*London cafes: your very best recommendations, please!

[editor]

I'm about to post up a short guide to the best cafes in London, in the style of the Brixton cafe guide.

I'd really appreciate your help on this, so if you've got any cafe gems to share, please post up its name, address, (if poss) phone number and a short paragraph describing what's so darn good about it.

[agricola]

Shepherdess Cafe
City Road j/w Shepherdess Walk, N1

Always packed, food is great and cheap, ideal for City types along Moorgate and Old Street who reject the Starbucks / Costa Coffee / Cafe Nero places.

[isvicthere?]

What about the Cafe on the Hill? Without it the guide looks a bit central Brixton-centric. Especially since you give Bonnington Square Cafe a mention.

[isvicthere?]

Edited until I know what I'm talking about.

[Epona]

Best greasy spoon in London - Regency Cafe - corner of Regency Street and Page Street, SW1.

It's a proper old-style formica counters job with a nice atmosphere, great grub, and cheap - a huge plate of food and a mug of tea for around £4.

[chieftain]

The Mess Cafe in Amhurst road Hackney is the best cafe in Hackney by miles, really nice grub with chilled music and free papers to boot.

[mains]

Acre Lane coffee house opposite Lidl deserves a mention if you're more interested in a decent fry up instead of the 'ambiawnse' of Goya at a very reasonable price. Run by two brothers its a cafe of the plastic seated variety and tbh the seats are a little close together;but you do get fast, friendly service and a diverse menu (for a fry up cafe). Useful for those that want to eat as opposed to being 'seen'.

[Streathamite]

there is a little gem on Ladywell Rd, ladywell. It's called "life" (and Mine Host is clearly on a hippy tip!). daytime food is first-rate fry-ups, sarnies etc-but at night it becomes a thai joint. Out of the way (unless you're down my way!) but damn good-friendly, clean, ace food.

[Hollis]

The London Café, Turnpike Lane.. is a great place to hang out for an hour or so. Located next to the tube station, the building is a gem of 1930s architecture.

The clientele mainly consists of men, students, and couples. But with plenty of tables, you needn’t feel threatened of having your personal space invaded. – A selection of broadsheet & tabloid newspapers are available to read.

The café itself has a wide-ranging menu. With all selections the quality of the grease is guaranteed. For vegetarians, the ‘bubble’ is simply a café must. – The chef will also accommodate ‘off the menu’ choices, such as ‘scrambled egg on 2 toast’.

Feeling dined & refreshed you have the choice of exploring Green Lanes, taking in some air on Duckett’s Common, or catching up with some shopping in the newly refurbished Shopping City.

Enjoy.

[secretsquirrel]

indeed, hollis - the london cafe does possess a 'unique' charm!

can i add the arnos cafe situated in the beautiful environs of the north circular just past the turning for brownlow rd by bounds green - this is the dogs proverbials in terms of sheer volume of food to price ratio - they do fab bubble and a great cup of frothy cafe coffee

also ... now we is posh and living in the desirable part of palmers green, go to the station cafe which (funnily enough) is by palmer's green station - in fact, there's an entrance to it from the station itself - superb food - everything from greasy spoon to salads to vino to great coffee to full meals to big cakes bought from the farmers market next door - great thing on a sunday is stroll up to farmers market in station car park, buy lots of lovely food, go into cafe and buy lots more lovely food and finish off with a stroll across the triangle (eccentric opening hours permitting) to go to pahit ice - a full on old fashioned ice cream parlour with all homemade flavours which you can have made into any combo of milkshake for £2 - they also do take home tubs and loads of pancakes

collapse from sheer weight of food consumed but die happy

[editor]

Originally posted by Hollis
The London Café, Turnpike Lane.. is a great place to hang out for an hour or so. Located next to the tube station, the building is a gem of 1930s architecture.

With the greatest of respect, you appear to be living in a parallel universe to me or - I hope - taking the piss.

I know that café well and would be very hard pushed to describe it as a 'gem of 1930s architecture' - more like a scruffy, smokey phlegm palace.

The coffee's shit and and Ducketts Common outside is a nasty, chip-wrapper-strewn scrap of land, while Wood Green Shopping Centre is one of the most ghastly modern shopping 'experiences' to be found anywhere on the planet.

[secretsquirrel]

oi! you leave shopping city / wood green high st alone - they have a very high quality of pound shop i'll have you know and are great for rummaging around on a saturday afternoon to the delicate sound of police sirens and the pounding of bass emitting from souped up beemers driven with all the atttiude that can be mustered at a top speed of 5mph in a traffic jam

sorry, but i like it in an 'urban' kind of a way

[Wowbagger]

The Workman's Inn, Blackstock Road. Will do everything you expect of a proper caff, nice and cheap, and they make the tea in the proper way of filling the mug right up and then tipping half of it out and adding milk. Located opposite the King's Head (more or less) and as long as you aren't going in there in full Totnum kit screaming GLORY GLORY TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR, it's a good place for away fans to grab a bite if they're visiting Highbury. It's also run by a Spermz fan, which is good for comic relief.

I'd also be a bit lax if I didn't mention Tony's Hemp Cafe at the King's Cross end of Caledonian Road, opposite Housman's. Not had a chance to actually go in there yet, but it looks very nice.

Oh, and if Duckett's Common is the place I'm thinking of, it's a shithole. It's never looked better than when you can't see it under a thick covering of snow.

[agricola]

theres a boss one in lansdowne drive e8 whose name escapes me though.... has loads of old theatre adverts in it

[Spymaster]

Originally posted by Wowbagger
..... and they make the tea in the proper way of filling the mug right up and then tipping half of it out and adding milk.

What's the point of this ? Sounds wasteful.

[Hollis]

Leaving aside the distraction of Duckett's Common, the London Cafe is - in its own way - one of my favourite cafes! Its especially good on Sunday afternoons, when you're coming down from 'things'.

Now, if I'd really wanted to take the piss, several other cafes in Wood Green spring to mind.. such as the 'Eat Well Cafe' opposite Wood Green tube, and one behind the Shopping City..located in a portacabin.

[pooka]

Barbican Grill, Whitecross Street, near the Barbican.


Very popular lunctime place - excellent value. Meat and two veg plus pudding type menu. Formica style. Run by Clerkenwell Italians - even the Shephards Pie has tomatos in it.

Street market outside in Whitecross Street

[Uncle Damn]

Pete's caff at the top of Brixton Hill, along from the Telegraph pub, if its still there. Used to drive from Streatham for the fry ups when I was labouring there

[editor]

Hokey, version 1 of the London cafe guide is now up and running: thanks to all who contributed!

If there's any fantastic cafés missing, please post them up here - but I'll need their full details, and don't forget, I'm after exceptionally good cafés, not just alright ones.

You'll notice I've introduced a 'rating' system - I don't think anyone's going to take it too seriously, but hopefully it might give a little more info - post up here if I've got one horrendously wrong.

I haven't given many cafés the 'good vibes' icon because that's designed for cafés that are so good that you'll likely to spend hours there - so greasy spoons don't really qualify!

[pooka]

Ooops - I think you've C&P'ed my typos.

Should be:

Very popular lunchtime place - excellent value. Meat and two veg plus pudding type menu. Formica style. Run by Clerkenwell Italians - even the Shepherd's Pie has tomatoes in it

[XerxesVargas]

The Workers Cafe, Holloway Rd ( Bout halfway between Highbury & Islington Tube and Holloway tube).

They do great greasy spoon food, fry-ups and the like. THe atmosphere is ok, and they have papers. Oh and its cheap.

[Ron Merlin]

Originally posted by editor
...more like a scruffy, smokey phlegm palace.

The coffee's shit and and Ducketts Common outside is a nasty, chip-wrapper-strewn scrap of land, while Wood Green Shopping Centre is one of the most ghastly modern shopping 'experiences' to be found anywhere on the planet.

LOL Ed! Brilliant! The coffeee there is truly vile. I lived 5 mins away from that place for a few years and went in there just the once, tried the coffee, nearly puked and was forced to seek solace in the more salubrious suroundings of wino/dogshit park also known as Duckett's Common.

Apologies to Hollis for this, BTW

I'd recommend Banner's on Park Road in Crouch End. Their breakfasts are stupendous and you can have a lovely beer with them, if your guts are up to it.

[Spud Murphy III]

There is also a London Cafe off Newington Green. It's clean and tidy inside, popular with workmen.

SOME NORTH OF THE RIVER

In Islington: yes, The Shepherdess is good. Also the Angel Inn by Angel Islington is good. The best in that area is Alpino on Chapel Market. It's worth a look just to check out the 1930s decor.

Along Holloway Road: the Highbury Cafe is good and has been there a long time. On the wall is one of their old menus from the 1950s. Further up is the Panda Restaurant, where the old dears go. Good for school-dinner type puddings.

Camden: the New Goodfare restaurant on Parkway is the best. Family-run, the capo di capo here is about 60 but dyes his hair black and wears plenty of medallions. Other cafe owners know him well - he is a 'character'. Past the Stables Market is John's Cafe, a good old-school workman's cafe. Nearer Camden tube is the Woody Grill, which looks like something out of Twin Peaks. By Camden Road station is the Parma: this has recently had a refit and looks a bit bland inside but has a lively atmosphere.

Euston: Eversholt Street has plenty of cafes. The Victory Cafe is run by an old Sicilian couple, very friendly. Further up is the Double Six, which has a cosy snug bit at the back. Conspiratorial atmosphere, popular with cabbies. There's also a weird-looking one run by an Irish bloke - name eludes me right now - but the front of it looks like an old wooden shack. You sit on a raised platform inside. Off Drummond Street is the Piccolo Snack Bar. As the name suggests, it's pretty small inside but nice old-time feel.

The best cafe on Chalton Street nearby is the Pinner, run by Turks. Popular with workmen and RMT officials. Round the corner is the Golden Tulip, run by Dennis and his extended family. A nice community feel here, lots of people nip in and out during the day for a yack.

Kings Cross: two good cafes have been lost here recently: the Railway (underneath St Pancras Station) and Bar Uno, formerly the Beehive, formerly the A1. The old lady, Maria, who ran it has now retired. The Modern Snack Bar has been revamped thanks to the Kings Cross Partnership and now looks crap. That leaves the Beano on Caledonian Road, which is tolerable, no more. Best to head south down the Farringdon Road to Muratori's, run by Gianni. Brilliant place, long history. Also the Kings Cafe near the sorting office is good, nice Turkish-style murals on the walls.

West End: well-spotted the Regency, Epona. Quite spartan and masculine inside (pictures of boxers on the wall), but very good value. Nearby is the groovily-named Astral Cafe, though the name just comes from the block of flats above it, Astral House. Down Horseferry Road is the fine-looking Fiesta Sandwich Bar, with a beautiful old sign and nice squidgy orange vinyl fitted seating.

SOME SOUTH OF THE RIVER

Battersea: plenty along Battersea Park Road. Highly recommended is Dave's Diner and the famous Corelli's. Check out Corelli's beautiful sign in the shape of an ice-cream cornet. I'll mention the Jimmy Griddle solely because of the name. Further west is the imaginately named The Cafe, run by a bunch of friendly Turkish nutters. Good puddings. By the little market in Battersea High Street is Lito's Cafe, very old-school inside, lots of old geezers, run by Chinese or Vietnamese people. On Lavender Hill is the Lavender Restaurant: good grub, popular with indigenous locals, but the bloke who runs is a bit up himself.

Peckham: the Star Cafe by Peckham Rye Park does a good mixed grill, and now and again an alright bit of roast beef or lamb. Big and echoey inside, once was a licensed restaurant, now struggles a bit later on in its lifecycle. At the other end of Rye Lane I recommend the Como Restaurant and the Criterion.

Bloody hell I can think of loads more . . . anyway . . .

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL CAFF!

[William of Walworth]

Should just mention the Regency Cafe in Regency Road, just off Horseferry Road (SW1) where it turns a corner.

Spud likes it I know.

<planned mention of Walworth area cafes edited cos Stg and I don't agree 100% about the merits of the Famous Walworth Road cafe ... >

[hammerntongues]

Obsolete now cos its been closed for a couple of years but The Market Cafe just by The Ten Bells on the edge of EC3 ,I used to go in there on a regular basis for a good old fashioned Engish fry up and it was used by Gilbert and George every day, in fact the first time I went in there I thought i was seeing things as one of them ( dont know the diff ) was doing the washing up and the other was serving punters.
Sadly gone the way of many city landmarks.