The only thing that the food at this restaurant makes me think about is how delicious the food is...Really, all other thought is suspended, and I get that red-cheeked, flushed, eyes-glazed-over look that only comes with good, good food.
The menu is different every day, with a few regulars, the banana scrunchy dessert thing, thankfully, being one of them. This dessert is made of layers of soft whipped cream, oats and honey. Oh, and bananas and strawberries and things (if you're lucky, also peaches). You get a rather generous helping (if you're nice, and follow the FFT etiquette strictly) and in itself this is enough for lunch. You get into trouble when you first order a ridiculously large plate of food (say their heavenly quiche and three-salad combo, or their evening specials that often come with chunks of bread the size of double-decker buses) and then realize that that funny feeling of longing and desperation you're getting is a craving for their scrunchy dessert. It all goes wrong from there. You eat and you eat and you eat. A stunned look and an inability to move are some of the symptoms that follow.
They make quiche everyday. If you're the kind of person that thinks quiche should be delicious - I mean, you can't go wrong with flour, butter, cheese, right? - but somehow it always sounds and smells better than it actually tastes (the same goes for pasties...), then try the quiche at FFT. I will say no more.
Now about FFT etiquette. At peak hours the line to order food extends from outside the front door, and all the way down the stairs up to the basement reception (is that what they call it?) The thing is - and this is a cardinal rule, try to break it at your peril - you have to order before you find a seat and sit down to eat. You HAVE to. Please don't ignore this rule, or you will be (not too politely) explained the rules/escorted either to the line or back to the front door or to prison...
Then, having patiently waited in line and changed your mind several hundred times (the quiche, the japanese stew special thingy, the quiche, the scrunchy dessert, the rice and stir fry, the quiche AND the scrunchy dessert, the stew...) you arrive at the ordering post (no, seriously, what do they call it?) If you dither at this point, you are doomed. Any sign of hesitation or - much, much worse - of not having looked at the menu at all up to this point are taken as serious faux pas. So, order quickly. Don't pause for breath in between items, in fact don't pause between words either. quichesaladscrunchydessertthing...
Then - and only then - try and find a seat, which may have to be next to a kindly hippie complete stranger person who will sometimes try and talk to you, and other times will simply read their novel/newspaper/hippie pamphlet, or gaze into the distance...
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, this is a veggie restaurant! It is on Neal's Street in Covent Garden and open lunch to dinner.
The menu is different every day, with a few regulars, the banana scrunchy dessert thing, thankfully, being one of them. This dessert is made of layers of soft whipped cream, oats and honey. Oh, and bananas and strawberries and things (if you're lucky, also peaches). You get a rather generous helping (if you're nice, and follow the FFT etiquette strictly) and in itself this is enough for lunch. You get into trouble when you first order a ridiculously large plate of food (say their heavenly quiche and three-salad combo, or their evening specials that often come with chunks of bread the size of double-decker buses) and then realize that that funny feeling of longing and desperation you're getting is a craving for their scrunchy dessert. It all goes wrong from there. You eat and you eat and you eat. A stunned look and an inability to move are some of the symptoms that follow.
They make quiche everyday. If you're the kind of person that thinks quiche should be delicious - I mean, you can't go wrong with flour, butter, cheese, right? - but somehow it always sounds and smells better than it actually tastes (the same goes for pasties...), then try the quiche at FFT. I will say no more.
Now about FFT etiquette. At peak hours the line to order food extends from outside the front door, and all the way down the stairs up to the basement reception (is that what they call it?) The thing is - and this is a cardinal rule, try to break it at your peril - you have to order before you find a seat and sit down to eat. You HAVE to. Please don't ignore this rule, or you will be (not too politely) explained the rules/escorted either to the line or back to the front door or to prison...
Then, having patiently waited in line and changed your mind several hundred times (the quiche, the japanese stew special thingy, the quiche, the scrunchy dessert, the rice and stir fry, the quiche AND the scrunchy dessert, the stew...) you arrive at the ordering post (no, seriously, what do they call it?) If you dither at this point, you are doomed. Any sign of hesitation or - much, much worse - of not having looked at the menu at all up to this point are taken as serious faux pas. So, order quickly. Don't pause for breath in between items, in fact don't pause between words either. quichesaladscrunchydessertthing...
Then - and only then - try and find a seat, which may have to be next to a kindly hippie complete stranger person who will sometimes try and talk to you, and other times will simply read their novel/newspaper/hippie pamphlet, or gaze into the distance...
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, this is a veggie restaurant! It is on Neal's Street in Covent Garden and open lunch to dinner.
