Across the River Styx (or Acheron to be accurate) Charon ferries the souls of the newly dead to the Gates of Hades where the three-headed dog, Cerberus, stands guard to prevent those who have crossed from escaping. As I walk over the pelican crossing at the Albion Road end of Newington Green a solitary pitbull, milling around on an ownerless leash, is all that guards the escape route from The Gate, an ex-champagne bar where the breakfasts could have been the inspiration for the title of a popular reality-cooking TV show.
We ordered eggs benedict and an omlette waiting a long time, presumably as Charon moored his boat and ran into trouble putting his apron on in the kitchen. The hard-yolked eggs in the eggs benedict came on two charred logs instead of the usual muffin and were covered in a strange, sweet, congealed custard. I asked if this was definitely the eggs benedict and the waitress disappeared for a while before informing me that Charon prefers custard on his poached eggs. I was thinking that the eggs might have an afterlife if I could free them from their custard jackets when I was shown an escape route by my omlette ordering friend: the omlette had big pieces of broken eggshell cooked into it. Surely even Charon doesn't like his omlettes this crunchy? We inquired and were told he didn't. They offered us something else off the menu but we declined and headed for the exit - not everyone gets to cross the Styx in both directions without paying.
The Gate, 11 Albion Road, N16 9PX
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