It’s not often I find myself eating chia seeds out of a young coconut. Take one look at me and you’ll see I eat a worrying amount of animal fat. But here, in the gorgeous surrounds of Soho House’s new hotel The Ned, I find myself eating just that, along with bircher muesli and a beetroot latte.
Read my review of Kaia, also in The Ned, here.
The restaurant in question is Malibu Kitchen. It’s the harder to find of the nine restaurants set within the foyer of The Ned; tucked away in the corner to the right of the entrance. We visit for breakfast the morning after the Borough Market attack yet the place is still busy – you’ll never stop Londoners having breakfast that’s for sure.
It’s a proper beaut of a dining room. Long and thin with an open bar and kitchen at either end. It’s calm and serene; our waitress talks with hushed tones. I feel like I should be wearing a bath robe. There’s marble and potted plants galore. We’re given a booth for two. I love it.
We start with beetroot and turmeric lattes (not combined) which are surprisingly tasty. They’re a gorgeous pink and yellow colour too. I quickly realise there’s no actual coffee in either though which is a shame.
So, to the young coconut, filled with chia seeds (£15). It’s a whopping portion, at first I think I won’t manage it all but once I get going, I’m a man on fire. It’s a strange texture, like frog spawn, but it’s weirdly addictive. Plenty of passion fruit adds both sweet and sharp notes and there are gooey, chewy nutty balls which are lush.
Bircher muesli (£7) is topped with prettily arranged goji berries, mango, blackberries, blueberries, dragon fruit and passion fruit. It feels good value for the array of fruit. It’s also incredibly filling.
Oh and Mum, bircher muesli is a dish of pre soaked rolled oats, usually overnight, the creation of Maximilian Bircher-Benner, a Swiss doctor and nutritionist who believed he could cure his patients with raw fruit and vegetables.
We finish with a side of hash browns (£3). They arrive piping hot, fresh from the fryer, all crispy and naughty. They have a strong taste of onion, the balls no doubt containing celeriac instead of potato. We don’t mind as they’re delicious. They’re best dunked in ketchup – ask for it, they’ve got some.
I went to Malibu Kitchen out of intrigue, to try food that I wouldn’t normally eat and I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sure, I had a Bleecker burger for lunch, but it was chia and bircher that gave me the energy to get there.
Would we go back? Yes.