Restaurant review: Albion Caff at Terence Conran’s Boundary Project in Shoreditch

Albion Caff

A couple of weeks ago I met my tantalisingly gorgeous friend, Margarita for lunch at Terence Conran’s new Boundary Project in Shoreditch. There’s a hotel upstairs, a French restaurant in the basement and the wonderful Albion caff (www.albioncaff.co.uk) at ground level. My mate Mags, being half-Italian, half-Chilean, is one passionate woman, especially when it comes to food. Tiny to look at (she says she never snacks, just eats three meals a day), she virtually dragged me into the Albion where we lustily pondered the enticing offerings of pork crackling, fish and chips, apple crumble, tea in a teapot with crocheted cosy! Oh, the joys of proper British cooking. Finally, we both decided on Welsh Rabbit, which came with oozy cheese smothered over a hefty chunk of doorstop bread. Summer pudding with clotted cream followed, and then a quick exploration of the front shop’s display of time-honoured deli delights - enough to send a girl hurtling into sensory overload. Clutching our bellies and giggling like loons, Mags and I tottered towards home, nattering about how we’d rather have a perfectly-prepared traditional dish than some delicate, fussy version of what an experimental chef thinks makes us lick our spoon.