Beany Green and Timmy Green

Beany Green’s 30-seater flagship cafe in Broadgate Circle promises a “distinctive blend of Aussie coffee, bold healthy food, and unique street art”. It’ll only take you a walk outside, and a look at the colourful, cheeky pop-art window decorations, to realise they’re not doing things by halves. As well as having branches at Paddington and Regent’s Place, Beany Green also serves from a converted shipping container on the Southbank, and other quirky “hole-in-the-wall” locations around London. But this branch – it’s largest with the widest selection of foods – is their flagship store.

Although I was grabbing something to take-away, those enjoying lunch out of the office can feast on their brightly decorated “garden”, complete with original pop art by up-and-coming street artist “Shuby”, plus a vegemite-themed commission by Louise Dear. Beany Green elicits inspiration and oozes unpretentious cool. While clean oak counters set the stage for huge daily changing food platters, the art covering every available space brings a hip vibe to the heart of the City.

Given their Australian roots, Beany Green offers a seriously good latte. It’s unsurprising that their coffee is artisan, with beans sourced from Monmouth as well as weekly guest roast blends, plus a daily-changing single origin filter coffee. Coffees are prepared from their custom bright yellow four group La Marzocco FB70 (affectionately named “Dolly”), triple La Marocco Vulcano Grinders and a Marco Uber boiler. Although very tempted to order a coffee, as it was lunchtime I went straight for the foods.

The healthy all-day food menu, with a big focus on Aussie-inspired brunch food, is very me. As well as their Broccoli and sweetcorn fritters, they also serve Gluten free Broccoli Bread topped with avocado, poached eggs and tofu mayonnaise. Most appealing to me, however, were the offerings on the open “kitchen table” lunch counter: fresh and hearty salads prepared in-house by Ottolenghi-trained Executive Chef Tricia Jadoonanan. There’s also Beany Green’s Detox Box (three raw salads plus spicy vegan Beany Ball and tofu mayonnaise) to take away, as well as spinach wraps stuffed full of goodness. I was delighted with my salads – a beautifully Spiralised Thai salad of carrots, courgetti, peanuts and a soy and lime dressing, as well as Chargrilled courgettes and sweetcorn. Colourful, fresh and healthy, this is my idea of an ideal City lunch.

For afters, there’s all sorts of filling, protein-rich snacks that go hand in hand with the Australian reputation for healthy living. Although I’m dairy-free, their frozen yoghurt is renowned for being freshly delivered from Wales. Their sweet “energy balls” are also very Deliciously Ella. For after-work lingerers, there’s a sizeable drinks list, including cocktails.

Beany Green has redeveloped Liverpool Street’s Broadgate Circle in a healthy way. A bright and breezy Antipodean café, it was the first to open here and I hope it’s the early bird that catches the worm. Beany Green’s founder, Prue Freeman, is a former investment banker from UBS, so it’s a good bet that there’s a solid market for healthy, fast food in the heart of the City. Indeed, healthy eating does seem to be catching on in the City. And rightly so – for when it comes to Beany Green, its modern, colourful interior, chirpy staff and loud hip-hop music – plus the quality coffee – would certainly awaken morning visitors.

A few snaps from a trip to Victoria’s new Timmy Green for brunch dreams: