Hugo's (and CC's)

Hugo’s is a bar/restaurant on Lonsdale Road, Queens Park’s alternative drag which has a decent amount of vibrancy, with a few creative cottage industries as well as a Pilates studio and some workshops.

Hugo’s has been around for a long time but it took me a while to visit. It used to be the Organic Café and was well known for its jazz Sundays. I believe these are still going, but we came for a quick Saturday feed. Well, brunch really – but by brunch, one can also mean burger.  So here it is:

A nice piece of meat, with oozing cheddar that looks almost like hollandaise. It was cooked medium rare to order, but came with quite uninspiring fries. Solid burger though, very rustic and homemade in style with onions through the mince, which I like. I certainly would have loved a portion of the sautéed potatoes instead, which come with the full English.

Nice looking double yolk fried egg, and of course the aforementioned potatoes are a good touch (though could they not have jazzed them up to create ‘home fries’ ?) but a little stingy on the meat elements. And the bacon was a bit tasteless.

Service is a bit off the day we went, and we had to go in and pay our bill. It’s possibly a bit understaffed during the daytime as the apologetic sole barman/waiter/supervisor was pretty rushed. Nice draught beers and a good wine list also, and I’ll probably be back to try dinner. It's a decent neighbourhood place and well priced (breakfasts £6-10, burger about £11, mains £14-18).

CC's counter and menu

CC’s is next door, and owned by the same people. I doubt it warrants its own post but is definitely worth a mention. The wall is a compendious and colourful juice and smoothie menu but they do great organic coffee from their La Spaziale, and some twee baking such as cupcakes and macaroons, as well as pastries and quiches, sausage rolls etc...

There is also a little hatch for takeaway ice cream, which looks amazing. A nice neighbourhood place to have, with Antipodean barista service and some quality food. The space feels a tad sparse, and could be used better to create a more vibrant feel with some additional seating. 

More is given over to prep space than café space and it feels a bit like a woodwork studio – CC’s isn’t that established yet and so with a bit of a space revamp could really compete with the many cafes of Queens Park. It certainly makes the best coffee.

Food – 7/10

Drink – 8/10

Value – 7/10

Service - 6/10 (possibly understaffed but maybe unlucky on the day)
Tap Water Tales - 5/10 (requested, iced glass but nothing special)

Staff Hotness – 6/10 (overwhelmed is not a good look!)