SAVOURING CEREAL
If you remember going ‘cuckoo for cocoa puffs’ or that ‘Trix are for kids,’ not rabbits, you’ll enjoy this London café,
LONDON—“Silly rabbit. Trix are for kids.” “They’re grrrrrrreat.” “Two scoops of raisins.” “Snap, Crackle, Pop.” “A is for Apple. J is for Jacks.” “I’m cuckoo for cocoa puffs.” “They’re magically delicious.” Do these advertising slogans transport you back to the breakfast table when you were a kid? Or maybe you remember being in the cereal aisle at the grocery store begging your mom or dad to buy you a special cereal.
You don’t have to ask your parents anymore, but where can you find all those wonderful cereals of your youth?
Next time you’re in London, stop in at the Cereal Killer Café.
That’s what I did on a recent visit to London. I’d been following the progress of this unique shop through social media since before it opened on Dec. 10, 2014.
Twin brothers Gary and Alan Keery have always been fans of cereal. But it was one day, as they searched for a place to grab some lunch, that they realized what they craved was cereal. From this craving came the idea for a place people could enjoy cereal for any meal. Through research, they found there was no cereal café anywhere in Europe.
The search began for cereals from around the world. Spending almost a year sourcing and testing cereals led to the opening of the Cereal Killer Café and the 120 cereals that they have on the menu.
The Keery brothers have suppliers around the globe helping to keep the café stocked with some of the most unusual cereals. These include Poppin Pebbles, which is the classic Pebbles cereal with poppin candies from the U.S., and Oreo O’s, which are no longer available in the U.S. but the brothers were able to source from South Korea.
It’s not just about cereal and milk at the café, as cereal cocktails are a delicious option — such as “Orange you glad I didn’t order milk,” which is Coco Shreddies with jaffa cakes and orange juice instead of milk. Or how about some “Unicorn Poop,” which has Ricicles, party rings, fluff, marshmallows, Hundreds and Thousands sprinkles and semi-skimmed milk.
As a big fan of Weetabix cereal, I chose the “Bananarama,” which is Banana Mini Weetabix, fresh banana, Nutella, a foam banana and banana milk. The banana-based ingredients mixed with the Nutella and the milk to create a sweet treat that at least seemed to be a little nutritious. There was fruit, wheat and milk, after all.
With such a wide variety of cereals, there needs to be a good selection of milk, or even orange juice, to pour over top. There’s your standard white milk plus syrups to mix with milk in the following flavours: chocolate, banana, caramel, strawberry, vanilla, bubble gum, white chocolate, mint, peanut butter, black forest — even custard milk or yogurt.
As a daily cereal eater, I’m very much a creature of habit. But at the café, you can indulge in variety and a trip down memory lane.
Cereal is great at any time of the day, which you can see first hand at the café. The busiest times are not at 7 a.m., when it opens, but later in the morning and throughout the day, right up until it closes at 10 p.m.
With a variety like this, you can indulge all your cravings and cereal memories. After stepping through the doors, visitors are greeted with walls of colourful cereal boxes and a collection of hundreds of pieces of cereal memorabilia from the ’80s and ’90s, plus vintage TVs streaming retro cereal commercials.
The café has proven so popular that there is now a second location at the Camden Stables in London. Anne-Marie Marais is a Toronto-based travel writer. Her trip was subsidized by Visit England. Follow her on Twitter @LongLegsTravels and read more at LongLegsTravel.com.