Choose Your Favourite Restaurant In Hatch End: B & K, Costa, Fire & Ice, Sea Pebbles, Social Dhaba and 40 more!

B & K Salt Beef restaurant. B & K take away salt beef to which we (author Angela Lansbury and family)added our own fresh salad. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

 When I started writing this on Tuesday, we had one day, Wednesday November 4th, to eat in restaurants in Hatch End but many will still be open for you to collect take-aways. 

Costa will do well, I predict. Several restaurants will deliver, or rather use a delivery service.

Some of these restaurants are relatively new. some of them are linked to other branches with the same name in other areas of London. Let's take a quick look.

Alphabetical Order:

B & K

B and K, Hatch End. Another B and K in Edgware is equally popular. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

B & K is famous for salt beef, but also serves turkey, chicken, fish balls, rye bread, challah, bagels, pickled vegetables, and hummus, and dieter's delight and disaster lokshen pudding (call it noodle or pasta pudding if you prefer)..

Costa

They have raspberry almond slice, bakewell tart, croissant, chocolate muffin, and all sorts of sandwiches and coffees of all kinds. I must load the Costa app onto my phone.

Fire and Ice

Fire and Ice in Hatch End. Notice the Secret Garden entrance to the right. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

They have done a good job with the back garden. Instead of entering through the restaurant, you can stay safer in the Covid-19 era by entering down the side alley which has been attractively covered from the rain by a blue roof which extends the visual frontage of the restaurants.  Poor owners of Fire and Ice. brand new and faced with a lockdown. 

They have a secret garden. (If that sounds familiar, it was a book title.) Wikipedia handily and succintly reminds us:

The Secret Garden is a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett first published in book form in 1911, after serialization in The American Magazine (November 1910 – August 1911). Set in England, it is one of Burnett's most popular novels and seen as a classic of English children's literature. It was filmed in the 199os.

The Secret Garden in Hatch End is no secret to those of us who were used to the garden behind the pizza place. But what a lovely name, The Secret Garden.

Minori Pizzeria

48 Uxbridge Road. Those who live near or drive along the Uxbridge Road through Hatch End may recall the wide frontage of what was at one time a Chinese restaurant. Now a busy, bustling pizzeria. Delivers through Just eat. When I looked online at the start of November it was number two on Tripadvisor. if it isn't owned by the legendary 'Mr Fellini" or one of his staff, it has inherited his flair for decor.

Sea Pebbles - Fish and Chips

Fish and chips, chunky chips, fish served in batter, or Jewish style with matzah meal - or plain if you prefer and are prepared to wait. Fish and chips, the history articles say, came to England with the Jews, but became quintessentially British in a island country with a seafarer's and fishing folk's coastline. Like B & K up the road, Sea Pebbles has everything desired by both Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews) and is run by  businesslike and friendly non-Jews who have borrowed the best of Jewish filling food, fattening food and comforting food.

Social Dhaba Restaurant

Indian

See my earlier post on the peshwari naan with coconut wand where to order from the restaurant, buy or how to make your own.

Social Dhaba restaurant, hatch End, glass of reisling (grape) wine and menu. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright.

Steak bar

Well, running a restaurant is a high stakes business nowadays. 

Useful Websites

Costa Coffee Bar

www.costa.co.uk/club

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Secret_Garden

Minori

https://www.just-eat.co.uk/restaurants-minori-pizzeria-pinner/menu

See other post s on these restaurants.

Update November 2025 Costa in Hatch End has closed. Other Costa restaurants are around London and England and new coffee bars in Hatch End are mentioned in my later posts.

About the Author

Angela Lansbury is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Photos by Angela Lansbury copyright.

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Hays Galleria, London Bridge station

Exit from London Bridge station (Jubilee and Northern lines), cross the road on the crossing to Hays Galleria, only a few steps to your right. Inside Hays Galleria in a glass covered courtyard surrounded by several cafes with indoor and covered 'outdoor' seating, and market stalls surrounding the grand central sculpture. From the centre you can see out over the river to landmark buildings such as the Gherkin. 

The Cafe options include Costa coffee to your right and Cafe Rouge to your left. I saw no signs to public toilets and the people I asked told me to try the cafes. I went into Costa Coffee and decided to stay there and two of us had coffee and cake. 

I have now looked on google maps and found toilets marked in front of Boots the Chemist which is immediately left as you are at the start of the Galleria.

Shopping? I looked at shoes on sale in a shop. Then I browsed a kiosk selling watches from £5 for fancy, decorated dress or novelty watches; £15 for practical watches with date and alarm, seemed a good buy.

(See my earlier post about the Gherkin, the number of steps and climbing the steps for charity, and information on the Gherkin and dining and weddings there.)

More Information

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hay%27s_Galleria

Angela Lansbury, BA Hons, AG CL,  travel writer, author, speaker.

Hearts in Costa Coffee Shops

If you are looking for hearts for Valentine's Day, here's a little something for a romantic coffee time or tea time. Heart shape in Costa Coffee. I spotted a heart-shape centre to a biscuit at a motorway stop in the UK. Somewhere between London and Reading. I am not sure if this biscuit is seasonal or regular. Either way, great on the day, or any day to brighten somebody's face, even your own, with a smile

.

Costa Coffee, Paddington Station open early and late - Costa card avoiding panic hunt

Arriving at Paddington station to meet a friend from overseas (Singapore) who was visiting London for the day from another city, we arrived early at the station.
 We wanted a table to rest reading matter, phones, newspapers, and a chair or seat for our baggage which would not trip others nor risk being stolen or stepped on by strangers sitting alongside.
So we raced around the level one looking for a place to order a quick coffee.

Why no big signboard of all the eating places? It should be at every exit and entrance, if necessary paid for by the outlets mentioned. Maybe even a poster which could change weekly, with any special offers.

Lots of kiosks offering coffee to carry away. But I didn't want to walk with coffee and risk spilling it on my clothes. I wanted to sit (heavy bag - easy for others to find me). I wanted to be able to read, check emails, while waiting.

I was sure there would be a Costa somewhere. No time to go upstairs. Stay on ground level. We galloped around like horses in a panic.

At the far edge built into the surrounding buildings was a Costa. Outdoor seating for smokers and others. Just the job.

They even suggested that we had used enough points on our Costa card to get a free coffee. Whilst I sat outside an attentive member of staff was busy checking tables and moving chairs.

Costa Coffee - London
Paddington Station 4
Unit 4, Paddington Station
London W2 1HA
Tel 020 7706 1243

The Costa site is costa.co.uk which enables you to find all their sites, and tells you address and phone number and opening hours with a map of directions.
This branch appears to be open from 4 am until 1 am.  Really handy if you are up late or out early, for business or pleasure or travel.

If you don't already have a Costa card, get one. You can keep using it until you get a free coffee. If you already have one, keep it handy in the front of your pocket to produce it when asked without holding up a queue and to prevent that where's my card panic.

I love the dinky little cups with the side sitting dimple with room for a biscuit. (Why no free biscuit?)

Wine Society, Welwyn Garden City Costa Coffee, White Lights

Wine Society
The Wine Society is a co-operative with lots of events at the warehouse cum shop and tasting room in Stevenage. Membership currently costs only £40 to join for life but you get back £20 to spend on their wines.
The wine shop has a tasting dispenser called on Enoteca. You pay for a card which is topped up with however much money you want to put on it. You can then help yourself to glasses of wine costing various prices by putting the card in a slot by the bottle.
The wines are changed regularly.
Within the shop is a bin end shop.
I recently went to their pre-Christmas tasting event. In addition to dry wines, I tried four sweet wines and liked the muscat.
I also got free tastings of their Xmas gifts: super smoked salmon, wild boar pate, good, pudding - can't go wrong, chocolate sticks with mint in the middle and yummy chocolate truffles. Did I mention the nuts, large, more-ish nuts.

Welwyn Garden City Coffee Stop
On the way up we hit traffic and diverted to Welwyn Garden Suburb town centre looking for coffee. Welwyn centre has a John Lewis and Debenhams department stores, a central green, assorted charity shops and several restaurants including Ask, and several coffee shops including Cafe Nero and Costa. We found a parking place for one hour near the Costa which had indoor and outdoor seating and was large and spacious. We shared my favourite raspberry and almond slice. I had a tall hot chocolate. The city centre had white lights for the winter-Xmas holiday season. In Singapore lights come down the day after Xmas, sometimes on new Year's Day, but it the UK they usually stay up until the 12th day of Xmas, January 6th. I sat reading the newspaper and could have stayed all day if the wine tasting hadn't beckoned. the toilets were upstairs, good for me to get exercise. I wonder whether they have a downstairs toilet for wheelchair users. But I had other things on my mind, wine tasting ahead, as we diverted down country roads to avoid the jams. I wrote a little ditty:
Jag-ged Journey
by Angela Lansbury

On winter days I love to drive
And hear old winter tales re-told
Where bright lights bring windows alive
I buy red hats, I leave, all's sold

As autumn nights grow short and cold
Out in the dark countryside
The driver is too late, too bold
Headlights' white glare, I duck and hide

We fly past every dark, deep ditch
The ghostly clouds and dead black trees
I dream of cities where the rich
Enjoy silver and gold cream teas

I dream of log fires, mulled red wine
Of singing by the Yuletide tree
The joy of crowds at Christmas time
Where friends and strangers smile at me.














At the Wine Society the entrance had white winter lights on fir trees.

Xmas gifts in the Wine Society shop included damson, fig, gooseberry, lime or quince chutney.