jingle jungle: storm hideout

Location | Bush Hall Dining Rooms, 304 Uxbridge Road, Shepherd's Bush, W12 7LJ

As Autumn rolled in on a rainy Saturday afternoon a couple of weeks ago, +Asad and I decided to try a new local: Bush Hall Dining Rooms. Sat proud on Uxbridge Road, and taking inspiration from the famous live music venue Bush Hall next door, this is a great little place to spend an afternoon and watch the world go by. Particularly good too when you're trying to hide out from a storm! Asad had passed Bush Hall Dining Rooms a fair few times already so it seemed about time we tried it out.

I've been veering away from too much coffee these last few weeks so on this occasion I opted for a Jasmine Silver Needle tea. Asad went for a builder's tea because he's classic like that. I was a big fan of the tea brand I had, it's from a company called Jing Tea and you can tell that it's high quality loose leaf. Food wise, I seem to be judging restaurants by their classic brunch offerings so went for an Eggs Florentine, Asad went for a burger, and later on for dessert we shared a slice of ginger cake. Our mains were good, but we both thought our dishes were slightly on the dry side. I felt my hollandaise sauce could have been smoother, more runny but that may just be personal preference. The ginger cake though was absolutely delicious, moist, packed full of flavour and went really well with my tea!

As for the venue itself, it really reminded me of a 1950s diner merged with a 1920s speakeasy. The red-white checkered floors and booths scream diner; the wooden tables and chairs, wood panelled walls and stylised bar felt like speakeasy. Not sure if this is the look the team were going for but I like it [I've put a picture at the end so you can see the potential parental heritage]. It's a really classy venue with a down-to-earth vibe [if that's at all possible], and I felt instantly relaxed inside. It may have just tugged at my love for these particular eras but I thought the details were well thought through [from the Jing tea sets and mini milk bottles to the furniture and lighting choices].

Asad and I ended up spending nearly 4 hours there chatting, eating, drinking tea and watching Uxbridge road go by and all for a very agreeable £15 each. All of the staff and particularly Miki, one of the Assistant Manager, made us feel very welcome despite us eating into the team's break... We were very apologetic when we realised we'd been there so long that we had gone into the start of their dinner service! However, that's just testament of how friendly and relaxed Bush Hall Dining Rooms is - and we would highly recommend visiting the team for a spot of breakfast, brunch or a pre-gig meal because it'll be worth it. I know Asad and I will be going back for more :)