supermarkets.
I also tried their White Shakshuka where the sauce was onions, mushrooms, cream cheese, feta and nutmeg. It was definitely less special than the Homeshuka with a thinner, less exciting sauce.
Other bits of note are their smoothies and coffee. The coffee was great – stand a spoon up in it strong and top notch quality (from the excellent Monmouth Coffee, no less) – and the smoothies were vibrant and fruity (as they should be). The cafe itself is super casual – from the outside it looks like it could just be a kiosk (which they do operate to serve grab and go customers), but behind that is a small seating area.
So – if you're looking for your next breakfast spot or just fancy burying your face in some eggs like the decadent brunch-queen you are, stop by Cafe Loren and get your Shakshuka ON.
The Stables Market, Unit 005-006 Stables Market, Chalk Farm Rd, London NW1 8AH, United Kingdom
+44 20 3076 0099
