eggbaconchipsandbeans

Colindale Cafe, Colindale Road, NW9

This is a simple, fantastic place I just happened across in Colindale. Plain, unfussy, friendly value.

Those chips are just huge and delicious. And that egg is like a splendid yellow volcano. There's a bean element making a tiny bid for freedom. The bacon is a solid force of conservatism and traditional values.

An interesting linear condiment arrangement. All the brands, lined up for inspection.

If I ever started my own country; this would be the flag.

Brown sauce, brown chairs. Brown is good.

There's something about being inside the writing, looking out through it.

This plant clearly needs heat and water.

Becks Sandwich Bar, Red Lion Street, WC1

An Open Sauce contribution here from Nigel Shardlow (apologies if you've sent me one and I've not posted it yet, I promise to get round to it very soon.) Many thanks Nigel, a textbook contribution.

Becks Sandwich Bar is about halfway up, or halfway down, Red Lion street in Holborn, between Theobalds Road and High Holborn, just round the corner from where I sometimes work. I asked the guys in the office - lovely people, though perhaps a little over-fond of gourmet sandwiches made with Ortiz tuna, buffalo mozarella and pesto -  if they had been there, and one of them said, "No, I've always found it too intimidating." I knew what they meant. At lunchtime it's packed with serious people who know exactly what they want, and what they want is typically fried and served with chips and a cup of very strong tea. Tea that's brewed in a pot, not in the cup. Fans of EBCB have nothing to fear here.

The decor is everything you'd expect from a great cafe: eclectic, colourful, no-nonsense. The waiting staff are all very busy today - lots of serious people looking for lunch.

The tea was in front of me a minute after I ordered it: dark, tannic and strangely refreshing. The EBCB arrived four minutes later, in spite of the fact that they were almost full to capacity, as you can see. Plenty of room on the table to spread out the Guardian. It's the Champions League final tonight so everyone's got the paper open at the sports pages, checking the line-ups.

It's worth showing the EBCB close-up: huge slices of delicious, fatty bacon; nimble chips; eggs perfectly combining firm white and runny, intensely yellow yolk; an army of beans mounting an invasion from the right hand side of the large, oval plate. (Oval plates, I'm convinced, were invented for EBCB.)

The condiments stand proud guard in front of the brightly coloured menus. Fearsome-looking little fellas.

When I went up to pay at the end the proprietor was passing two cups of tea to the waiter. "These are for the customers over there", he said. "They are extra strong. Extra strong." I was in awe.

Valtaro Snack Bar, Marchmont Street, WC1

The Valtaro is a splendid place, probably kept alive by the halls of residence around the corner. It's tiny but brilliant. And seems to be open a lot. Early. And 7 days a week.

The ebcb is compact but effective. The chips are crunchy and golden (even if a couple seem a little suicidal). You get a nice lot of bacon, properly blackened where it's needed, a golden and virginal egg and a tidy smear of beans. Very, very good.

Nice bit of colour to the mug. Bit blurry.

This is your major inside area, not a lot of room, but all you need. Shelves and tools always make for a rapid turnover of clientelle.

Textbook condiments, though I suspect that's not 100% HP in there.