The Barge House, Haggerston

A few weekends ago, on one very snowy London day, Stew and I took a trip to East London, for brunch at The Barge House. You may recognise the name, for their Insta famous, mouthwatering, sourdough bread rolls, filled with breakfast favourites!Having seen one too many on my Instagram feed, I had to get down to Haggerston to see what all the fuss was about for myself. Located on the edge of the canal, The Barge House has a beatiful seating area on the ground floor, with high ceilings, foliage, and tables facing outwards. Unfortunately these were all taken when we arrived on Sunday morning - it's clearly a popular spot, so instead we were seated downstairs where unfortunately the lighting was really poor. It was also pretty damn chilly and very cramped! It's a shame as upstairs is really beautiful, and after having treked across London, and not finding an awful lot on route, it was a little disappointing. Perhaps they'll look to renovate it in future. Instead, I'd recommend waiting for a table upstairs to become free (if that's possible. Luckily the food made up for the poor surroundings. The gigantic 'breakfast in bread' lived up to all expectations, with Stew and I opting for 2 different flavours to share. We chose 'The Adam & Eve' - with black pudding, apple, smoked bacon, spinach, leeks and mushrooms. Plus 'Hot Stuff' - with chorizo, hot beans, red peppers, chilli, mushrooms, spinach, cheese and topped with an egg. Out of the two, 'Hot Stuff' definitely won. I love baked eggs and this remind me a lot of that, but even better with everything inside the bread, rather than bread on the side. The black pudding and apple is a great combination, but felt a little dry with all that bread, whereas the chorizo and beans helped soften the bread and the egg provided something to dip into.My only negative would be the price, they're rather expensive at £15 a pop, for a brunch dish. I wondered if it was possible to share one, meaning the price would be on par with other London brunch favourites, but although the bread roll is certainly big enough to share (high five to anyone that can finish it), the filling wouldn't be substantial to share. Alongside that, Stew ordered a coffee but I decided to opt for a juice - big mistake. I originally ordered a beetroot flavour but was told they'd ran out, so instead I chose what I thought would be a tasty, healthy green juice, When actually it tasted like dish water! I don't know whether it was a bad mix of greens, or something important had been left out, but it was really terrible and served in a tiny glass! Stick with a coffee or tea folks!So a bit of a mixed review there, but it was nice to explore east and check out somewhere new for a change.The Barge House: 2/5

• Great concept for breakfast
• Tasty fillings
• Overpriced
• Cold and cramped back room
• Pretty location, but difficult to get to (unless you live east).