rglondon | Entries tagged with se8

Belle Epoque, French-themed cafe on Newington Green

Happy new year wherever you are. You are still keeping your new year's resolutions, dryanuary or tryanuary or whatever, aren't you?

This week's featured article is the Belle Epoque, a French-themed café on Newington Green for all your croissant and croque needs.

An update: the Green Dragon, CR0 1NA in High Street, Croydon have tweaked their opening hours: staying open an hour later to 2am on Fridays and Saturdays, but opening later on Sundays (now 12 noon).

Several closures have been reported. Sanxia, SE8 4PQ, a Sichuan restaurant on Deptford Broadway, closed in October and is now another Sichuan restaurant. In Norbury, Nomad Cuisine, SW16 4AN, a halal restaurant with Middle Eastern art, closed sometime last year, and the premises now hosts Heady's Diner, a café. And Draft House Old Street, EC1V 9NR has closed (were they using the American spelling of "draught", or was the bar just a draft, in preparation for BrewDog which is due to open up there?).

So, out with the old. And in with the new! A new article for a completely new bar: the Wolfpack, NW6 6RA, the tap room for the Wolfpack brewery. It's near Queens Park and is a pleasant place if you're in the area. Another new article: On The Bab, EC1V 9LA on Old Street does tasty Korean street food and good tea. It's always busy at lunchtime.

Current Mood: thirsty

katstevens

Pueblito Paisa Cafe, Seven Sisters, London N15

Hello RGL readers!

This week's featured article is for the Pueblito Paisa, a Latin American cafe right by the north-west exit of Seven Sisters station. It's an excellent spot for bus watching - look at all this lot - and you can enjoy a multi-carb bonanza of chips, rice and plantain with your seafood stew. Hmm, maybe it's missing some bread there? I guess we can't all be perfect.

There's a bunch of new articles to peruse: scrambled eggs at Bermondsey Bar & Kitchen by London Bridge Station; hibiscus flower enchiladas at Santo Remedio, a short hop away in Tooley Street; Sichuan aubergine at Sanxia in Deptford, and over in Eltham the new Vue cinema is showing Detective Pikachu (2019, dir. R. Letterman) four times a day!

The Kings Arms in London Bridge and the Crown and Sceptre on Streatham Hill both have updates following a visit: the former will be of interest to lime and soda fans, while the latter is no longer a Wetherspoons, so your opportunity to order a surprise bowl of onion rings to whoever happens to be sitting at table 23 has passed.

Finally, some closures to report: Teapod near Tower Bridge (it's now a coffee shop), SoBo in Bermondsey is now a cafe called Earthsea (presumably full of wizards), and Bubbles and Tea in the Stratford Centre has... burst.

katstevens

Good evening, and welcome to a slightly belated blog post. Our featured article this week is for Trullo near Highbury & Islington station. Their tagliarini is good enough to convince our pasta-sceptic reviewer into a return visit, and to be quite frank the write-up is making me feel hungry, despite my having scoffed four mini naan breads mere seconds before typing this sentence.

There's an update for the insensitively-named but otherwise pleasant Job Centre, an Antic pub in Deptford (very close to Wavelengths swimming pool, if you require a decent vegan roast after your Sunday morning 2km dip).

Finally, we've one closure to report: East Meets West in Croydon's Wing Yip centre.

ewan

Welcome back! I was off on Monday traipsing around the many fine licensed establishments of Bromley (the one in South London), and then I completely forgot about this update. Here it is, in time for the weekend.

Your featured article this week is The Brookmill, SE8 4EJ. It's a long, narrow pub in an awkward corner site, with jazz on the sound system and five handpulls for ale. There is even a very interesting sounding vegan burger on the menu. Sounds like a nice place.

Lots of new additions this week, mostly pubs! I can but speculate as to this seasonal flurry of additions, but eagle-eyed readers will know this happens around this time every year:
* The Prince, a fine pub and microbrewery in leafy Wood Green, which I very much like, but watch out for the, er, ice;
* The Arnos Arms, in Arnos Grove, a big pub formerly a Harvester, but now it's not a Harvester, so that's already an improvement;
* The King's Arms in Fulham, another big pub, with ornate decor;
* The Foresters Arms, also a boutique hotel and a posh restaurant, in Hampton Wick, where you can expect a black pleather bar and some ales;
* The Henry Addington just by Canary Wharf station -- it's a Nicholson's pub in an early-90s building but it's going for an old fashioned vibe;
* The Wellington Arms (also a hotel) in not-technically-London Watford, but it doesn't sound like somewhere you'd necessarily make a special trip north for;
* The Windsor Castle in Kensington/Notting Hill, a well-divided and partitioned bar with lots of area and character, and frankly it's a surprise it hasn't been on RGL until now. Can't really go wrong, it's a classic pub, just watch out for posh locals I guess?

There's also a new entry for the distinctly not-a-pub Trullo, an Italian restaurant by Highbury Corner. It's very popular, and that makes sense given the quality of the food. Definitely one for pasta exploration.

There are also updates to The Temperance pub in Fulham (cavernous!), Dalchini in Wimbledon (Indo-Chinese food! though be careful), and The Lion in Teddington/Hampton Wick (partly a French restaurant now!).

Finally, reported permanent closure for Kenya Coffee House in Romford, which may yet find a new location.

katstevens

Greetings!

This week's featured article comes with a warning - for cauliflower content! Thankfully at Brixton's Naughty Piglets there are other non-hideous foodstuffs available. Ham! Cod! Hazelnuts! Not all at once though. (A ham-cod-hazelnut combo would still be preferable to cauliflower).

Our list of vegan-only establishments continues to expand with a new page for Thenga Cafe in Bloomsbury, where you can try a coconut milk masala tea. There's also vegan food available at the Brookmill pub in Deptford, including the always-mysterious vegan mayonnaise. How do they manage it? We will never know (i.e. I don't want to know).

A little further eastward are two pub updates, following a visit to Greenwich: I remember the Pilot having a pleasantly spacious beer garden, but perhaps skip their eggs florentine if you're having breakfast; you might be better off with a scotch egg at the Cutty Sark, which would go nicely with a pint of Young's Ordinary, and depending on the weather, a picturesque view across the river.

Finally, the Bull & Last is closed for a refurb. Hopefully this will include eradicating all traces of cauliflower from the premises.

ewan

Salt + Pickle, Crystal Palace, London SE19

This week's featured article is Salt and Pickle, SE19 1TS, which is of course a wine bar with an interest in pickled things. It's all very interesting, it sounds like, especially the wine list... but not so much the bread.

Two new articles are Natraj, a very small Indian vegetarian cafe in Rayners Lane with generous portion sizes, and Station Pantry in Upminster (across the road from the station), also very pleasant but again the bread comes in for a spot of criticism.

Finally, there are updates to three articles: Hare and Tortoise's Ealing branch; Viet Rest (short for Vietnamese Restaurant, which is what it is) in Deptford, where the pork sounds like a winner; and Deli Felice in Rotherhithe, friendly but again watch out for the bread.

katstevens

Evening RGLers!

This week's featured article is for Archie's cafe in Deptford, presumably named because it's located in a railway arch and specialises in cheese (cheese sandwiches, macaroni cheese, cheesecake etc) which makes me wonder what their marketing team's crossed-out suggestions were. "Deptford Brie-dge"? "Caerphilly Does It"? "Better The Breville You Know"? All fine names, feel free to use any of them for your own cheese-based establishment.

New to RGL this week is Jashan, a veggie Indian restaurant near Wembley Central. From the sounds of it our reviewer's experience wasn't quite as they'd hoped for - usually Wembley-based disappointments are caused by sport rather than chilli mushrooms, so perhaps Jashan was just having an off day?

ewan

Hello and welcome back from a long weekend.

Shree Krishna Vada Pav, Harrow, London HA1

This week's featured article is Shree Krishna Vada Pav, HA1 2TY, an Indian vegetarian cafe in a casual location in Harrow. It moved recently from another location nearby, and it has a decent vada pav (as you'd hope for given the name of the place). All pretty good value it seems.

We have not two, not three but FOUR new articles! There's The Pembroke, a pub in Coulsdon. Alright beer; seems child friendly. And then there's Archie's, a cafe/bar in Deptford -- a railway arch to be precise, HENCE THE NAME. Pretty good sandwiches and friendly service! Also, Halwa Poori House in Thornton Heath does Pakistani food with sparkly floor tiles and mild lukewarm curry. Finally, Canary Cafe, a greasy spoon in South Croydon. There's a solid selection of the usual staples.

ewan

This week, our featured article is Mama Pho, SE8 5DG. It's a Vietnamese cafe in Deptford, a successor to Cafe East. Expect generous portions, tender meat, and disappointing salad.

A new addition is, for a rare change, a station! It's Lea Bridge Station, which used to exist as a passenger station but some time before RGL was founded. Well it's open again, so grab your trains to Stratford and TOttenham Hale here.

Finally, an update to Picture Palace, a former Wetherspoons pub in Ponders End, now sold on to another operator, but it's still a pub.

katstevens

Evening all, hope your Bank Holiday was pleasant! I spent mine looking at my local supply of anatomically incorrect dinosaurs in Crystal Palace Park.

This week's featured article is for Dexter Burger in Purley, home to interesting veggie burgers with a high rating on the all-important Bun Structural Integrity scale.

We've got new pages for Lamberts in Balham, a restaurant specialising in seasonal British produce, and Tandoori Naan And Chapati, a bakery in Walworth with a seemingly slapdash attitude to food hygiene. I think I'd rather go to Lamberts, myself.

There are Vietnamese food updates in the form of Dat Cang Supermarket and Mama Pho, both in Deptford. Also updated following a visit is vegan-friendly creperie Senzala, over in sunny Brixton.

Closures to report: the Breadroom bakery in Brixton has literally ended up in Valhalla, while the Cineworld Hammersmith is to be demolished. I cannot confirm or deny that the last film to be shown in this (admittedly rather run-down) Art Deco building was Kung Fu Panda 3.

ewan

Welcome back!

This week's featured article is the Amber Tree Cafe, SE8 4AD, a cafe in a former pub building on Deptford High St. Sadly there's not much of historical pub interest inside. Still it's a friendly (and child-friendly) place which does a fine banana cake.

Two new articles this week. First off is Food House, an uninspiringly-named Northern Chinese and Sichuanese restaurant in Chinatown, cash only and with some interesting menu items. The other is Four Hundred Rabbits, going in a quite opposite direction re name, but offering good size sourdough pizza portions, craft beer and lots of gelato.

There's an update to the entry for one of Wetherspoons' finest pubs, The Knights Templar in Holborn.

The four reported closures relate to Chinatown restaurants we've just caught up on: Jade Garden; Red N Hot; New Aroma; and Harbour City.

ewan

Draft list at Beer Rebellion, Peckham, London SE15

Hello, welcome back to a new week, which sees RGL updated with the Good Beer Guide entries for 2016! Hurrah and hurroo.

So herewith a list of all the new pubby articles. If you don't know the area, why not check out the entry? Lots of good drinking ideas!

* The Adam and Eve in Homerton;
* The Aleksander in St Margarets;
* The Antelope in Surbiton;
* The Baring Hall Hotel in Grove Park;
* Beer Rebellion in Peckham;
* The Bell Inn in East Molesey;
* The Black Heart in Camden Town;
* The Bull on Shooter's Hill;
* The Catford Constitutional Club in... oh, guess;
* The Cat's Back in Wandsworth;
* The Champion in Bayswater;
* The Chesham Brewery Shop in the far end of the earth;
* Craft Beer Co. in Clapham;
* Draft House Seething on the Lane of that name near Tower Hill;
* The Durell Arms in Fulham;
* The Great Exhibition in East Dulwich;
* The Grosvenor in Hanwell;
* The Job Centre in Deptford;
* The Junction in Battersea (by Clapham Junction station);
* The Lion and Unicorn in Kentish Town;
* The Lyric in Soho;
* The Mute Swan in East Molesey;
* One Inn the Wood in Petts Wood;
* The Prince of Wales in East Molesey;
* The Wallington Arms in Wallington;
* The White Hart in Stepney, near Whitechapel station;
* The White Swan in Twickenham; and
* Woody's in Kingston.

ewan

As our RGL administrator will be away on HOLIDAY next week, there won't be another update until the week after, so that is of course the reason I've waited until Wednesday to post this update. There is no other reason, and anyone saying I've been LAZY will be Quite Wrong.

This week's featured article is Xi'An Restaurant, SE8 4PQ, a Chinese in Deptford, specialising in the food of the Shaanxi province, but look we've been over this before in a previous update. Some excellent pulled-style pork, and lots of numbing peppercorns.

Three new articles are: Sabor Peruano, a Peruvian restaurant by the Elephant; Vijay's Chawalla, Indian vegetarian in Upton Park; and Bubbles and Tea in sunny Stratford, for all yr E London bubble tea needs.

There's an update to the entry for Prince of Wales pub in South Wimbledon.

Finally we've heard this week of the closure of Cafe Crema in New Cross, and Pizza Lupa takeaway in Bermondsey (now a Firezza).

ewan

Welcome back, another week another delayed Tuesday update for you. I was on holiday is my excuse.

This week's featured article is Simplicity, SE16 4JJ, one recently updated following a visit from a prominent RGL administrator. It's a British restaurant by Rotherhithe station. It may not be worth a special trip, but for the area it's pretty decent.

There's a new article for Xi'An Restaurant, a Chinese restaurant in Deptford which features a special menu of food from Xi'an, capital of the Shaanxi province. (I'm sure you know where that is, but if like me you drew a momentary blank, it's in NW China.) Kake's been getting through a fair bit of the food there, and it sounds like a nice place for some interesting dishes. Go for the cold-skin noodles, which you can't get anywhere else in London that we know about.

There's also a reported closure for The Great Wall restaurant near London Bridge, soon to be a Chilango.

ewan

This week's featured article is Viet Rest, SE8 4NS, a small Vietnamese restaurant/takeaway in delightful Deptford. Kake has visited a couple of times to get takeaways, and it sounds like the glutinous rice with braised pork is the dish to get.

Sigificant updates to the article on Shahanshah in Southall, an Indian cafe/takeaway with fantastic samosas but watch out for unsolicited peas.

Finally reported closure for Golden Day on Shaftesbury Avenue.

katstevens

Evening all!

This week's featured article is for Cafe Below, a cafe in the crypt of St Mary Le Bow church in Cheapside. It may be underground but it's still around 28 metres above sea level (according to this altitude finding tool). An unusual spot worth investigating for lunch in the City, with decent veggie options.

We've got a handful of new articles too: the Hackbridge Cafe is an above-average greasy spoon in the eponymous South West London suburb; Viet Rest in Deptford has a fish tank, and does a great glutinous rice with pork (among other Vietnamese treats); Tram Stop is a small, child-friendly cafe in Addiscombe, with a good view of the passing trams.

Finally, The Bookworm bookshop in Carshalton has closed.

ewan

Station Hotel, Hither Green, London SE13

Hello friends!

We have a double edition for the holiday period (Happy Winterval! Merry Festivus!). The featured article for this special festive edition is The Station Hotel, SE13 5NB. It's bright airy pub near Hither Green station with plenty of ales, so, er, get thee thither.

There are FOUR new articles...

Kat went to Kauri Tree Cafe in Stoke Newington, a cash-based artisanal outpost.

I visited the Beer Shop, which despite the name is more of a micropub in a converted shop overlooking Nunhead Green (they have plenty of bottles too, which I'm presuming you can takeaway).

Kake went to Amber Tree Cafe in Deptford, a narrow little cafe with friendly staff in a former pub building. She also visited Gifto's Lahore Karahi in Southall, a Punjabi restaurant with communal tables and decent food.

Finally, there's been an update to the Dar Marrakech write-up, a Moroccan/Lebanese restaurant in Stratford.

katstevens

Afternoon everyone!

This week's featured article is for Roti King At Euston Chinese, funnily enough in Euston. It's a small Malaysian restaurant that shares its basement space with Euston Chinese, so make sure you get the right menu. The food sounds excellent value for money, especially the lamb curry. Worth a visit if you're not in a hurry.

There are major updates to the articles for the JJ Moons Wetherspoons in Wembley (not to be confused with the JJ Moons in Ruislip Manor, or the one in Tooting, or the one in Hornchurch), and the White Horse, a a Fuller's pub in South Harrow.

We have a few new articles too: Bite near Northolt tube station is a Polish cafe serving inconsistent pancakes; M & D in Deptford, a Japanese restaurant with adequate sushi; and the Coach & Horses in Ickenham, site of many legendary outings by your author in the late 90s. Happily it is now around 3 changes of management on from that which BARRED ME FOR LIFE for smuggling in chip-shop-chips when the pub had stopped serving food. Readers, I ate my contraband sheltered from the rain in the nearby Pump, where my thoughtful chum Kirsty brought me out a pint. But enough nostalgia! The Coach still has the best beer garden in Ickenham, but for a quick drink you're better off in the Wetherspoons down the road (mercifully it's not called JJ Moons).

Finally, Taste Inn in Lewisham has renamed itself China China. Personally I think 'Happy Smell' is a better name, but there you go.

ewan

Dear all, welcome back to another sunny week of RGL updates. There's not too many today.

Oaka at the Mansion House, Kennington, London SE11

This week's featured article is the unwieldy-sounding Oaka at The Mansion House, SE11 4RS, a sort-of-pub sort-of-bar sort-of-Asian-fusion-restaurant near Kennington station. It's run by Oakham Ales and it's in the former Mansion House pub building, hence the name. The beers are good quality, and the food is competent, so there's that.

One new article is Agege Bread, a Nigerian bakery and takeaway in Deptford. It's good value, but if your dish has tripe, it may not be the finest cuts.

We've also got an update on long-standing vegetarian cafe Food for Thought in Covent Garden, which remains as good (and good value) as ever.

ewan

Featured this week is Kenya Coffee House, RM1 1ED. Your intrepid RGL friends have ventured to furthest Romford for Kenyan food and report back that it is good. You may go for the Christian soft rock, but stay for the excellent creamed spinach with your tilapia. They also do coffee.

New articles are: Villagers Sausages, providing sausages to the villagers of, er, Beckenham, and I seem to recall that I went there once years ago and yes the sausages are very good; and The Horse and Stables, a pub near Lambeth North that used to be called just The Horse, and remains fairly bland.

Reported permanent closures are two Vietnamese places in Deptford (Cafe @Migo in Deptford and West Lake) and Inshoku Japanese restaurant out the back of Waterloo, clearly not trendy enough for modern dining needs.

Finally, we have a reopening in the form of Panda Panda in Deptford, just slightly rebalancing the number of Vietnamese places in the area.