Albion

I go to the Albion regularly and I like the place very much. The British food selection is good and the staff are attractive, cheery and welcoming. The place has a young buzz about it – not Hoxton scruffy but not too formal and stuffy either. I like the idea of the shared tables. The Albion stays open lateish and is a good place on Sunday evenings to bring you back to urban living after a weekend in the country.

I went here a on a Sunday having cancelled my reservation to eat at the Boundary Restaurant. I expected the perfect Sunday brunch style meal. I walk in and unsurprisingly I need to queue for a table-the place is buzzing. Its bright and you're surrounded by temptation. 45 mins later I'm still waiting for a table. There are 8 of us to be fair, but the manager wants to avoid pushing tables together. Hungary, we stare at a party of four as they tuck into their second serving of ham sandwiches! The waitress, friendly to begin with, are now frustrated that we are “in the way”. But there where else are we supposed to stand and wait? Finally, we sit down-a waitor, with no apologies for the wait, hands us our menus-£5 pounds for an omlette-not bad. At the bottom of the menu it says we will cater for special dietary needs. I am actually dairy and wheat intolerant-so I immediately get excited about this statement. “Excuse me sir, is it possib le to have the omellette egg white with spinach rather than cheese?” "Um-no". “oh-ok-well do you have any wheat free toast?” " No." “Ok-well what can you do for me?” "I will need to check with the chef." I look over towards to open view kitchen and see a rather large, sweaty man, omelette pan ready in hand-I'm thinking, “do I really want him to cook my food?” The waitor proceeds to take our orders-so thats coffees all round (a soy latte for me) and one virgin mary. 30 mins later, our food arrives, my omlette is egg white with just tomotoes. A smoked salmon sandwich is forgotten and we are still waiting for our coffees – “Excuse me sir-are drinks?” "Um yeah we are really busy-the coffee orders are busy." “Well what about my bloody mary?” "Oh right." He obviously forgot that too. I just dont understand why a great looking cafe-ideal of sunday brunch-the perfect spot really, cant handle one sitting? Fair enough if you are busy-but atleast serve food with a smile. Lots of potential but I can't say I'll be going back for a while. A real shame