The London Review Cakeshop
14-16 Bury Place
WC1A 2JL
Date of Last Visit: Sunday, January 24th 2009
The Victim: Me
The Damage: £5
The Background: I am having a great London day. Manicure, pedicure. Fantastic crepe. Eyebrows taken care of. And now I feel like a slice of cake. So I Google the London Review of Books and find myself at their cakeshop.
I first heard about the London Review of Books via an article in the New York Times all about the actual London Review of Books, the magazine. It was talking about their personals section. Have you read these yet? For those of you too lazy to click the link, let me post a few:
Dear LRB, I have no money. Please run my advert for free. I want a woman who is 38. Let her know I’m really clever and good-looking. Thanks.
Yesterday I was a disgusting spectacle in end-stage alcoholism with a gambling problem and not a hope in the world. Today I am the author of this magnificent life-altering statement of yearning and desire. You are a woman to 55 with plenty of cash and very little self-respect. When you reply to this advert your life will never be the same again. My name is Bernard. Never call me Bernie.
If forced to commit, I’d say I feared geese more than ducks. Man, 47. Fears geese more than ducks.
The Food: After buying myself a few books, I step into the cakeshop. It's a bit cramped, truth be told. But apparently, they have free wi-fi. This seems like a good place for an intellectual date. So go for it, if you're reading this and are intellectual and need a good place for a date. Take him or her here.
So I order myself a decaf and a slice of cheesecake. And wish I had brought my laptop so I could have gotten in some blogging. I have a lot of restaurant reviews to catch up on!
And the cheesecake is the most honestingly refreshing slice of cheesecake I can ever remember having. The biscuit crust! The cake! The mixed berry topping! It is all so perfect that I have to go to the counter and ask where they've procured such a cheesecake.
Apparently, the owner has a friend. Who makes him/her a cheesecake every so often. I wish I had a friend like this. Look at this cake. Just look at it!
The Verdict: Go on an intellectual date here and wow the object of your desire with a slice of cheesecake. Really. Really! This was fantastic.
11 comments
A americain saying it is one of the best cheesecake she had in a long time, I must go there and try this cheesecake! Thanks for sharing!
I’ve been and I didn’t have the cheesecake but I had some other cake (I want to say it was an olive oil cake) that had rosemary in it. Divine. Made it totally worth the cramped quarters and the loudness. I happened to be there while a standup comedian was doing an interview with some journalist. The small space couldn’t handle the two booming voices but it didn’t matter with cake that good.
Mmmm. Sounds like fun all around. Good eats and cheap entertainment (people watching).
I was there on Sunday too! Didn’t make it to the cakeshop, but looked at books for ages, almost bought one, then changed my mind due to have way too many books I haven’t read yet! Didn’t meet you then, but will meet you Thursday for some German fun!
Hey Krista,
Can’t help but notice that most of the time you eat alone. What’s going on?
Josh
Josh, interesting comment! I do tend to eat lunch alone on the weekends
sometimes. Usually, when I run my errands, I specifically plan ahead as to
where I can have lunch, close to where I’m getting stuff done. Really, I
know of few people (besides my mother) who will come with me for a four hour
long outing to the drycleaner, the eyebrow threader, the cobbler, the
cheesemonger, etc. That being said, I would disagree that “most of the
time,” I eat alone! Go back over my previous posts…it’s a pretty good
balance. Also, remember that I don’t really cook…
I love the LRB bookshop cafe, but PLEASE — I need to know where you got a manicure! I work near there, and have been craving a new york style mani/pedi!
California Nails in Hampstead! Google it…
The cakes and savoury tarts are made by a brilliant bloke called Nick Wu, who also has a stall at the Sloane Square and Brunswick Centre Saturday food markets. They cost a mere £2.50 from the stall – so you can buy the whole of his range, from the amazing carrot cake to the incredibly rich and delicious double chocolate raspberry brownies. He is a genius!
Wow! Thanks for the tip! Really, that cheesecake was FANTASTIC!
Hi Krista, I’m addicted to your blog! it’s so refreshing and there is something new always! I think you are amazing and if ever you come to NY and crave a cheesecake, please get in touch! I bake and sell homemade cheesecakes just for the fun of it and people say they love it:)
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