The Hungry Cyclist - Cycle Touring & Eating The World

Rembetis Bike Shop & Bonanza Coffee Heroes - Awarded a Wheel Of Approval

As a fiend for all things cycling and good coffee, I have often dreamed about setting up a small coffee shop that I would jam-pack with old bicycles, play my own music and make simple dishes found from my travels around the world. Perhaps I would call it The Hungry Cyclist Café? 

Dreams, dreams dreams...

Well in the back streets of Prenzlauer Berg in Berlin they get very close to realizing my fantasy. Bonanza Coffee Heroes is a tidy little café that makes the best coffee in the city, and next door is a bicycle shop so beautiful, even a meat-faced petrol head like Jermey Clarkson would be turned onto the cahrmed pedal powered transport.

The craze for drinking really good coffee (no Starbucks does not count) is now a worldwide movement. There is plenty of good coffee in Berlin, and boy do Berliners drink the stuff, but the people behind Bonanza are perhaps the first to get behind the craze for truly exceptional coffee in the city.

 Run by two passionate 'javaholics' in Prenzlauer Berg, the team at Bonanza run their small cafe with passion. Coffee in a café like this is treated like fine wine and everything is done to ensure your coffee is nothing shot of perfection. White walls, chrome fittings, complicated looking gadgets, sacks of beans and glass vessels make this café look more like a scientist’s laboratory than a comfortable coffee shop. But this look has not come about by accident.

It is clear that for The Bonanza Coffee Heroes making a good coffee is nothing short of science.
Their beans are sourced from specialty coffee producers (SCAA); They are roasted on site to perfection and their Synesso Cyncra machine is famed for being über-particular and thermally sensitive, ensuring that the coffee in Bonanza unbeatable!

So you’ve had your specialIst caffeine hit and your sleep addled brain is just starting to buzz into life. Ideas are being formulated, possibilities realized, dreams linked together and now it's time to go next door.

The Rembetis bike shop is nothing short of heaven with every possible space is taken up by the most beautiful bicycles I have ever seen. There is no room for space-aged, carbon-fibre, mass- produced nonsense here. These bikes date from the days when cycle racing really was the most glamour sport on the planet. Machines from the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s 50’ 60’ and 70’s sit side by side with pride. There are no prices, no tills and no brand adverts in this shop and ask the clearly passionate proprietor for a price and he will tell you that he doesn't sell his bikes to anyone.

What?

He explains that when he needs to pay the bills he will sell a bike, but not anyone. He needs to know you. He needs to know that one of his beloved machines is going to be treated with the respect it deserves. This shop is more a shrine to one man's passion, more a museum than a place of business and that is what makes this unparalleled collection of bikes so special. It is the culmination of ones man's, passion time and love and shouldn't every business be like that?

Buffed leather saddles fill windows with polished steel cranks, bells glisten in the sun light next to chains and leather shoes and the light smell of oil automatically transport you to another era. Customers all wonder about in silence totally in ore of the works of art and mechanical perfection hanging from the walls and neatly lined up on the floor. For anyone with half an interest in bikes this is what heaven looks like. This is the best bike shop in the world!

• Rembetis Bike Shop
• Bonanza Coffee Heroes

Bratwurst, Lunch and Dinner - Three Things To Do In Berlin

Having just returned from a happy five days in Berlin, where I was giving a lecture at the glorious Tentstaion, I though it only right to give a few Hungry Cyclist Top Tips for things to do in Berlin. I had no expectations about the old German capital and all I can say after five days in the city is I didn't want to leave. Full of bicycles and beautifully people this is one of the finest cities I have en lucky enough to visit and here are three things you mustn't leave the city without seeing.  "Ich bin ein Berliner"

1 .Rembetis Bike Shop & Bonanza Coffee Heroes

As a fiend for all things cycling and good coffee, I have often dreamed about setting up a small coffee shop that I would jam-pack with old bicycles, play my own music and make simple dishes found from my travels around the world. Perhaps I would call it The Hungry Cyclist Café? 

Dreams, dreams dreams...

Well in the back streets of Prenzlauer Berg in Berlin they get very close to realizing my fantasy. Bonanza Coffee Heroes is a tidy little café that makes the best coffee in the city, and next door is a bicycle shop so beautiful, even a meat-faced petrol head like Jermey Clarkson would be turned onto the cahrmed pedal powered transport.

The craze for drinking really good coffee (no Starbucks does not count) is now a worldwide movement. There is plenty of good coffee in Berlin, and boy do Berliners drink the stuff, but the people behind Bonanza are perhaps the first to get behind the craze for truly exceptional coffee in the city/

Run by two passionate 'javaholics' in Prenzlauer Berg, the team at Bonanza run their small cafe with passion. Coffee in a café like this is treated like fine wine and everything is done to ensure your coffee is nothing shot of perfection. White walls, chrome fittings, complicated looking gadgets, sacks of beans and glass vessels make this café look more like a scientist’s laboratory than a comfortable coffee shop. But this look has not come about by accident.

It is clear that for The Bonanza Coffee Heroes making a good coffee is nothing short of science.
Their beans are sourced from specialty coffee producers (SCAA); They are roasted on site to perfection and their Synesso Cyncra machine is famed for being über-particular and thermally sensitive, ensuring that the coffee in Bonanza unbeatable!

So you’ve had your specialIst caffeine hit and your sleep addled brain is just starting to buzz into life. Ideas are being formulated, possibilities realized, dreams linked together and now it's time to go next door.

The Rembetis bike shop is nothing short of heaven with every possible space is taken up by the most beautiful bicycles I have ever seen. There is no room for space-aged, carbon-fibre, mass- produced nonsense here. These bikes date from the days when cycle racing really was the most glamour sport on the planet. Machines from the 20’s, 30’s, 40’s 50’ 60’ and 70’s sit side by side with pride. There are no prices, no tills and no brand adverts in this shop and ask the clearly passionate proprietor for a price and he will tell you that he doesn't sell his bikes to anyone.

What?

He explains that when he needs to pay the bills he will sell a bike, but not anyone. He needs to know you. He needs to know that one of his beloved machines is going to be treated with the respect it deserves. This shop is more a shrine to one man's passion, more a museum than a place of business and that is what makes this unparalleled collection of bikes so special. It is the culmination of ones man's, passion time and love and shouldn't every business be like that?

Buffed leather saddles fill windows with polished steel cranks, bells glisten in the sun light next to chains and leather shoes and the light smell of oil automatically transport you to another era. Customers all wonder about in silence totally in ore of the works of art and mechanical perfection hanging from the walls and neatly lined up on the floor. For anyone with half an interest in bikes this is what heaven looks like. This is the best bike shop in the world!

• Rembetis Bike Shop
• Bonanza Coffee Heroes

2. Ride the Runways at Berlins TempleHoh Airport

Flying used to be a glamorous affair. Exciting, an aspiration, a real treat. But today, with the evils of Ryan Air and other such short-haulers ruling the skies, the charm has been sucked out of air-travel faster than the funny blue liquid in the cabin toilets.

Flying used to be the dream of every young boy. Pilots were gentlemen in sharp suits, hostesses were goddesses in sharp suits and airports were buildings as grand and inspiring as any Cathedral.  And as airports go, Berlins’ Templhof was one of the greats! A Nazi-era marvel of modern architecture and engineering, Tempelhof was the biggest airport in Europe and featured am underground train and a restaurant for 3000 people.

Construction began in 1936 but due to the WW2 Hitler’s dream airport is still incomplete, and it doesn’t look like being finished any time soon. In the centre of the city it cant be expanded to accommodate the Jumbo Jets of the modern era and so the baggage carousels have been switched off.

But fear not! Instead of handing the runways over to greedy property developers, no doubt what would happen here in the UK, Berliners have saved their beloved air-field and it is now a playground for all to enjoy.  This once great airport  is now a play ground where anyone can run up the runways, reach for the skies with a kite and of course ride your bike.

So if like me you find yourself dreading your return flight home, hire a bicycle and head to the Templehof Airfield. Marvel at is glorious terminal building and then taxi yourself onto the main runway, fire up your engines reach for the sky…

Doors To Manual!

• Find Templhof on Google Maps

3. Wurst 36

If like me you spend the best part of the day making aeroplane noises and pedalling like a mad person on the runways of the Templhof Airfield, come 4pm you will find yourself hungry and in Berlin that means its time for a wurst!

Germany is not famous for her food but one thing they get spot on are wurst (sausages). Not dissimilar to the humble English sausage the meat inside a worst is ground finely to create a succulent rubbery texture that is packed with flavour and in my opinion superior to the Uk snag.

Germans eat sausages as fast food, often with beer, sauerkraut and mustard but Curry-wurst is the iconic snack of Berlin. Nothing more than pan-fried pork sausage cut into thick slices, seasoned with lots of tomato ketchup and a little bit of curry powder it is thing of wonder. On almost every street corner there is a imbissbuden (snack stall) selling curry-wurst but for me the pick of the bunch is Curry 36.

A bustling sausage fest, what Curry 36 it lacks for in charm it more than makes up for in wurst and atmosphere and the perpetual que of hungry Berliners is testament to its quality and trip to Berlin is not complete without a curry wurst, so Schnell!

• Curry 36

Faces of The Mekong

“Great perils have this beauty, that they bring to light the fraternity of strangers.”

Victor Hugo

Other than close encounters with angry dogs,  truck drivers, dire loneliness and dysentery my last seven months could hardly be described as perilous. I took my time; I ate well; and when danger did begin batting her eyelids I ignored her But there is something about travel, especially by bicycle, that leaves me in a permanent state of mild peril. You never know where you are going to sleep from one night to the next; your front tyre could burst on that 40km downhill run and the last mouthful you ate could quiet easily have you running for the nearest hospital.

For these reasons it is often the strangers you meet that make travel the experience it is. Waterfalls, sunsets, beaches and temples are all very well but what makes travel so intriguing is the people. People and faces tell us about the culture we are in, the way of life and perhaps most importantly allow us to learn so much about ourselves from what you see in others.

• Click here to see Faces of the Mekong in Flickr.com
• Clich here to see a Faces of The Mekong slideshow

 

For this reason in the last few days I have put together a collection of faces from my trip cycling up the Mekong river in South East Asia. From the sweaty heat of the Mekong delta in Vietnam to the northern mountains of Laos and China, these are the people I met, ate with shared a quick smile or a glance with. These are the faces that made my journey special.

 

 

Manzes Pie & Mash Shop - London

• Awarded a Hungry Cyclist Wheel of Approval

The sweet starchy smell of mashed potato that drifts in the street hits you almost at the same time as the din and clink and clunk of cutlery, washing up and heavy ceramics being dropped on cold marble.  A little after midday, the early lunch queue is already spilling out of the door of the small Victorian shop front and is gathered from the January cold under the shops dark-green orning.  Taking my place in line behind a couple of gray haired gentlemen in flat caps, a pair of high-viss-vested workmen fall in behind me and I am edged closer. Peering through the large steamy glass windows, I spectate the team of women working aggressively behind a long counter that runs the length of this narrow shop. The oldest pie and mash shop in the London. 

 

"oose avin two mugs a' tea den? - yes darlin?"

"Eeerm?"

The line carried me inside and up to the counter it's decision time. I'm too busy taking in my surroundings and am confronted with a firm-faced, shouting middle aged woman. Her sturn expression, surrounded by wrinkles induced by thousands of cigarettes is framed by the green and white check collar of her dark green catering jacket. The mechanical rhythm of pouring, ladling and scraping and scooping comes to a grinding halt.

"yes Darline!"

"eeerm?" I'm out of my territory here, totally befuddled and I start to panic. The men in the high-vis are hungry and impatient and my soft West London upbringing is starting to show. I skim read the menu, made with little yellow and white plastic letters stuck to a perforated black board, that sits next to a picture of Posh N Becks (loyal customers) and bottles of sarsaparilla.

1 PIE 1MASH. 1 PIE 2 MASH. 2 PIE 2 MASH. 1 MASH 2 PIE. 3 MASH 2 PIE. 4 MASH 3 PIE. 

I feel like Ive just slipped into episode of Monty Python.

"Pie and Mash please" 

Lifting the lid on a steel cauldron sunk in the counter, after partly disappearing in a cloud of steam, one of the women slaps three scoops of 'mash' onto my plate, using the edge of the plate to scrape all she can from the large spoon like scraping mud of a pair of boots. She moves to he next station and another woman takes here place.  From a blackened metal tray a golden pie is turned out on my plate upside down. The lady flips it upright with a pinch of her fingers.

"likah?"

"excuse me?"

"likah!"

I'm not sure what she is offering me but I say yes and the plate goes back to the start through a line of hands. A ladelful of gloopy green liquid, not dissimilar to something you might see in Ghostbusters is poured over everything on my plate. 

The place is packed. Sitting at one of the wooden benches, on the other side of a marble table two men are discussing Milwals chances in the F.A cup. If they win their next game a trip to either Hull or Newcastle awaits them and optimistically the two men are waxing about a weekend on Tyne-side. After-all can you wax about a weekend in Hull? The sound of scrapping plates, washing up and east-end accents resonste of the cream and green ceramic tiles that line the walls and every few minutes a bell rings and the ropes of a dumb waiter, blackened by generations of sweaty-palmed tugging, vanishes into the ceiling only to return loudly, loaded with a piping hot tray of fresh pies. 

 

Manze was established in 1902 by Michele Manze, the present owners' Grandfather. They has served traditional Pie & Mash and Eels (jellied or stewed), in these authentic surroundings for over 100 years and they still use the same recipes today for the pies and liquor as were used in 1902, and according to Maureen, one of the kind ladies working here, the only changes made have been to improve quality and to meet the higher food standards. The que builds up and I'm pleased I got in early. A pair of Japanese tourists, guide book in hand peer in but don't have the balls. And I can understand why. The ladies are tough faced and the whole thing is very 'school dinners', down to the gray plastic tray were you grab your cutlery and the heavy mug of steaming tea poured from a tired metal urn. But you shouldn't come here for culinary excellence and pie, mash and eels is not the perfect meal. 

The mash was dry and the pie was a bit stingy. The liquor was warm but had no flavor and the eels, that were more jelly than eel, speak for themselves. But Manzes is not about perfection. Nothing here is trying to be perfect but to quote the words of those imperfect boys from up north, Oasis 'True perfection has to be imperfect.'

And people don't and should not come here for a gastronomic perfecting. This was and still is working class food. Meals designed to be eaten fast, that are cheap and filling. Food designed for the hungry dock workers of Bermondsey and where a man could fill up after a hard day heaving sacks of sugar in Hartley's Jam factory. Today the warehouses of the east end are full of offices, yuppies and Mac computers and the jam factory is luxury apartments where balsamic vinegar and rocket have replaced jam. The work in the area, like many once industrial parts of the U.K has changed and the people living in the east end have changed too. But M. Manzes has not and for this reason alone it is perfect. And who knows, as the economy falters, and this time it is the service side that is screwed, perhaps working class restaurants where good food is served for all the right reasons will prosper. 

Milwall traveled to Hull on January 24th

M. Manze's Pie and Mash shop, 87 Tower Bridge Road SE1 4TW. www.manzes.co.uk

 

• Chris Clun's Photos of Eel and Pie Shops
• Jellied Eel Recipe 
• Liquor Recipe 
• Where is Manzes on the map?
• More about The Old Kent Road

The Hungry Cyclist Talking in Berlin

Next week I will be talking all things food, cycling and adventure in the wonderful German city of Berlin.

Taking place on 23rd July in the stunning surrounds of Tentstation, a former outdoor swimming pool. Tom Kevill- Davies, fresh back from a bike ride up the mighty Mekong River in Asia, will be throwing himself in at the deep end and showcasing his photos and videos, reading from his book and talking about the highs and lows of eating and cycling in far flung places.

Of course there will be food cooked on the BBQ and a few drinks too, so if you are in Berlin next week be sure to pop in. It’s Free!

Pecha Kucha: Cycling the Mekong in Search Of The Perfect Meal.

Here is an audio copy of my talk from a ‘Night of Adventure’. It took place at Vue Cinema in Leicester Square, London on Monday 17 May.

Myself and fourteen other superb speakers from across the spectrum of expeditions, adventure and travel all took part talking about our exploits. From skateboarding across Australia, paddling the length of the Amazon, micro lighting from London to Sydney and spending six months living in a tree house the evening comprised some truly fascinating people helping to raise money for Hope and Homes for Children.

Each talk consisted of only 20 slides that automatically scrolled on after just 20 seconds. It is an unusual, challenging presentation format and once the talk begins there is no stopping or going back: it is fast and furious and the audience must be ready to be swept from adventure to adventure!

Pecha Kucha: Tom Kevill-Davies. Cycling the Mekong in search of the perfect meal. www.thehungrycyclist.com from Alastair Humphreys on Vimeo.

And the Winner Is... Guild of Food Writers Nomination for THC

Having only ever won a dusty jar of pickled cocktail onions in a tombola at a village fete in 1989, the taste of victory is not something I am familiar with. But this might change on Thursday evening in the Design museum in London.

The Hungry Cyclist - Pedaling The Americas In Search of The Perfect Meal has been shortlisted for a prestigious Guild of Food Writers award alongside  Sushi and Beyond: What the Japanese Know About Cooking by Michael Booth and an episode of BBC Radio 4's Food Programe about Iceland.

Going head to head for the Kate Whiteman award for work concerning food and travel I promise not to weep if my name comes out of the envelope first, and with some fine catering planned for the event as well as some tasty wine I hope to cycle home with more than a few pickled onions in the tank.

Fingers crossed for more than onions!

 

World Naked Bike Ride London 2010 - Video Post

Ever wanted to ride your bicycle naked in central London? Well to find out more about how much fun it can be have peep at this video taken at this years event.

WARNING! - This video contains naked humans.

• Click here to find out more about The World Naked Bike Ride

• See my photos from last years event

Discover Your Inner... Tube

"So, any time you're gettin' low, 'stead of lettin' go, just remember that ant Oops, there goes another rubber tree plant"

With the world apparently careering headlong towards some kind of uncontrollable natural resource smash and grab bun fight, recycling the natural commodities we consume has never been more important. 

Ever since ancient Mayan people of Central America first use natural tree latex to make bouncy balls and tie axe head together humans have not been able to get there hands on enough rubber. Used in products from waterproof clothing to piston washers, it wasn't until once Charles Goodyear (not a Vulcan) discovered how to vulcanize the stuff in 1839, that demand for rubber went through the roof. His discovery coincided perfectly with the rise of the industrial revolution and the invention of the bicycle and the rest, as they say, is history.

But the story of rubber is far from being all good. Having just come back from cycling in South East Asia i have seen first hand the environmental destruction the rubber trade produces. Vast swathes of hillsides from Cambodia to China have been stripped bare of their natural vegetation o make way for the shallow-rooted, water hungry rubber trees that now carpet the landscape in uniform rows that stretch for miles. These plantations have made the soil unstable, they have pushed out thousands or indigenous species and they have sucked much of the land dry of its natural water.

 

So what is an environmentally conscious cyclist to do when he or she needs some more inner tubes or tyres for a trusty steed? Well until a suitable tubeless tyre is invented we are over a barrel. But that doesn't mean we have to leave our inner tubes to the binman. I have used mine to strap down panniers on long trips and often cut ruined ones into this strips that make perfect camp fire-lighters. Lauren Junker has gone one step further.

Started in 2006 by Lauren Junker, Totally Tubular Design is a company dedicated to using as much trash as possible to create the coolest products possible. By enlisting the help of local bike shops Lauren was able to create a line of products that are 100% reuse, and her specialty is, you guessed it... inner tubes and tyres.

From stylish bags to trendy wallets, the Totally Tubular product range is an inspiration and I cant wait for their kit to hit the street of London. 

• www.totallytubebags.com

Wedding Preparations Cycling the Mekong in Loas

Having just returned from a wedding in Corfu, it has struck me that the way people tie the not all over the world is very very different. What ultimately ends in the joining of two adults in physical and spiritual union takes on many guises. Some do it on beaches, some in churches. Some in Vegas others in on gold course. As England moves into a bust wedding season here is a short video post from Laos that show how they prepare for a big day.

All The Hungry Cyclist Video is shot with a wonderful Creative Vado HD

Get Your Kit Off! - World Naked Bike Ride 12th June

Yup it's that time of the year again... when over 1000 people strip off and jump on their favorite steed for a jolly old naked bike ride around London.

The WNBR is peaceful, imaginative and fun protest against oil dependency and car culture. As well as being a celebration of the bicycle and also a celebration of the power and individuality of the human body. A symbol of the vulnerability of the cyclist in traffic. The world's biggest naked protest: over fifty cities and thousands of riders participate worldwide, including around 3,000 in the UK. In 2010, rides take place across the UK during the week commencing June 11th, and weather permitting several thousand riders are expected. 

  

Last year I was lucky enough to help steward the event bathed in bright sunshine I donned my birthday suit and joined over 1000 naked riders as we cruised the streets of our great capital. From penny farthings to fixies, Bikertons to bone-shakers all are welcome and it is a truly liberating day out for all!

Last year I was armed with my trusty camera and took some great shots (see below) and this year Ill be riding my 1960's Pashley tandem - so if anyone wants to be my stoker do please drop me an email Sign-up on the main page or click on the city names above for more details.

• Click here to see the images in Flickr (you might see some naught bits)
• Click here for details about how to get involved and where to strip off

 

Faces Of The Mekong - Travel Photography

“Great perils have this beauty, that they bring to light the fraternity of strangers.”

Victor Hugo

Other than close encounters with angry dogs, truck drivers, dire loneliness and dysentery my last seven months cycling up The Mekong river in South East Asia could hardly be described as perilous. I took my time; I ate well; and when danger did begin batting her eyelids I ignored her. But there is something about travel, especially by bicycle, that leaves the rider in a permanent state of mild peril.

You never know where you are going to sleep from one night to the next; your front tire could burst on that 40km downhill run and the last taco or noodle soup could quiet easily have you waddling uncomfortably for the nearest hospital. Reading the fascinating interviews from our inaugural scholarship winners on the BTN website this month it appears that one of the pulls of taking on a big bike ride is the vulnerability and total exposure travel by bicycle provides for the rider. And yet this vulnerability is also quoted as a primary fear.

Perhaps this susceptibility to physical or emotional attack or harm is what makes travel so invigorating and so rewarding? Removing ourselves from our normal comfort zones of good friends, family and familiarity we are forced to rely not only on ourselves but also strangers and it is often the strangers I meet that make travel the experience it is. Waterfalls, sunsets, beaches and temples are all very well but what makes travel so intriguing to me is the people.

Even without the luxury of language, people and faces tell us about the culture we are in, a new way of life and perhaps most importantly allow us to learn so much about ourselves from what we see in others. For this reason in the last few days I have put together a collection of faces from my trip cycling up the Mekong river in South East Asia. From the sweaty heat of the Mekong delta in Southern Vietnam to the northern mountains of Laos and China, these are the people I met, ate with, shared a quick smile or a glance with, these are the faces that made my Mekong journey special.

• Click here to see Faces of the Mekong in Flickr.com
• Clich here to see a Faces of The Mekong slideshow
• For more about cycling The Mekong click here