press
Breakfast Fame and Notoriety
Hello again Wonder Cafe Fans,
We wanted to highlight another entry in our book of fame, (and notoriety) for our Wonder Cafe Breakfast Challenge. The numbers of those who have completed the mammoth plate are still stuck at 2, but the number of attempts racks up daily!
In February, Becky Barnes a blogger for BT popped in to attempt the challenge. Find out how she got on: Wonder Cafe: BT Home
In May we were the subject of a lovely article in the London Publication, the Thrillist. They wrote some lovely things about us but we particularly liked being described as a “Charming, old school caff…”. Read the full article: Wonder Cafe: Thrillist
We’ll keep you in the loop about any more media attention, but don’t worry, we wont let our 15 minutes of fame change us. We will always be your local “Charming, old school caff…”.
The Daily Mail, the Metro and the Wonder Cafe Challenge
Following our five mintes of fame on This Morning, we have exploded into the written press this week with articles in both the Daily Mail and the Metro. Both covered the extraordinary moment when Emma Dalton beat the Wonder Cafe Challenge live on This Morning. The Daily Mail noted that “she became the first person to beat the Uxbridge cafe’s breakfast dish challenge – a renowned competition that is considered to be one of the world’s largest fried breakfasts.” The metro led with the headline ” The ‘Human Hoover’ polishes off breakfast challenge live on This Morning”. We have also have an unconfirmed report that we were also mentioned on Heart Fm. Do let us know if you heard it!
We are a traditional cafe with many customers who have been visiting us for over 30 years, and we love that people always come back. But as we age, so do our customers, and young people dont visit traditional cafes in the same way that the generation before them did. Whilst keeping our homecooked cafe character, we have spent the past few years trying to attract some of our younger locals, which has included introducing our 100% aberdeen burgers, a range of different drinks, some additional healthy options and an offer whereby if you check in on facebook whilst you are in the Cafe, you get a free canned drink with your meal.
However, another idea we had was the Wonder Cafe Challenge and the Wonder Burger Challenge. We had seen the Man vs Food phenomenon in the USA, and we felt that some of our younger customers might be game for a meal of this proportion. We were right and social media went crazy for it, racking up over 20,000 hits in 3 days. We did not imagine, however, that our idea, in a little cafe on the outskirts of West London would generate interest in National Press and on National Television.
We are amazed, delighted and humbled that we have become so well known but at heart we are still the local cafe, with tasty homecooked food and a smile and a chat for all our regular customers.
Please read national articles in the Daily Mail and the Metro or visit our menu page and decide what you fancy for lunch.
This Morning and the Eating Challenge
This week the Wonder Cafe went national.
The Wonder Cafe challenge was on ITV’s This Morning and we reasoned that when Philip Schofield and Amanda Holden are talking about your fry-up on national TV, you have made it. That said, we were expecting a little more air time, not least because we thought that the challenger, Emma Dalton, had 45 minutes to complete it. We figured that we’d have at least that time to get our name out there…but no such luck.
This INCREDIBLE challenge eater, finished the Wonder Cafe challenge in 21 minutes and 34 seconds. Considering that no one else has even come close to finishing in double the time this was an incredible feat and we were aghast at her food vaccuming skills. She even text us afterwards to say how much she had enjoyed it and that she was having some chocolate as she messaged. The lovely Emma even thanked us for the food!
So, although our eating challenge fame lasted only a few minutes, we are delighted to have been on the show. And we really are amazed at Emma’s skills. If we ever have a few minutes of fame again we hope that the crew will come down the the cafe and actually see where the magic happens!
Check out the programme here.
Top 10 Eating Challenges by Virgin Atlantic
As you may recall, we have appeared in a number of publications over the last year, including Time Out Magazine, where we have been highlighted as one of the top eating challenges in London. This week, we added Virgin Atlantic to that list, when they cited us at number 2 in their article titled “The 10 Craziest Food Challenges in London”.
This challenge, which as you know, consists of four fried slices, four slices of toast, four eggs, six sausages, six rashers of bacon, six hash browns, four black puddings, tomatoes, beans, and mushrooms, is fast becoming a well known challenge spot on the circuit. A handful of people have now completed the burger challenge, but this signature challenge still remains to be beaten.
Could you handle it?
To read the full article click here.
The Knowledge: Time Out London
In December last year, we appeared in Time Out London for the very first time in an article drawing on Cabbie’s knowledge of London and the best places to visit.
We were recommended by Terry, from Hillingdon, and we were delighted.
We were amused by his comments noting that you come out of the Wonder Cafe “smelling like a chef’s jockstrap”! Thanks Terry! Needless to say we have since invested in some additional extraction methods..
Read the article here..
We have since appeared in Time Out London twice more and we are really chuffed that our little cafe has been in such a prestigious magazine!
Chris Evans at the Wonder Cafe
Recently we had a very serious flooding problem in Hillingdon which caused terrible traffic in the area. Whilst this was a nightmare for most locals, we did get a surprise visitor who had been stuck in traffic for four hours on his way back from work.
Chris Evans popped in for Desperate Dan, which consists of eggs, chips, 1 rasher of bacon, sausage, beans liver and a 6 ounce burger.
He raved about us on twitter and the following morning he talked about us on his breakfast show, saying what an excellent meal he had!
Needless to say, he was lovely and we’d love to see him again if he ever finds himself hungry and in the area.
You can listen to our celebrity endorsement here…
Chris Evans at the Wonder Cafe
Time Out comes to the Wonder Cafe
Last year we launched the Wonder Burger Challenge which went down seriously well. We decided that the challenge just wasn’t tough enough, and so, with the help of our lovely staff, we devised the mother of all challenges: THE WONDER CAFE CHALLENGE
4 fried slices, 4 slices of toast, 4 eggs, 6 sausages, 6 rashers of bacon, 6 hash browns, 4 black pudding, Plum tomatoes, Beans and mushrooms.
Now, if you follow us on facebook, you’ll know that we have had many challengers, including Alexi Duggins who writes for the Now.Here.This blog in Time Out London.
Here’s what happened when he gave the wonder burger challenge a go…