26 Grains – Neal's Yard, London

It's been a little while! In a season when routine and self-care have never been more important to me, I don't know how I managed to let writing take a back seat. I guess I have been a little lazy, but all the intentions to document significant moments of my life have been there. 

Living and working at home again has been such a blessing. It feels like I have a lot more time these days, which was something I always wished for when I lived in Bristol, worked full time and had a busy social life. I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything now, though, which is funny because that was a big fear of mine for a long time. I still get to plan fun trips with friends who have stuck with me through this whirlwind of a year. One of those was a Christmas trip to London with Emily with the sole aim of spending the day eating. We had both wanted to go to 26 Grains for the longest time, so that's where we met and where I could have happily spent the whole day.

Porridge is no more a boring breakfast; it is my day-off indulgence. I love trying new flavours, textures and toppings and 26 Grains is the place for that. At £6 a bowl it's not cheap but since 'it's London' is an excuse widely accepted, I guess that's why. I had the hazelnut and salted butter porridge with added almond butter and it.was.divine. Loaded with hazelnuts, chopped apple and a pool of melted butter in the middle, this was ingredient pairing at its finest. The porridge itself had a perfect consistency (creamy, not too thick – delicious) with brown sugar seeping in through the top – so nice with an oat flat white.

Obviously, I wanted to eat everything on the menu but we had a table booked at Cafe Murano for lunch and, sadly, there are only so many meals one can eat in a day. For now, I'll hope someone's bought me the cookbook for Christmas... and I promise this is my last porridge-related post (of the year).