i used to work as a dispatch rider in london and went to hundreds of cafes and i've seen some of my old faves on your website. i wonder if you can help me find a real gem.... it was a small cafe run by an ex-boxer in his late 50's and had old b&w photos of boxers/fights/promo posters all over the place and i mean from skirting boards to ceilings. the food was good but the character of the place and the people there was awesome. all i can remember is that it was in it's own small building in the greenwich area on a desolate industrial estate. it'd be great to re-visit or see a review cheers and thanks for all that dedicated eating
It may be too far out of the west end for you, but I have a haven of greasy spooned-ness at the end of my road. YORK CAFE on Woolwich Road is clean, friendly and with proper chips. It is even licensed I think. Give it a go!
TJ's Cafe in mortlake sw14 open seven days a weeks, big portions!! cheap. you should definatley visit this place won the "best greasy spoon" in london award 2003
Russell how come we have not seen you at our cafe you are missing a treat. We serve the best all day breakfast in the North West We cater for everyone also we are in the process of taking on the title of the Ace Cafe of the Midlands Regards Lynn & Pete.
May I heartily recommend Sues Cafe in Gillingham Road, Gillingham, Kent (almost opposite the Arriva Bus Depot). Great food, great tea............very good prices for such good quality breakfasts and dinners.
The mess in Hackney is much nicer (and admittedly middle classer) than it's local counterparts (nice sausage rather than pig's bum). Some say it's better than Mario's... Alt for a good proper greasy spoon Dilari's on the corner of Mare Street is pretty good. Packed out every lunchtime and they have a non-smoking side of the room. Finally, if you live near Ealing and you've never been to Starvin' Marvins you're missing out. I was cautiously eating my breakfast with the pancake and maple syrup on one side and the bacon and eggs and hash brown on the other. Then absentmindedly I stabbed a bit of bacon onto the end of my syrupy pancaked-up fork… It's manna from lardarse heaven.
I love yr book and website. I have never commented on one or a blog before as I dont know how to. My son got this space for me. I am trying to get info on my favourite old cafe, The Blue Sky, by corner of Westbourne Grove and Chepstow Rd,London W2, between PAddington and Portobello Rd, which was my home from home from 1974-80.I lived in various squats and flats nearby and hung out with various groovy people in those days.... It closed down a few years ago. I wld love to get photos and the name/address of the lovely Irish waitress and Italian boss.... I have tried the Archives at Westminster City Library but no luck. I am doing a Ceramics degree as a v mature student and want to do an installation recreating a table at it, the light coming thru steamy bright plateglass windows, the smells, food, china,plastic menus, etc etc. I have assembled a load of stuff (tables, chairs etc),but they are not perfect. I wonder if you have any ideas on where I cld borrow/hire perfect stuff in one fell swoop, for a few days in early Jan 07? Most of all I want to get hold of a tape/CD of cafe background noises. Any ideas? Many thanks, Emma
This is a lovely place. Not an architectural or decorative wonder, but incredibly friendly and welcoming. You can sit for hours and nurse a cup of tea and watch the neighbourhood call in. There's flowers and light and a lovely couple who run the place.
Traffic wardens are a great sign of a good cafe. They know them all, they're always looking for friendly refuge, they appreciate value. Find a traffic warden and you'll find a good place. I'm all for traffic wardens.
A hugely Italian place in the Brunswick Centre. Festooned with all sorts of Italian football stuff. Signed shirts. All that. Strangely few of which I've taken pictures off. And a lovely, hot, cup of tea.
Not inspiring from the outside, but well worth popping in.
Two bottles of brown. Hurrah.
If those chairs could talk. If patina could speak.
The Tors is in a fine tradition of splendidly basic transport cafe populated almost entirely by blokes in dark blue corporate poloshirts and safety gear. Truck drivers, delivery men, workers from Severn Trent. They don't trouble the menu with any fancy stuff, just basic cobs and fry-ups. No chips available or it would be in eggbaconchipsandbeans.
There must be thousands of places like this in London. Italian owned, or Spanish, or Polish, or Thai, or somewhere else. Little local business. Nice food. Sort of generic interiors but always with some strange little twist. Posters for local things. Their own little customs. Their own regular customers. This place isn't remarkble, it's just life-affirmingly ordinary.
I thought I should have a look at Picasso's because Gordon Ramsey raved about it so much. And it is nice. Though it's not really a greasy spoon. Much too bright, clean, shiney and posh for that. But, nevertheless, a great place to sit, have a cuppa and watch the class war in Kensington and Chelsea. Everyone's there, the arrogant euro-trash, the braying aristos, the little rich old ladies and the blokes in dusty polo shirts installing piping next store. And obviously the yuppy scum like me.
Not our usual fare, but again, right on brief. This is a fashionable new place in St James's Park. Fancy architects. Tom Dixon. All that. Pricey. But the location is fantastic and the crockery is lovely.
Brilliant place to watch the world go by. And to count your blessings for being able to afford it all.
Ellie's is the kind of hard-working place that's open at 7am on a Bank Holiday Monday. Lovely cup of tea for only 50p.
Surprising amount of potted palms. There was no orchestra. Unexceptional decor. This place is just about getting people in, giving them fry-ups and getting them out.
This is the best park in the world. Small, compact, slap in the middle of Matlock, just on the edge of the Peak District. Tennis courts, a river, a little train the kids can ride on, paddling pools, bowls, a putting green, boats you can hire for £2 and the best park cafe ever. A little shack and some tables outside. Sausage sandwiches, cakes, footballs and bubbles.
They'll normally give you a proper mug, but we weren't sure if we were going to be sitting in the park so we got these ones.
I've walked past City Snacks a lot, but this was the first time I went in. What a revelation. Lovely place.
Look at that optimistic sign, slanting excitedly towards the future.
I love how packed this place is. Packed with formica. Packed with stuff.
Split level condiment display - a cafe breakthrough
I know this doesn't seem to quite fit. But it's exactly on brief. A good place to have a cup of tea and a think. An empty train. A two-hour journey. Not exactly a good cup of tea, but a good time to catch up with your thoughts.
I've been thinking about tea a lot recently, because we're working on a tea project, and I was suddenly struck that this is Twinings. We've been assuming that Twinings is dead posh. But of course, when you think about it, you realise that they've defused their poshness by leaking into all kinds of public places - like trains and airports and company cafeteria.
Actually, maybe that undermines my argument, if that's all I can come up with in two hours, it can't have been that good a place to think.
