Grounded Coffee Company, Whitechapel

I rarely get to venture back to my old haunts in Whitechapel; I seriously miss the hustle and bustle of the high street, the daily markets and hearing the call to prayer from the mosque through the window of my little Victorian terrace flat (the mould and the puddles of vomit from bring-your-own-boozers overdoing it at Tayyabs, less so). This week I had another appointment with the dietician at the Royal London, so I made the most of being back on familiar ground and popped into the Whitechapel Gallery. I also eschewed my usual spot at Exmouth Coffee Company to try a new offering only a few metres down the road: Grounded Coffee Company. It only opened a couple of months ago, and apparently it's actually run by the same people as Exmouth which would probably explain why it's a great cafe with lovely staff and high quality food. I settled down at the bar with a berry smoothie and my book, had a chat several friendly staff and soon found myself ordering food after watching delicious looking orders delivered to nearby tables. Grounded have a great variety of baked goods, pastries and sandwiches as well as classic brunch offerings. I went for sourdough bread - carved off big, rustic loaves - topped with crushed chilli avocado and fried eggs - you can see from the picture the perfect runny yolks! The interiors are beautifully done (if you like tiles, you'll like this), and a great touch is the fact the whole front opens up onto the street, perfect on the beautifully sunny day I visited. They even serve ice cream by the cone from a cart! I'll be back to try out the bircher muesli and the sticky chicken I caught cooling on the side as I left.

FIND GROUNDED COFFEE AT: 9 Whitechapel High Street, Whitechapel, London E1 1DU