Proper Japanese matcha places are hard to find in London. Though tbh so far I have either been working contracts (no time to sneeze, let alone search for matcha houses) or between them, and thus saving pennies in this (matcha) expensive city!
But I'd had Tombo on my radar as an apparently Japanese place serving proper, Asian-style green tea drinks and desserts. So when I found myself near South Kensington recently, and with a little cash to throw around, I went in!
What I had:
An iced matcha latte.
The price: GBP3.85 / S$6.53
The size: average
The verdict:
Passable. And probably better than many matcha lattes I've tried here (the UK standard in general is very poor!) This was a proper matcha latte - using cow's milk and normal matcha. And I made sure to ask for it to be sweet, and check the milk etc in advance, to avoid any horror shows like the Pret a Manger disaster.
But the milk was still regular stuff poured from a supermarket carton. (Whereas good, and cheaper, matcha houses in Asia test and source different milks to get the best possible experience for customers.) It took about 60 seconds to make - which was good as I didn't need to wait, but somehow felt a bit disappointing for the near £4 fee! Just the right amount of ice added. And the flavour was creamy, and with a little bit of strength. (I'm used to more strength, but hey!) Overall, it was recognisable as matcha, and I might go back if absolutely craving a green tea latte. But there was way too little bang for my bucks for it to be a regular - even if a Tombo was nearby.
Service was also pleasant. But in Singapore, for example, this drink would be considered mediocre and beyond over-priced. Perhaps that is as good as it gets in the UK?
Tombo: https://www.tombocafe.com/
Most recently, I've been staying near Willesden Green in London. And given this sunny August weekend, I took a walk to investigate the nearest green space - Gladstone Park.
The park is OK - more of a heath or fields than one of the excellent Royal Parks in this city. But one thing which seemed interesting there was this small, old station - closed to the public, and labelled Dudding Hill Junction.
Turns out this is part of a little railway that time forgot!
The station is part of the old Dudding Hill line, which was opened with much excitement in 1868. The line itself is only about 4 miles long, serving areas of North West / West London. In the late 1800s, the Willesden area (I think in part because of swanky new rail services) was morphing from an outskirts village, into a middle-class London suburb. [Which is kinda reflected in a lot of the architecture here - though today it's Zone 2, and fairly central in the ever-expanding city!]
The Dudding Hill line was closed for general use just after 1900. It seems passenger services were soon picked up by the arrival of the even swankier Metropolitan and other lines which still function as part of today's London Underground.
But amazingly, the old line STILL operates a sparse service, using a speed limit of 40mph, and semaphore signalling - just as it would have a century ago! The service is/was apparently mainly for freight, but with very occasional chartered passenger services (which in 2019 must be like a step back in time!)
Tbh this line can't be generating much revenue, and I'm surprised that it has not been demolished to re-use the space/lines. In fact there have been numerous recent proposals to re-work it, but I'm not sure if any are going ahead. In a way this is quite nice, though. It is unusual to find inadvertent reminders of the past, especially in a big city like London!
Here's the photo I took of Dudding Hill Junction yesterday, and then one stolen from Wikipedia, which shows a glamorous Victorian passenger crowd descending the steps. :)
