Allans

When first coming across this place you think hmm this looks quite nice, quaint little patio, small interior with upper sitting area as well. It claims to be organic, the displays seem to look good and offer a handful of options that look tasty.
Well the age old saying of looks can be deceiving is exactly what this place is. I dont know what they call organic but there is no way what was delivered to us was organic or even remotely good either. The burger looked worse than McDonalds and the cheese wasnt even melted, nor did it look meltable. The «salad» was shredded lettuce just with mayo or something else slapped on top and the fries were almost non-​edible being so oily and not even cooked all the way through.
It was almost comical because the meal that came out it seemed could not have come from a place that looked so nice and quaint, but it did. The drinks barely came out before the meal did, my drink was in a cup that looked like it had not been washed in a year, and no one came by to ask how things were even though they had a total of eight people eating there at the time. Overall I almost wanted to ask for my money back since the whole experience was pretty bad, the food was awful and overpriced. And to think there was an amazing little place only a few steps away had we only not been drawn in by the look of the place… what a shame.

I popped in with a friend to grab a cup of tea and a banana and nutella crêpe. The tea was lovely and the crêpe was delicious — they make it in front of you on a griddle. They also won an extra point for having fresh, skimmed milk — such a rarity!
There was a very tempting array of cakes on offer, but the savoury food looked rather unappetising. Perhaps it was because we were there on a Friday afternoon, but there were pieces of pizza on plates in the open and the pasta did not look too fresh.
They do have some outside space that looks lovely (it was raining while we were there, so we didn’t get to try it.)
My advice — tea and crepes are the way to go here!

In my never ending search to explore strange new places, seek out new establishments and new delights, to boldly go where no Unilocaler has gone before, I sometimes encounter some hostile experiences.
As I bopped along home today through London Bridge, I stopped outside a relatively new café, Allans Organic Patisserie Boulangerie. Patisserie Boulangerie? You don’t have to ask me twice.
Allans looks just like a plain old café, except for the display of organic, multi-​seeded breads and rolls. They make sandwiches, panninis, wraps etc, all purporting to be homemade and organic. The cakes look creamy and decadent from organic lemon cheesecake to proper luscious gateaux.
As soon as I opted for a lemon cupcake, things began to seem wrong. Maybe it was the flies buzzing around, the too-​sweaty and monosyllabic assistant or the fact that it was too empty, but I suddenly wanted to leave. I cannot abide flies in any restaurant ever, yes I know it’s summer and that’s unreasonable.
Back to the food: I have never eaten a bad cupcake till today. This was bad, the icing was sticky and strange and the cake part was stale. I only took a couple of bites for the sake of the review, binned the rest.
Two stars: 1 because it’s new and deserves a chance and 2 because it’s organic. Also discovered Allans is a chain, there is another in Mayfair and James Street.