One thing I love about working for myself, is the ability to shut up shop - pompous chat for "put my laptop down and ignore emails, posts and the general blogosphere" - and escape the world for a little while. We all know that blogging can be stressful at times; add in to the mix that most of us full timers spend most of our time all alone, staring at the same four walls all day long (bar events, meetings, shoots etc. which are a total god send) so it's no surprise that sometimes you just need to leave your pitt home, get into the fresh air and of course... top up on that coffee that you're living off. #ThatCaffeineLifeThough
For today's continuance of my coffee trawl - a blogging series
totally invented to indulge my coffee/lunching habit - the other half and I (who had a day off of work, huzzah!) - headed to somewhere a
little different for a caffeine hit. Move over minimalist, nordic inspired coffee shops, and enter
Hackney Pirates. A cafe, shop and enterprising charity working to develop the literary confidence of young people in Hackney. To say this is a coffee shop with a difference is just a
slight understatement.
On to the cafe...
As you will no doubt see from the above photo's, Hackney Pirates really did go hard or go home with their interiors. From the whole cafe having curved edges to mimic the shape of a boat, to the globed lights and trunks, just being in the cafe is a bit of an experience in itself. *Cue many "oh my god this is so cool" and many eye rolls from said other half.
After perusing the menu for a time that was more embarrassing than Mark Wright's attempts to get Ed Sheeran to perform at his wedding, I finally settled on a Matcha green tea latte which was easily the best I've ever had. Sweet, but not overly so, and despite being a "proper matcha latte" it wasn't too gritty/powdery either... it even got the thumbs up from my boyfriend who is very much a "what's this green shit stuff?" kinda guy. Nuff said...
Let's just take a moment to appreciate that I want to shoot myself in the face for using "nuff said" as much as you want to. [insert guilty/but sod it, yolo... emoji here].
For what it's worth, the latte - which I tried, because I am that girlfriend that tries at least half of their boyfs meals/drinks (the fact that he puts up with it is enough reason to marry him in itself) - was perfect too. Strong/creamy/not bitter/whatever actual coffee connoisseurs would say.
One reason that I was drawn to Hackney Pirates - other than the fact that it was voted in the top 10 coffee shops in the UK by Shortlist - was that the food (and more importantly, the gluten free menu) looked so tasty. Dan opted for the sandwich of the month which was the Wiltshire ham and diyonnaise and I'm 99% sure he chose it because I wouldn't be able to eat it ;) Either way, he said it was delicious and would highly recommend.
After mentioning to the lovely Andrew who worked at Hackney Pirates that I had coeliac disease, he spent quite a while going through all of the options of what I could and couldn't have. In the end, I went for the Goats cheese, pesto and beetroot salad and it was genuinely one of the best salads I've had. Those three things individually are some of my favourite things so combined together... cue all the slightly dodgy, grunting sound effects which basically meant I loved it and not that I'm having sex with my salad.
Just in case you needed further proof that we both loved - and demolished - our lunch...
Another element that I loved about Hackney Pirates was the fact that they're also a shop. Stocking the most gorgeous cards, books, art, jewellery... it's fair to say that I spent a good while browsing everything. Everything they sell is made locally and of course, any money made goes right back into the charity.
I just felt really
uplifted speaking to the managers (and maybe owners? totally not sure and forgot to ask #ShitBloggerSays) of the store, their passion for what they do was so evident and it's amazing to see/hear that so many young children - plus their parents and teachers too - have said that it's helped them so much. I'll leave a link
here because let's face it, that's going to explain exactly what they do 10x better than I will, but yes... all the admiration coming from me.
Glen coco Hackney Pirates [insert hand clapping emoji here]
The most comfortable jeans in existence: American Eagle*
Shoes that I've worn to death: Tesco (old, identical
here)
Outfit wise, I kept it so simple - basic bitch alert - with an oversized shirt, pointed loafers and jeans that had enough stretch to accommodate as much food and drink as possible ;)
So that brings me to the end of this post. I really hope you enjoyed me taking you out on my little "I've been staring at photo's of myself on screen all day and need to get away from life" journey. I really did have such a lovely time at Hackney Pirates and would highly recommend checking it out for amazing food and coffee, but also some inspiration whilst you're at it.
As always, thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed this post!
xx
Labels: Coeliac, coffee, Coffee Trawl, Gluten free, Hackney Pirates, Lifestyle, OOTD
