Ozone Coffee Roasters, Shoreditch

Ozone Coffee Roasters
11 Leonard St
Shoreditch
EC2A 4AQ
ozonecoffee.co.uk
020 7490 1039

by Homefries Bogart

My breakfasts on the internet have taken a skyward theme. The last visit had seen me enter a cloud and this time I was in Ozone, although oddly both places seem to be at street level. And they told me my research was off. Hah! 

I am not an early breakfast person, which is why at 9am, overlooking the chefs from my bar seat at Ozone Coffee, I was surprised to have ordered a ricotta maple pancake with candied walnuts and dried fig. 

Pancakes are not my area of expertise, but it was safe to say that neither I nor my Belgian or Canadian companions had ever seen a cake of such tectonic proportions. I mean this thing was the Earth's crust, a 'platter' pretty much the size of Tibet. I tried to explain this to a fellow baker later on in the day, and he didn't understand a word I was saying.

Was it any good? 

The Canadian wasn't sure. It was a little cakey for her. The Belgian was politely speechless (probably still taking in the vastness). But I say yes.

It wore its size with confidence. Its crispy crust alone was probably thicker than most other pancakes. I felt like I was on the breakfast table of Honey I Shrunk The Kids. In Tibet. 

It was on the cakey side, but that's not to say it wasn't fluffy and light. The maple syrup had drizzled through nicely, and although I thought I was going to get away with it, ended up ordering a tad more, which I do every time. 

I find that when fruit comes with a pancake it can make the affair a bit polite, but the combo of the ricotta, walnuts and dried fig had an elevated earthyness and did a damn good job at telling the bacon where to stick it. 

Perched up high in this spacious urban coffee shop with benefits, I was ready to climb down the mountain and be on my way. A few raised eyebrows from my new Ozone friendlies at the almost emptied plate and I was out the door wondering where breakfast will take this adopted Antipodean next.