Squirrel Review
Saturday mornings are generally my sleep in day but I couldn’t turn down the offer to visit, Squirrel. This restaurant is the brain child of Charlie Gilkes and Duncan Stirling creators of the popular Cahoots, Bunga Bunga and Mr Fogg’s Tavern. This time, however, their wives Anneke Gilkes and Zoe Stirling are along for the ride. The goal behind Squirrel is to make nutirous and organic food taste like it’s not. Forget the nightmares of tasteless green smoothies and embrace fresh healthy food like you haven’t before.
My cousin and I were amazed with the entire décor of Squirrel as soon as we walked in. It’s seriously worth visiting Squirrel for the design element itself. From the cute acorn shaped lights to the Oak cabinet front, the entire store is the tree house you dreamed of as a child. Even the tap in the toilet is shaped like an adorable squirrel. We chose to sit in the above alcove overlooking the store and felt like we were hidden away in our own private cubby house.
When we arrived the lovely manager was busy training new staff, which isn’t uprising given the store is only two months old. So the last thing she needed that morning was a reviewer asking lots of questions but she made us feel extremely welcome and apologised for any waits on our meals. We really weren’t bothered by the wait as we were in such a charming venue it was easy to relax and gossip. Plus both my cousin and I took full advantage of Squirrel’s policy of allowing customers to customise their dishes according to taste and dietary preferences. Given this, we knew things would take a little longer for our meals to get to us.
We chose to have a Poached Egg Bowl each and with these being extremely affordable prices, if I lived closer I’d be eating one every morning for breakfast. With all the changes to my bowl, I had a poached egg, black beans, tomato, coriander, feta, spinach, quinoa, sweet potato, smoked salmon and avocado. My cousin had a similar bowl minus the smoked salmon and black beans. These were both so delicious. I still can’t believe that a healthy breakfast option could taste this good. My idea of breakfast generally consists of a crumpet, toast, cereal or a ham, cheese and tomato toasted sandwich. Probably not the healthiest of options. These poached egg bowls definitely changed my outlook on healthy breakfasts.
The lovely manager insisted we try the Chunky Toast before leaving and brought us the three toasts available. My favourite was definitely the Avocado, chilli, lime and rocket Chunky Toast. It was perfection.
We got to wash our breakfasts down with some delicious hot drinks which consister of a cup of tea, Reishi and cacao hot chocolate and my new favourite drink the Matcha Latte (matcha, almond milk). We also got to try some of the cold press juices available and boy were these something special.
Of course Squirrel has some healthy dessert options and we got to try some energy balls, banana bread, vegan chocolate pudding and a berry pudding. Healthy desserts that actually taste like their bad for you but they aren’t. Sign me up!
Squirrel is situated less than a five minute walk from South Kensington station and well worth venturing down for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Healthy is the new black and with Squirrel’s menu and prices, you can’t go wrong. This restaurant has all the makings for a large chain so fingers crossed that Squirrel will be popping up in Boroughs all over London.
Reporter: Tegan LeBon
Twitter/Instagram: @Toogs1
11 Harrington Road, South Kensington, SW7 3ES
OPENING HOURS
MONDAY – FRIDAY | 7AM – 9:30PM
SATURDAY | 8AM – 9:30PM
SUNDAY | 9AM – 9:30PM
https://twitter.com/wearesquirrel
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