Upon arrival at Ace Hotel, there is a really cool vibe, complete with incredibly stylish interiors which are simple, exposed and a bit rough around the edges at the same time. Once we walked through the lobby of the hotel, ogling at the chic Shoreditch crowd along the way, we entered the doors into Hoi Polloi and were greeted by the friendly staff and taken to our table. I was once told by a friend to judge a restaurant based on their napkins and I can confirm that there were no flimsy napkins to be seen here, just high quality and sturdy ones, so already I was impressed.

Enough about napkins, let’s jump straight into the good stuff…the menu: Having been torn between a few options, one being the Moroccan eggs, the other being the avocado and poached eggs with onion, coriander and hot sauce on toasted cornbread (with smoked salmon on the side), I went with the latter. I must say that I absolutely made the right decision, it was seriously good (although I was eyeing up the buttermilk pancakes of the person sitting next to me). It ticked all the boxes, it was a hearty portion and the eggs to avocado ratio was bang on.

I could talk about eggs and avocado for hours, so let’s move swiftly on to another point worth mentioning: the music was a noteworthy element that made the atmosphere so chilled and enjoyable to be a part of, it was a small group of violinists playing contemporary music. I never thought I would say this, but I have a newfound appreciation of Katy Perry’s ‘Firework’ now I have heard it being played on the violin.

Would I go again? Yes. Would I recommend to a friend? Already have. Am I still thinking about those perfectly runny yolks? I’ll give you one guess…

Photo Credits:

Universal Design Studio

Hoi Polloi