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Bill Oddie at Poly's Tea Rooms |
I like a good breakfast
Hampstead birdwatcher Bill Oddie and Green councillor Kate Dawson tell Peter Gruner where their favourite restaurants are
ONE thing popular BBC bird watcher Bill Oddie would not stomach, after tramping the wilds of Hampstead Heath for hours on end, is a continental breakfast.
Listening to the dawn chorus on a briskly cold morning down at the Vale of Health, while observing through his binoculars some of the rarer variety of our feathered friends, gives a chap a hearty appetite for a decent plate of grub.
“Forget the croissants and coffee, that’s for city workers,” says Bill. “Don’t worry about the calories, you need something hot and tasty. Only those who have been out for hours walking in the early morning can appreciate the fantastic, mouth watering appeal of a good hot breakfast.”
So where does he head for after a morning observing the Heath’s rare cockney sparrow or song thrush?
“Poly’s Tea Rooms in South End Road for my usual plate of bacon, eggs and tomatoes,” says the front man for BBC TV’s Springwatch programme.
Suddenly I am transported back in time to the 1970s and Bill’s famous BBC comedy series, The Goodies, with Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor. There was an episode? “Ah, yes I remember it. Bunfight at the OK Tea Rooms.”
The atmosphere at Poly’s is always relaxed and friendly, adds Bill, and there’s always something hot and tasty cooking on the stove. “On weekends I really let myself go and tuck into a delicious toasted avocado, bacon and tomato sandwich. Wonderful.”
An occasional evening treat will be the White Horse pub where there is a Thai restaurant, which serves nice “slightly spicy prawn type things.”
He also mentions Zara Turkish restaurant South End Road as another favourite haunt. Bill can be seen on BBC2 Boxing Day December 26 at 7.30pm.
He will also be appearing in a new six-part series on BBC2 in January, called Bill Oddie: Back in the USA.
It will be a wildlife programme with nostalgia, looking back on Oddie’s previous travels in America.
Over in Islington the borough’s first Green councillor Katie Dawson, who lives in Highbury, has several favourite eating-places.
Good for Food in Blackstock Road, Finsbury Park, is, she says, very relaxed with an outdoor area.
“They do great coffee, bean salads and paninis. But my favourites are their wonderful Portuguese custard pies.”
For somewhere really special there’s Chez Liline, a Mauritian restaurant which has its own fishmonger next-door, in Stroud Green Road.
”You can enjoy good fish curries or shellfish and rice,” she added. “I also take the family to Yildiz, also in Blackstock Road, for amazing kebabs, salads and mesa.”
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