Back at Granger & Co’s Notting Hill outlet here at Westbourne Grove. We ordered two breakfast options:
- Prawn, XO and 'nduja fried rice, poached egg - back in the 2000s, it took me more than half a dozen visits to bills before I actually went beyond the famous scrambled eggs. And even until today, I’d never ordered anything else on the menu except the 3 classics - the other two being the ricotta hotcakes, banana and honeycomb butter, and the sweet corn fritters, roast tomato, spinach and bacon.
This morning, perhaps in a moment of curiousity (or temporary insanity), I went for one of the “newer” offerings on the menu - the fried rice!
Verdict? Didn’t like it. Why, oh, why did I order this - firstly, it was overly greasy. Good fried rice should be light and fluffy. Then, I get this annoying little bits of “gristle” which I later realised were the dried shrimp or dried scallop bits of the XO, a condiment invented by HK chefs in the 90s so they can charge customers more for what was supposedly a “luxury” item. Besides, what’s the point of adding a slightly spicy XO condiment when the fried rice already contained slightly spicy 'nduja?
The large prawns were generous (perhaps to justify the £16 price tag), though slightly overcooked. The item I liked best on the plate? The fresh, slightly marinated cucumber wedges.
- Scrambled eggs and St John’s sourdough toast - always excellent, perfect creamy egg curds. Absolutely loved this.
I’m sticking to the classics from now on. 
