Berwick Street market is pretty bohemian and Foxcroft and Ginger is the latest quirky arrival, an all-day deli café open from breakfast to early evening.

The Venue
Foxcroft and Ginger is charmingly old fashioned, with plain décor upstairs (including an ancient mangle), a long food counter and about sixteen seats. Downstairs there’s room for another thirty-odd diners on retro chic chairs, with a tiger rug on the floor, old sofas and a vaulting horse as a prominent feature.

The Atmosphere
Comfortable, homely and lived-in, Foxcroft and Ginger has an immediate rapport with its customers in a mixture of sit-in and takeaway service. Staff are helpful and friendly and have an obvious enthusiasm for the food and drink they serve. It’s a welcoming, laid back place to drop in at any time of the day.

The Food
The menu changes daily but there are always unusual salads (£4.50) including: broccoli, fine beans, red onion and mixed seeds; garden peas with feta, pistachio and mint; and chickpeas with peppers, coriander and pomegranate seeds. All sandwiches (from £4, hot or cold) are served with herb salad. Choices include: roasted mushroom, halloumi, spring onion and truffle oil; mozzarella, peach and cherry tomato salsa; roasted peppers, basil and balsamic syrup; or a wrap with feta, olives, tomato, spring onions and red onion. It really is veggie heaven.

However, meat eaters are also catered for. The salt beef roll (£5.50) with homemade onion jam and cheddar is a fine melding of salt beef and cheese. It’s a winner, especially with the accompanying coriander and rocket leaves. There’s chorizo sausage with roasted peppers, cumin-roasted butternut squash and harissa mayonnaise or Toulouse sausages with onion jam (both £4.75). Corn fritters are a revelation, nice and crunchy and piled high with fine Serrano ham and spinach. Other possibilities (£3.20 - £4.95) include eggs Benedict in a muffin with ham or smoked salmon, English muffin with black pudding, scrambled eggs and chives, frittata of the day with herb salad and a club sandwich. French toast is divine, with melted cheese oozing over the ham. For dessert there are cakes, croissants, banana bread and muffins, but the one that takes, as it were, the biscuit, is a fruit-packed Chelsea bun (£2.25), fresh and hot and so satisfying. Or try a chocolate brownie (£1.20) with your cuppa, tea or coffee (£2.20).

The Drink
As yet Foxcroft and Ginger does not have its alcohol licence. However, there are plenty of fruit drinks, juices and waters, including a nice line in French soft drinks – doesn’t pamplemousse sound much nicer than plain grapefruit? The homemade lemonade, really quenching with pieces of fresh fruit and mint, deserves a gold star. Teas are from Jing, coffees from Monmouth Coffee – excellent brews that put the finishing touch to any meal. Milk is from Devon Jersey cows and is served in bottles on the table.

The Last Word
Foxcroft and Ginger’s got the lot – top quality food made from ingredients sourced from small local suppliers, served in comfortable surroundings.

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