Office Porridges of London #1

Now that I'm commuting in to London, time is at a premium in the mornings. I like to have a good breakfast, but sometimes there just isn't time. Yet not for me the sinful cereal bar or pathetic breakfast pastry! The Fervent Foodie is only soothed by things delicious and nutritious too.

I like my morning porridge. It's not exactly a gourmet feast but it's homely and wholesome. Therefore, it is my duty towards the office-bound throughout this great city to find the best cubicle cuisine in London. There are a couple of rules for this:

1. It has to be take-away porridge. If there's no cardboard pot to take to your desk, it's not eligible!

2. It has to be from a chain. It's gotta be available to everyone, not some amazing independent place that only few will be able to appreciate. (Woe is me.)

So, that brings me to our first entry, from the imperiously-named EAT.

Now I've got to say, EAT has an image as being a bit pretentious so I was interested to see what they'd do to push the boat out on something as simple as porridge. The toppings they offer are honey and banana, fruit compote, and chia seeds (the fancy pants discerning gentleman's topping). Unfortunately, social mobility was at an all-time low today and they were out of chia seeds, so I had to settle for the reliable banana and honey.

First of all, look at this:

No Instagram filter would save this

 Does this look appetising to you? Granted, porridge is not exactly the Miranda Kerr of the food world but seriously, this? Is this place called EAT or DRINK?

OK, it's definitely EAT. I'm getting confused with all the monosyllabic instructional food joints around these days.

The oats were actually nice and chunky, but the water just made it into a depressing gloop. At £2.24 with a topping it's one of the more expensive pot porridges out there. Maybe it was a one-off but I'm loath to go back again to try. Quite disappointing indeed. On the plus side, the bar has not been set very high for the next challenger. Onward! (Lunch had better be good now...)