During the last 3 weeks of my time living in East London (probably ever in my life) I decided it was time to branch out of my local enclosure at Mile End/Bow and venture up toward Hackney. It has always been a cool area, perhaps too cool for me, but considering I always get trapped in Broadway and Netil markets and nowhere else, I had to make a dedicated effort to try something else. It isn't the most convenient area to get to from King's Cross - sure it's only a long(ish) bus away, but I think I'll be spending that travelling time exploring newer areas to me.
Of all the cafes in the area, Rawduck seemed like a good choice and I even went twice within the 3 weeks. The first time I actually missed where it was as you don't see past the Honest Burger and construction. But someone has handily scrawled the name of the restaurant on the construction around the corner in true hipster style.
Golden Almond Milk £4.5 was an expensive but warming nut and turmeric drink. It wasn't overly strong but that's what you get with almond milk.
Brown rice & miso porridge, kombu, bonito & a poached egg £8.50 is a classic Asian "porridge" aka congee. This was a distinctly Japanese version with the miso, seaweed and fish flakes creating a lovely umami experience. I haven't had congee like this before and the overwhelming flavour was very welcome.
This experience led me back a few weeks later for lunch. The menu has some of the breakfast items on it and on this Sunday they also offer specials and roasts.
Tarka dahl, a poached egg, charred naan £8 was nice but kind of standard. I'm sure it's healthier than the typical curry house version.
Sunny fried eggs, kimchi, pickled cucumber, sesame & brown rice with fried chicken £14 had 2 small but heavily seasoned and tender chicken pieces. Unfortunately there was a lot of plain rice and the other ingredients didn't really do enough to lift it.
It was a slightly disappointing second visit but if I'm ever in Hackney again, I think there'll definitely be other things for me to try.