rglondon | Entries tagged with croydon

Blue Jay Cafe, South Norwood, London SE25

Hello RGL readers!

This week's featured article takes us to the Blue Jay Cafe in South Norwood, a small Caribbean establishment that serves its baked beans asymptotically, approaching the other items but never touching them. I'm sure James Stirling would be a regular if he hadn't popped his clogs 250 years ago.

We have a few updates, too! In Wallington, Coughlans Bakery has a decent vegan toastie, while there's some important lime and soda pricing information for The Star. In nearby Croydon, the Cricketers pub seems to have finally settled on its name and menu, which happily includes a great Cajun catfish sandwich.

Finally, there's an update for Maggie's cafe in Lewisham, which has a create-your-own breakfast approach whereby all items are plunged into a chaos distribution, for better or worse. Presumably Jacques Hadamard has been playing billiards with the bubble?

katstevens

Hi RGL crew! I’m back after an unforeseen shortage of working laptops in the Sydenham area. We've had a productive week, so let's crack on with our featured article Itadaki Zen, a vegan Japanese restaurant in King's Cross. It's a solid, reasonably priced lunch option for the area with good tempura and bento boxes.

In Lloyd Park, Croydon, a morning soup can be avoided if you take a route straight through what is known as Parklife Cafe! As our new page for it describes, it's open for breakfast and there are plenty of tasty alternatives to soup, enough to give you an enormous sense of well-being.

There's a new page for GT Flavazs "N" Spices, which is not in fact the newest grime remixer on the block but a friendly Guyanese bakery and takeaway in Anerley. Thirteen stops up the Overground to Shoreditch, you'll find Lyle's, a Michelin-starred restaurant in the vein of St. John, which our reviewer enjoyed a great deal.

Also new to RGL is Brixton's Booma, a restaurant whose gimmick is curry-and-craft-beer pairing. A match made in heaven? You'll have to read the article and find out. Meanwhile down in Beckenham we have new pages for Indian restaurant Chai Naasto, and Poached, a small cafe where you have one (1) guess as to what sort of eggs our reviewer had for breakfast.

There's an update to the page for Bombay Burrito in Angel (now with vegan options!) and the Indian YMCA canteen in Fitzrovia (now with Rice Krispies!).

Lastly, Salt & Pickle in Crystal Palace has closed after less than a year - the final outpost of the Good Taste empire has now left the Triangle.

ewan

Hello and welcome back to another week, if your week starts on a Tuesday.

The featured article is Roti Masters, CR0 1YG in Croydon, a halal Caribbean cafe. But are they truly masters of the roti? Visit our reviews to FIND OUT.

There are no new articles, but two significant updates. These are to Vanilla Black, an upscale vegetarian restaurant near Holborn, and they can sort out vegans too. It's a lengthy review, so why not dive in? There'a also an update to The Wenlock Arms in Hoxton, which still has all the real ales and some basic pub food.

Finally, Suda Thai has moved from Covent Garden to Fitzrovia.

mrs_leroy_brown

Wotcher RGL massive!

This week's featured article is Cafe Provencal, a small family and dog friendly restaurant in Herne Hill serving up cocktails and Canopy beer. I can confirm their brunch selection is most excellent but do book in advance.

Fans of Ethiopian food will be pleased to note our two new articles are St Gabriel Cafe near Elephant & Castle, serving up appropriately sour injera, and Beza Ethiopian Food also near Elephant & Castle, though you might want to dine in to avoid hefty delivery charges.

We have three updates to existing articles this week - Star Tavern, a Fullers pub in Belgravia with a lot of love from RGLers, Zeret Kitchen in Camberwell continues our love for south London Ethiopian scran, and Roti Masters in Croydon continues to impress with substantial meals bursting with texture and flavour.

The Sidcup pub formerly known as The Portrait is now Hill Top Tap, and the Sekforde Arms, a Young's pub in Clerkenwell, has reopened as The Sekforde pub and restaurant.

If you're looking for knitting supplies, I Knit London has moved from its previous Lower Marsh location but fear not, it's only a short walk away to its new location near Lambeth North station.

Finally, we have four reported permanent closures - Duke of Hamilton is now occupied by the Hampstead Lounge & Jazz Club, Fuzedown pub in Streatham, Tas Turkish restaurant in Farringdon,and L'Anima Italian restaurant near Liverpool Street station.

ewan

Hello and welcome back, it's been a few weeks!

This month's featured article is The Orange Tree, TW9 2NQ, a pub and hotel near Richmond station. It's Young's-run so expect a decent pint of Ordinary. Also note that RGLers have been visiting long enough that there are comments pre-dating the smoking ban. Ah, those heady days.

Our two new articles are: Melisi, an Italian bar, cafe and restaurant in Ruislip. A small place, but nice food, soft rock, and Italian service. I learned that the "s" is soft in Ruislip from Kat when I visited recently (a sibilant sound, like "Rye-slip", not a "z" sound as I'd been incorrectly doing for years). There's also Taste of Kerala, where in Croydon you too can sample a taste of, er, Kerala I'm guessing? Kake gets into some detail about exotic and interesting styles of rice cooking in the entry, so be sure to read up on that.

Significant updates have been made to Nakhon Thai in E16's delightful Royal Docks area. Pretty nice, we conclude.

Finally the reported permanent closure of The Bree Louise due to HS2 redevelopment of the area. Expect more transport links, but fewer cask ales and ciders served on gravity dispense.

katstevens

St Gabriel Ethiopian Delicatessen, Finsbury Park, London N4

Evening all, I hope those of you who attended Croydon Fun Weekend enjoyed yourselves!

Our featured article this week is for Finsbury Park's St Gabriel Ethiopian Delicatessen, a small cafe serving some flavourful Ethiopian stews and 'nicely sour' injera.

There are two new articles: Dosa N Chutny, a bright orange South Indian restaurant in Croydon which has mislaid the letter 'e', and Dans Le Noir in Clerkenwell, an experimental restaurant that has mislaid the light switches. You eat your dinner in pitch blackness! It sounds intriguing - click through for our reviewer's experience.

Finally, there's an update for the Maramia Cafe in Maida Hill following a visit. Was the arayes as good as the mezze was on our 2011 visit? Indeed, could *anything* be as good as that mezze?

ewan

Welcome back to another week of Randomness.

This week's featured article is The Mitre, TW9 1UY. We're calling this as North Sheen, but apologies if you don't believe that area exists: the map shows it, and this pub is near the station of that name, so don't @ us. It entered the Good Beer Guide this year, and I'm assuming the 14 handpumps had something to do with it, but it sounds rather nice.

Our one new article is Polish Kitchen, a cheerful Polish restaurant in Cheshunt. Go for the pierogi.

Three significant updates: confusing pricing at The Green Dragon in Croydon; pricy lime and soda at The Camel and Artichoke by Waterloo (and if you're getting your soda from a big bottle you've bought down the local shop, it shouldn't cost more); and low prices at Mamuska! in Elephant and Castle, which thankfully is not the Polish food equivalent of that recent film Mother! (or maybe it is; I've not seen the film).

Finally, the reported permanent closure of The Grape and Grain in Crystal Palace, a large corner pub which had been looking a bit empty for a while. Apparently owned by Wetherspoons but looks like it may not open as one.

katstevens

Evening all! We're back after a week off, with another featured article: Hasi is an Albanian restaurant and bar in Barking, with no discernible menu. Sounds like the food was tasty though, so certainly worth checking out if you're in Barking and/or want to brush up on your Albanian current affairs.

Two new pages this week! The Pan Tao Garden stall in Tooting Broadway Market serves boxes of extremely good value (if not particularly adventurous) Chinese food, while the Oasis Cafe in Thornton Heath has both British and West Indian menus (including a West Indian breakfast) - no Gallagher brothers sighted on our visit however.

Sydenham's best vegan cafe, the Honey Hive, has had an update following a visit (alas featuring the most terrible vegetable of them all, in 'rice' form), as have the Fox On The Hill Wetherspoons in Denmark Hill and Brasserie Vacherin in Croydon.

The Japan Centre has moved (yet again) just round the corner to Panton Street - its previous home in Shaftesbury Avenue now specialises in ceramics and books. Meanwhile further down Panton Street, the Odeon has closed, and is due to reopen at some point as a rather more 'luxurious' cinema. London Bridge's cinema/bar combo Roxy Bar and Screen has a less glamorous future: it is turning into a KFC. Finally, Croydon's fine dining scene is mourning the closure of Albert's Table (it's currently unknown whether or not it will become a fried chicken emporium, but if so they are welcome to take "Albumen EinstHEN's" as the best name I could come up with in 5 minutes).

ewan

Welcome back, and once again I fear I'm late in the week adding this update but here we are anyway!

This month's featured article is a pub, the Eel Pie, TW1 3NJ, named for the local island (or eyot?), and not for any kind of local delicacy. Expect all your favourite Hall & Woodhouse Badger-themed beers, and probably some rugby on the TV?

Three new articles! There's Blue Haze Arts and Crafts in Chesham, a friendy local craft shop if you live in Chesham. There's also Craft Beer Shop, featuring crafts of a more alcoholic variety in Little Chalfont, which I can exclusively reveal is not very far from Chesham. Finally, in nearby Amersham is Mad Squirrel Amersham, another bar and beer shop run by the brewery of that name.

There's a big update to Rucola, an Italian restaurant in Little Chalfont! Guess who's been to Chesham recently?

Finally, temporary closure reported of the Green Dragon, in Croydon rather than Chesham, but it will be open again before the end of the year fear not.

katstevens

Hullo folks! I hope October is treating you well so far.

This week's featured article is for rhyming restaurant/fishmonger Prawn On The Lawn in Highbury. The fish is good and the staff haven't let the daft name affect their levels of professionalism.

Newly added to RGL is Miss P's in Croydon, on the site of former Cricketer's pub (near the Lebanon Road tram stop - our team of reviewers did not mention any sightings of Phil Oakey at said tram stop but I'm sure he can't be far away). Miss P's specialises in barbecued meats and fish, and reading the article made me feel very hungry indeed.

Two temporary pub closures to report: the Sugar Loaf Inn in Little Chalfont and the Lord Palmerston in Dartmouth Park are both due to reopen after some management switcheroos. Meanwhile way up in Zone 9, Chesham's Brazil's Cafe is now a restaurant called Brazil's Kitchen. I'm sure the RGL crew will head back there at some point to see what has changed aside from the name.

Finally, fancy Indian restaurant Vineet Bhatia in Chelsea has closed for good, just after getting their Michelin star back. I guess you could say it was…*puts on CSI sunglasses*... "Michelin accomplished"? Yeeeooooow!

ewan

Hello and welcome to another week of RGL.

Flavours of Paani Puri, Kingsbury, London NW9

The featured article this week is Flavours of Paani Puri, NW9 9EG, a vegetarian Indian cafe in Kingsbury. It looks from the outside like a convenience store but don't be fooled! It's great value too.

There are three new articles this week. We have for you Tea Cosy, a cafe in Upminster, like an upmarket greasy spoon I suppose, is that what "British cafe" means? There's also Ashley Brook Fabrics, a rare article about something not food- or drink-related, this one being a Romford fabric shop. Finally, there's Little Coffee Shop in South Croydon. I have a small quiz for you: guess what it is. Those who answered "it's a little coffee shop" win!

We have an update to the Crumpled Horn article, a pub out Upminster way.

Finally a bunch of reported closures for you: Muncho cafe in Croydon; The Case Is Altered pub in Harrow Weald; The King's Arms pub in East Molesey; The White Horse pub in Hampstead Heath (this one is always opening and closing); The Railway Wetherspoons pub in Putney; The Goldsmiths' Arms in East Acton; and The Duke of York in Chiswick.

katstevens

Mirth, Marvel & Maud, Walthamstow, London E17

Hello RGL crew! It's that time of year again where we explore the new entries in the Good Beer Guide. Which means a whole bunch of new pub articles for you to peruse at your leisure:

- The Albion (plenty of real cider in Kingston)
- The Angel (the Wetherspoons close to Angel tube station)
- The Antwerp Arms (a community-owned pub in Tottenham)
- The Black Horse (dog-friendly pub on the Kingston/Norbiton borders)
- The Brewhouse and Kitchen (microbrewery in Highbury)
- The Cricketers (Stonegate pub beside Epsom Common)
- Cronx (bar in the Croydon Boxpark, run by the Cronx brewery)
- Draft House Old Street (fashionable outpost of the ever-growing chain)
- The Dundee Arms (gloomily lit, narrow pub in Bethnal Green)
- The Flag (large pub by Watford Junction station)
- The Greenwood Hotel (huge Wetherspoons in Northolt)
- The Greystoke (Greene King pub on the Ealing/West Acton border, but with a better beer selection than that would immediately suggest)
- The Hope (sounds like a pleasant place to watch the cricket in Richmond)
- Jono's (oddly-decorated pub in Ilford)
- The Midland Hotel (stained glass and hexagons in Hendon)
- Mirth, Marvel and Maud (see picture above - an Antic pub and performance space, in a converted cinema in Walthamstow)
- The Mitre (more stained glass, this time in North Sheen)
- The Mossy Well (Wetherspoons in Muswell Hill featuring a large model cow)
- The North Star (bare lightbulbs in Ealing)
- The Northcote (above average pizza in Leytonstone)
- The Shelverdine Goathouse (Antic pub in South Norwood)
- The Taproom (deep fried courgettes in Woolwich)

Next week there'll be some non-pub updates! Stay tuned...

katstevens

Evening RGL crew!

This week's featured article is for the legendary Stuffins Unlimited in Croydon. This sandwich shop is clearly inspired by the great 2 Unlimited not just in name, but in its cheerful personnel, quick-moving queue, boshing specials and hardcore rave breakfast baps (maybe). Get Bready For This!

First among a bunch of new articles on RGL this week is a new branch of the Nordic Bakery in Seven Dials. I am still recovering from the last time I had one of their extremely strong coffees at the Golden Square branch (approx 8 years ago). The coffee strength at Coffee Express in Belvedere is as yet unknown, but they'll do a weak cup of tea if you ask for one. (If you're after something stronger in DA17, the Belvedere Hotel pub has reopened.)

Elsewhere, in Brixton's Market Row there's Brazilian food at Carioca, while Earlsfield's Cah Chi will do you a decent beef japchae. Last but not least is the Running Horses pub in Erith. Where is Erith, I hear you ask? Well, I was at that pub myself just yesterday and I ate a large sausage roll, but it was dark outside and I got lost on the way, so I couldn't tell you exactly how I got there. Erith: shrouded in mystery! Or you could get the train.

katstevens

Hullo all! Our last round-up of the year kicks off with our featured article, Andu Cafe in Dalston. The menu is both short and vegan! Having a dollop of everything on a massive expanse of injera sounds like an excellent plan. The archives tell me I've already linked to the Captain Sensible song about wot, so here's Wiley instead.

We have a new page for Suda, a busy and modern Thai restaurant in Covent Garden, hidden away in the courtyard off Upper St Martin's Lane, and there's an update for Cristina's steak house in Barking, following a recent visit. The Glamorgan gastropub in Croydon has closed, while Cafe Bohemia off Mare Street in Hackney is due to close in January.

And that's it for 2016 - RGL wishes all our readers and contributors a very Happy New Year!

ewan

Welcome back to another week where we plunge ourselves into the pubs, restaurants and shops of London.

Woolwich Equitable, Woolwich, London SE18

This week our featured article is a watering hole, The Woolwich Equitable, located in a former building society headquarters (guess which one) and run by the Antic pub company. It tones down on their usual quirk and has some decent food and music which is not too loud in the afternoon.

Three new articles are Shadi Bakery in West Croydon, good for all your naan needs, Coughlan's Bakery in Wallington, good for your lunchtime sarnie needs, and Little Bar in Tooting, which is indeed very little and offers bottled beers, wines and cocktails.

There's a significant update to The Elephant and Castle pub in the lovely Elephant and Castle area, again taken over by Antic.

Finally the reported permanent closure of The Dignity, one of the few pubs near Finchley Central, and pretty decent one too. But gone now. Gone.

ewan

Welcome to a new week on RGL!

This week's featured article is Bus, CR0 2BQ. It is a greasy spoon cafe in a bus, up Selhurst way. It's child friendly. Also it's on a bus.

Four new articles are as follows: The Long Room in Tooting, a pub with relatively cheap food; Saravanaa Bhavan in Harrow, a branch of a vegetarian Indian chain, thankfully not too anglicised; Jen Cafe in Chinatown, specialising in hand-made dumplings, a quick turnaround operation with better meat than veg options; and Nusa Kitchen near Liverpool Street station, a fine soup-focused takeaway corridor.

Finally, one reported closure is Oui Monsieur in Stoke Newington, a short-lived French bar/restaurant.

katstevens

Evening RGLers! After last week's Good Beer Guide pub deluge, here's what's been happening everywhere else.

Our featured article is for Mr Chilly, who is neither an underprepared arctic explorer nor an anthropomorphised ice cream but a small North Indian restaurant near North Harrow station. Try the biryani!

We've got lots of new articles. Let's kick things off in Morden, with a branch of Wimpy and the Morden Hall Bookshop, which sells second hand books from an old National Trust building in the park. Up the Northern line a few stops is Vijaya Krishna, a South Indian restaurant in Tooting, while back down in the other direction there's Bamboo Basket, a Chinese/Malay tea shop and cafe in Epsom. Ram's in Kenton is a veggie (and Jain-friendly) Indian restaurant that has a buffet with unlimited puri (mmm, delicious carbs), while all the way over in Eltham, the Yak and Yeti does a reasonable lunch deal.

Of course there are some pub updates too: the Duke of York in Surbiton and the Albert Tavern in South Norwood (both owned by Greene King), the Cape bar in Wapping, the Cricketers pub in Croydon (great for tram watching), the Barley Mow in Epsom, the Villiers Arms in Oxhey (as confirmed last week, Oxhey is indeed a real place) and the Railway Tavern in Bexley. I judge it would be quite a challenge to create a (theoretical, even!) pub crawl to visit all seven of those in one day, even though you would be unaffected by the temporary closure of the Gospel Oak to Barking line (it's shut until next February).

Finally, some closures to report: Italian restaurant Tentazoni has moved from Bermondsey to Notting Hill, while the Charlotte in Crayford, the Dover Castle (a Sam Smith's) in Marylebone and the branch of Spirited Wines in Putney have all closed.

ewan

This week, as members of the RGL community prepare to visit the Great British Beer Festival, our featured article is a pub: The Oval Tavern, CR0 6BR in sunny Croydon. It does around five real ales served from the cask, pub quizzes, food, darts, proper locals' pub stuff done well, just like you need sometimes.

We also have three new articles for you. There's Redemption, not the brewery but instead a vegan restaurant in Shoreditch, which I can co-sign on because I have visited myself, though I didn't add it to RGL. But it does tasty food. Note that aside from dairy, honey and other animal products, they are also free of alcohol.

There's also Bloomsbury Farmer's Market, a regular market every Thursday in Torrington Square; and Manor Bar and Grill in Tooting.

We have a significant update to The Prince Arthur in Hoxton, a classic Shepherd Neame pub.

Sadly lots of reported closures this week: The Good Samaritan in Whitechapel; Boho Mexica in Spitalfields; The Duke of Wellington in Marylebone; The Only Running Footman in Mayfair (though it's still a pub, just not gastro, which sounds fine actually); and The Tyburn, a Wetherspoons by Marble Arch.

katstevens

Evening all! A quick update tonight: our featured article is for Affogato, a cafe in Norbury that does all-day breakfasts, waffles and a range of loose leaf teas.

New to RGL is the first combination craft beer/hot sauce establishment I've ever heard of, Hop Burns & Black in East Dulwich. My workplace has an entire fridge shelf dedicated to sauce bottles with skulls and crossbones on them - I will be informing my boss about HB&B ASAP.

There are also updates for the efficient Roti Masters Caribbean takeaway in Croydon, and the newly-refurbished Bear in Camberwell, which seems to have emerged from its makeover unscathed (although it no longer has a quiz night).

ewan

This week's update features Thai Smile, W6 9NH, a Thai supermarket, though it has plenty of other regional stuff. Pastes! Sauces! Seasonings! Frozen Things! Tofu! Strange herbs!

There are four new articles: Fish Kitchen in Norbiton, like an upmarket chippie; Saints and Sinners pub in Croydon, lacking ale though; Santok Maa's vegetarian Indian in Thornton Heath, with friendly staff, though not fully structurally sound puri; and Bus cafe towards the Selhurst end of Croydon, which is in a bus.

We have significant updates to The Norbiton and Dragon pub; The Willoughby Arms pub in Kingston; The Park Tavern pub in Kingston; and The Boaters Inn pub in Kingston. Someone's been visiting the area, I'll wager...

Temporary closure is reported for The Queen's Head pub in Kingston. Permanent closures are: Snackpot (in Norbiton); Magma Ghanaian restaurant (in Thornton Heath); and The Gatehouse (in Highgate), which is still a pub just not a Wetherspoons so is DEAD TO US.

Finally is the reported reopening of Na Pura Portuguese cafe in Nunhead.