Chapter 39- Patisserie Deux Amis, London
Sundays are meant to be lazy days and ideally, I'd love to spend them in cafes- sipping on a cappuccino, reading, chatting or just people watching- but given that it's the crazy exam season is currently on, a quick lunch at Patisserie Deux Amis had to do for now. This little cafe is just two minutes away from where I stay and I've bought and taken away cakes from this cafe twice (after a friend recommended it many months ago). This past Sunday, the urge to cafe-hunt was too great (I'm really quite sick of studying- one's life can't just revolve around four subjects) so this place popped into mind when Jean suggested having lunch out:
Patisserie Deux Amis might look like yet another British cafe (with the exception of the very French name) but once you step into this intimate and cosy cafe, the atmosphere exudes a sense of chic and French-ness. A large part of the cafe is dedicated to showcasing cakes, pastries and other savoury-looking pastries (the tarts looked so so lovely. Pity I wasn't tremendously hungry- otherwise I would have ordered some dessert-to-go, Jean did! More on that in a bit) and the coffee machine stands out in acting as a divide between the seating area and the counter. Small tables and chairs fill up the room but the closeness of the tables and chairs do not make the place seem claustrophobic; again it just adds to the Parisian vibe. There is a simple system of taking orders here (on post-its!) and this past Sunday happened to be a busier-than-usual day for the ladies running the cafe and it's quite remarkable that two women (one of the girls really looked like a young Cate Blanchett) were running the whole cafe by themselves- taking orders, washing dishes, making sandwiches/coffee etc etc. And they managed to serve everyone promptly and quickly!
The lunch sandwiches that were available were limited but given it was still a nice range (as you can see in the picture above). Each of us wanted to order a different item so Melodie ordered a ploughman's, Jean ordered a crispy bacon one and I, a ham and cheese. But unfortunately they'd run out of ham so I ordered a bacon sandwich as well. The girl who took our orders was very sweet- she even offered to not charge us for a food item because she thought that we would mind waiting for 15 minutes for fresh bread to be baked but who can complain about eating fresh bread? We sure didn't. (I really love fresh bread.) While we were waiting we got served our drinks: Jean had a latte, Melodie had mint tea while I had cappuccino (it was not too frothy and chocolate-y on the top; just the way I like it).
Our sandwiches soon came and they were presented in a cute manner (triangles!). The bread was not too hard and crispy and I felt that there was a good amount of bacon in my sandwich (I've eaten bacon sandwiches which shouldn't even claim to be bacon sandwiches because there are only bits of bacon).
Patisserie Deux Amis closes by 2pm on Sundays so we left the cafe at about 1.45pm after we finished our sandwiches and drinks. Jean decided to take away two slices of cake: one chocolate hazelnut cake and one lemon tart (both cakes are so so yummy- especially the chocolate hazelnut one; it was like eating a honeycomb). I am determined to try every single kind of pastry/cake at this cafe because everything just looks so delectable (and the quality of these cakes is really top-notch and they're way more affordable than the cakes sold at a cafe-cake chain called Patisserie Valerie)! Nothing beats the combination of good food, coffee, company and ambience. Another afternoon at this cafe beckons- after the exams I'll just spend the afternoon here, drink coffee, read and watch the world go in this quiet corner of London.
Patisserie Deux Amis might look like yet another British cafe (with the exception of the very French name) but once you step into this intimate and cosy cafe, the atmosphere exudes a sense of chic and French-ness. A large part of the cafe is dedicated to showcasing cakes, pastries and other savoury-looking pastries (the tarts looked so so lovely. Pity I wasn't tremendously hungry- otherwise I would have ordered some dessert-to-go, Jean did! More on that in a bit) and the coffee machine stands out in acting as a divide between the seating area and the counter. Small tables and chairs fill up the room but the closeness of the tables and chairs do not make the place seem claustrophobic; again it just adds to the Parisian vibe. There is a simple system of taking orders here (on post-its!) and this past Sunday happened to be a busier-than-usual day for the ladies running the cafe and it's quite remarkable that two women (one of the girls really looked like a young Cate Blanchett) were running the whole cafe by themselves- taking orders, washing dishes, making sandwiches/coffee etc etc. And they managed to serve everyone promptly and quickly!
The lunch sandwiches that were available were limited but given it was still a nice range (as you can see in the picture above). Each of us wanted to order a different item so Melodie ordered a ploughman's, Jean ordered a crispy bacon one and I, a ham and cheese. But unfortunately they'd run out of ham so I ordered a bacon sandwich as well. The girl who took our orders was very sweet- she even offered to not charge us for a food item because she thought that we would mind waiting for 15 minutes for fresh bread to be baked but who can complain about eating fresh bread? We sure didn't. (I really love fresh bread.) While we were waiting we got served our drinks: Jean had a latte, Melodie had mint tea while I had cappuccino (it was not too frothy and chocolate-y on the top; just the way I like it).
Our sandwiches soon came and they were presented in a cute manner (triangles!). The bread was not too hard and crispy and I felt that there was a good amount of bacon in my sandwich (I've eaten bacon sandwiches which shouldn't even claim to be bacon sandwiches because there are only bits of bacon).
Patisserie Deux Amis closes by 2pm on Sundays so we left the cafe at about 1.45pm after we finished our sandwiches and drinks. Jean decided to take away two slices of cake: one chocolate hazelnut cake and one lemon tart (both cakes are so so yummy- especially the chocolate hazelnut one; it was like eating a honeycomb). I am determined to try every single kind of pastry/cake at this cafe because everything just looks so delectable (and the quality of these cakes is really top-notch and they're way more affordable than the cakes sold at a cafe-cake chain called Patisserie Valerie)! Nothing beats the combination of good food, coffee, company and ambience. Another afternoon at this cafe beckons- after the exams I'll just spend the afternoon here, drink coffee, read and watch the world go in this quiet corner of London.