Every Sunday morning I will lay in bed for as long as possible, just because I can. Having worked in retail for 5 years, you learn to really appreciate weekends when you no longer have to work them. Whilst lie-ins on the weekend may seem heavenly, they also have their down sides: come 12 o’clock, I am vigorously ravenous because I would normally have eaten something by this time! First world problems hey?

Once I finally get up, it’s too late to start cooking breakfast because by the time it is cooked, it is basically lunch. This results in me pestering my boyfriend to take me out to eat somewhere local so that I can be fed quicker.

We had both eaten unhealthily for most part of the week, which meant that we had the extra pressure of trying to choose somewhere healthy to make up for it. That’s when he suggested The Organic Larder which he had previously visited with a friend.

Located in the heart of Buckhurst Hill, Essex there is nothing quite like it in the area. Queens Road is known for it’s more extravagant restaurants such as Catch, so the fresh, modern grey & white exterior of the health cafe stands out rather prominently down the quaint, small street.

Once inside, The Organic Larder does not disappoint. If an organic menu isn’t enough to feed your clean-eating habit, have no fear because the walls and fridges are full of organic produce for you to purchase & experience at home!

Once we’d scouted out a table for two in the bustling cafe, I noticed what I thought was a cute little brochure explaining a bit about the kitchen, which in fact turned out to be the menu! It’s always nice to see something a little different like this.

If I visit a restaurant & the menu is readily available on the table, 9 times out of 10, it is always dirty which automatically gives me a bad vibe about the place. Therefore you can only imagine the joy on my face when I saw this crisp, good as new menu pictured below.

Although it was probably about 1pm when we arrived, I still wanted something breakfasty even if the lunch menu did look amazing.

It just so happened that what I ordered was the first thing on the menu (absolutely nothing to do with my roaring belly😜.)

Eggs On Rye

Two poached eggs, baby spinach and avocado on rye bread, with hollandaise and turmeric salt

Surprisingly I’ve not yet written a post about breakfast so you wouldn’t know that eggs benedict is my life. Well now you do, so I’m sure it comes as no shock as to why I chose this particular dish – the hollandaise sauce. I actually only discovered what was in this sauce a short while ago when I attempted to make eggs benedict from scratch, and that is egg & butter.

When you think of it, an egg-based sauce on top of eggs sounds like a massive overload but when it’s mixed with bacon for eggs benedict, you really don’t notice. Therefore I was a bit apprehensive as to what the eggs on rye would taste like without the bacon to break the flavours up a tad. For an extra £3, I could have added bacon but I wanted to go all out and eat clean the right way at the perfect place for it.

On top of the poached eggs came some seeds & herbs which provided the hollandaise sauce with a delightful crunch which it otherwise would have lacked without that juicy bit of bacon. What made it even better was the fact that there was not one ounce of fat on my plate whatsoever, just pure seedy goodness which tasted just as nice!

As much as I love a good old eggs benedict, I have to admit that a short while after I have eaten it I start to feel a bit lethargic, but after my eggs on rye, I was good to go. I think I may have found my healthier, eco-friendly alternative.

Chai Orange and Ginger Shibui Loose Organic Tea

Monmouth Organic Cappuccino

Why is there a timer from Pictionary on my table you ask? It is in fact a “tea timer” which informs you when your tea has brewed according to your tastebuds eg whether you like your tea strong, normal or weak. Pretty cool huh? I’m not really a fan of tea but this looked too good not to try & I’m so glad I did. It was really refreshing & genuinely felt like it was doing my body a whole world of good.

As nice as the tea was, I had to get my wake-up coffee also. Now it may just look like your average coffee in a mediocre glass, but don’t be fooled. It’s designed to keep your cold drinks cool & your hot drinks warm . How cool?!

It worked so well – I ‘ve never known a cappuccino to still burn my mouth after I’ve finished my food. You are normally lucky for it to still be warm even before your meal arrives. I don’t know whether it was the fact that it stayed so warm for so long or the fact that the coffee beans were organic, but the cappuccino tasted like a proper coffee – not too frothy or gimmicky like these trendy coffee shops can sometimes be.

As we finished up our delicious drinks, we were offered a complimentary peanut butter brownie. Not sure where the healthy part is in that but I wasn’t going to say no! It just goes to show that you can keep fit whilst indulging a little.

The family next to us ordered these amazing powerhouse pancakes which I automatically assumed were unhealthy until I saw that they were made with whole wheat & buck wheat. Will definitely be returning to #discoverdifference in those.

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I would highly recommend The Organic Larder for a quick, healthy breakfast or a more filling, but still healthy lunch.

I hope to see them serving dinner one day too because clean eating is a big part of people’s lives nowadays and having the time to cook a sufficient, healthy supper is sometimes unrealistic with the majority of our schedules.

Interested in visiting The Organic Kitchen? See their menu here and let me know your thoughts in the comments below👇