Top 7: Nut Butters on Toast in LondonBy Alicia Grimshaw
Post in association with Meridian Foods for #MeridianNutWeek. Make sure to follow Meridian Foods on Twitter here and like them on Facebook here.
If people aren’t blogging about it, taking pictures of it or talking about it, they’re eating it – of course, we’re talking about the dish of the moment: nut butter on toast. Thanks to Instagram and health bloggers alike, nut butters popularity has soared and let’s be honest who doesn’t love a nut butter? In the spirit of #MeridianNutWeek we tracked down the best nut butters on toast London has to offer:
Order: Organic peanut butter, banana and strained peaches on sourdough (£4)
Why: Coffee, cycling and beer is the order of the day at Look Mum No Hands! They’ve got a workshop at Old Street to help you mend your flat tyres and spray some WD40 on your brakes and a cafe attached for a pre/post cycle refuel. They source their coffee from the Square Mile Coffee Roasters in East London and all of their beers are from small micro breweries in and around London.
The Nut Butter Lowdown: The chaps down at Look Mum No Hands! have gone one step further with their nut butter and toast and topped it with banana and peaches. Its sweet, delicious and suitable for vegans. Ideal for a light breakfast before cycling to the hills or around the park.
Where: 49 Old Street, London, EC1V 9HX
Order: Sourdough toast with jams by England Preserves, G&W’s homemade peanut butter or Marmite
Why: Fuse the Australian and New Zealand cafe scene together with humble food from British ‘caffs’ and you get Ginger and White. Serving well-loved classic breakfast dishes of beans on toast and bacon baps using ingredients sourced from local farmers markets. You can certainly taste the difference – this is good, honest food made well and given the love it so rightly deserves. This isn’t just a your run of the mill cafe – it’s got heart, soul and most importantly cares about the food it produces.
The Nut Butter Lowdown: It’s simple – pair homemade peanut butter with a slab of the finest sourdough and you’ve got one killer dish. Sure, you can drown it in South America’s finest super foods but you don’t need to when it tastes this good. If you’re one of those people who always asks for extra tomato ketchup sachets, no fear they give you the whole pot – lather as much as you like on.
Where: 4a-5a Perrins Court, NW3 1QS and Belsize Park, 2 England’s Lane,NW3 4TG
Photo courtesy of Happy Gee
Order: Homemade peanut butter or almon butter on toast (£4.95) with red grapes (£5.95)
Why: Mojo just has ‘it’. The ‘it’ being the smoothie list, the brekkie options and the lunch time salad bar. We’ve got a lot of time for Mojo – they’re into nutrient-rich whole foods, avoiding refined sugar and processed food and fully embracing nutritionally balanced food packed full of healthy fats, responsibly sourced proteins and whole grains. Grab a stool and order their sweet like kale smoothie and their toast with orange tahini paste – breakfast sorted.
The Nut Butter Lowdown: Another haunt favouring the homemade nut butter, Mojo freshly make their peanut butter and almond butter on site every morning. No palm oil, no additives and no food nasties – just nuts.
Where: 8 D’Arblay Street, W1F 8DP
Order: Jam un-toast – Rasin bread, cashew cream cheese and goji berry jam (£8.80)
Why: Plant-based food, all organically grown and free from refined sugar and gluten is why Tanya’s Cafe has become a popular eatery especially with the West London and gym bunny crowd. Their nut milk coffees for breakfast make a great change from your sugar loaded, whipped cream coffee monstrosity you order on your morning commute. Type in healthy restaurants into google and Tanya’s pops up every time.
The Nut Butter Lowdown: This might not be an actual nut butter, but at Tanya’s they’ve created a cream cheese out of cashews and that’s a nut in our books (before you start trolling me on Twitter). The cashew cream cheese is piled high on raisin bread with goji berry jam for a fruity kick.
Where: myhotel Chelsea, 35 Ixworth Pl, London SW3 3QX
Order: Granary bread or seeded bagel with Marmite, strawberry jam, marmalade, peanut butter, Nutella, honey or cream cheese (£1.80)
Why: With over 20 Pods across London, this chain knows how to rustle up healthy, fast food. Feeding the time-strapped Londoner with good, nutritious and pleasing grub that is much better than a sad over-refridgerated meal deal sandwich. For a warming pot of breakfast goodness, their bean boost breakfast is spot on.
The Nut Butter Lowdown: Peanut butter belong on bagels, end of story. It might not be homemade nut butter, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t taste as nice. Pod is perfect for a takeaway breakfast and their bagel with peanut butter will certainly keep those sweet cravings at bay.
Where: Locations here
Order: Homemade Irish soda bread with peanut butter
Why: This quaint courtyard cafe in Clerkenwell is the ultimate foodie destination. Standing true to their family values, their philosophy is good old-fashioned hospitality paired with homemade, simple yet tasty dishes. It’s not pretentious, it’s not fussy, it’s about comforting food, using the finest possible ingredients and that’s why it works.
The Nut Butter Lowdown: Firstly, we need to talk about their homemade Irish soda bread it is the absolute dream – some might say Irish soda bread has an acquired taste, for us it taste absolutely fantastic. Malty, well-baked and hearty. The bread is a taste sensation just slathered with butter, add peanut butter and it’s a totally different story.
Where: 1+4 Sutton Lane, London, EC1M 5PU
Order: Rye bread with homemade nut butter and banana (£4)
Why: Roots and Bulbs is all about that sweet juice life – Cold-pressed juices, super smoothies and wholesome food. Not only do they whip up some pretty incredible juices they’re also a dab handing at food too. It’s not earth shatteringly different to any other juice shop, think chia pots, salad boxes and quinoa granola but it does taste damn good.
The Nut Butter Lowdown: Lets start with the rye bread, it’s not a measly slice but a thick slab of the good stuff. It has a sharp, strong, almost tangy flavour. The guys at Roots and Bulbs also love a good homemade nut butter and their certainly doesn’t disappoint. Choose between cashew, hazelnut, brazil or peanut butter. If you like it that much you can also buy their nut butters by the jar.
Where: Locations here
Make it at Home: Meridian Foods
For the best nut butter on toast at home, try Meridian Nut Butter – they have a fantastic range of organic and natural nut and seed butters, which are packed full of nature’s energy to help fuel the whole family. Dig in.
Post in association with our friends over at Meridian Foods for #MeridianNutWeek. To take part in Nut Week, make sure to follow Meridian Foods on Twitter here and like them on Facebook here.