rglondon | Entries tagged with sw17

This week's featured article is Hopper And Bean, N10 3DU, a cheerful yellow cafe in Muswell Hill that is easy to access and work in.

A new article: Langley Quarter, BR3 3DE, a cafe in Eden Park where the food side is a bit hit-and-miss, and there are accessibility issues, but it's a good place to work on your laptop.

Updates to Tooting Daily Fresh Naan, SW17 7ER (now shawarma too), Poached, BR3 1AZ (new visits,photos of menus), and Category: Central Line (no longer direct trains to Chigwell et al.).

Square, W1J 6PU, a French restaurant in Bruton Street, Mayfair, has closed after the parent company went into admin, though we're hoping someone will take it on (it has a Michelin star after all). At Adam's Cafe, CR0 2TD, a greasy spoon in London Road, Croydon, the shutters have been down for weeks, but we don't know why.

Now, tap rooms. The Orbit Beers Taproom, SE17 3HD was, as its name implied, the tap room for the Orbit Beers brewery which operates from railway arches in Walworth. Or rather, the tap room attached to their brewery has closed. But they tweeted that a nearby cafe would be "hosting" their tap room. What does this mean though? Beer lines snaking through from the brewery to taps on the cafe counter? Or a few cans on a shelf? Whatever, could one call the cafe a "proxy taproom". On the subject of taprooms, do please opinionate on my blog post about what tap rooms are and aren't, and whether there we should have a dedicated category for them.

Current Mood: indescribable

ewan

Welcome back RGL fans!

This week's featured article is Maramia Cafe, W10 5PR, a Palestinian restaurant in Maida Hill. The outside uses the internationally-recognised font of Middle Eastern eateries everywhere, and they've decorated the inside with lots of paintings and photos evoking the region too. It's been around a while: we have reviews from 2011 and 2018, both positive.

Our two new articles are for K's Spice in Erith, a Nigerian restaurant for when you find yourselves in Erith. If you need to look up where that is on a map, then may I venture to suggest you may never find yourself in Erith. The other new article is The Black Bull, a pub in South Ruislip, trad but not bad. It has carpets!

Updated articles are Itadaki Zen, the vegan Japanese place near Kings Cross (we suggest you go at lunchtime), and The Village Inn in Belvedere, which isn't all that far from Erith.

Finally, one reported closure is of Chennai Dosa in Tooting.

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 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 RGL readers!

This week's featured article is for Namak Mandi, a Pashtun/Peshwari restaurant in Tooting. I spent a good half hour down a Wikipedia rabbit hole after googling the difference between Pashtun and Peshwari, and ended up learning (a small amount) about the post-colonial implications of the Durand line! Incredibly complex history aside, there are some tasty-sounding menu options at Namak Mandi, including enormous Afghan naans.

Also based in Tooting is Khani Cuisine, an Indian/Chinese (i.e. Chinese food tailored for Indian tastes) cafe, for which we have a new page. Also new: Queens is a pleasant locals' pub in Upton Park (no real ale but there is a pool table). I imagine it will become much quieter on match days following West Ham's move to the Olympic stadium. Finally, there's a new page for Norbury's Cappadocia Ocakbasi, a Turkish restaurant who are very generous with their lahmacun.

katstevens

Evening RGLers!

This week's featured article is for the Sugahill cafe in sunny Sydenham. The gang have a record fair every Sunday, so you can enjoy your brunch while listening to (maybe) Orange Juice and (perhaps) The Lovely Eggs. A delight for rappers and non-rappers both!

Non-musical additions to RGL this week: Ezo Bistro is a small but comfy cafe that just happens to be in Barking station (though you'd never know it from the inside). Our ongoing mission to explore the entirety of Tooting continues with the Ramble Inn, a friendly locals' pub with plenty of (keg) beer, while we found the Furzedown in Streatham rather loud and football-focussed for our liking.

ewan

Hi there welcome back to another week of interesting things to drink, eat and do south of the river (and maybe like one or two things to the north -- though that lack is entirely my fault by the way).

So the featured article this week is Senzala, SW9 8PS, which is a creperie in Brixton Village Market, that burgeoning community of little foodie units. There are sweet and savourity galettes and crepes served up by Brazilian chefs, and if you're vegan you'd usually steer clear of this kind of thing, but fear not for they do some vegan options too that sound great.

The new articles are: We Brought Beer, a branch of a craft beer shop/stall in Tooting, where you can drink on the premises as well; Frydays, a fish and chip restaurant in Norbury (do you see what they did with the name eh?); and Som Saa, a well-reviewed Thai place in Whitechapel/Spitalfields, so do go read Kake's review, as it sounds great.

There's an update to The Old Dispensary pub in Camberwell.

The Shooting Star near Liverpool Street is now temporarily closed for refurbishment and will reopen under a new name.

Finally, one reported permanent closure is Maotai Kitchen in Chinatown.

katstevens

Sun Luen Snack Bar, Little Newport Street, London WC2

Hullo RGLers!

This week's featured article is for Sun Luen Snack Bar in Chinatown, which sounds like a nice quiet place for a breather (and an egg tart) in the centre of town.

A bunch of new articles have appeared! There's a branch of the Franco Manca pizza chain in Wimbledon; long-established dining spot Joanna's in Crystal Palace; the organisationally-challenged Tartine Artisan cafe, and Lebanese restaurant Meza, both in Tooting Broadway. The Bond Street branch of Rasa has had an update following a visit, by me! Spoiler: it's still great, and you should all go.

Lastly, after what seems like aeons, the Waterloo Tap is finally open, and ready to sell you some craft beer.

ewan

Welcome back! As Kake notes, RGL is becoming increasingly RGSL, which means I need to pull more weight and actually make some North London updates. I can only apologise for this oversight!

Anyway, the featured article is Lambert's, SW12 9AZ, a British restaurant in Balham. Service is efficient and the food is appetising. Plus they have a good value lunch offer, should you find yourself in South West Twelve.

The one new article is for The Gorringe Park, a pub in Tooting with those classic gastropub vibes.

katstevens

Bushwacker Wholefoods, Hammersmith, London W6

Evening all! A bumper week to catch up after the Bank Holiday.

This week's featured article is for Bushwacker Wholefoods in Hammersmith, which stocks a whole range of vegetarian groceries including Taifun tofu (I wonder if they have curry and pineapple flavour?

New new new! Craft Tooting is a small craft beer shop by Tooting Broadway station. Further up towards Wimbledon Park we have more beer at the By The Horns Brewery Tap, while the Pear Tree pub in Purley has little jars of beer in front of the pumps so you can see what colour it is (I love it when pubs do this). Not quite so new but existing under a different name: The Aleksander in St Margaret's is now The Alba.

The page for Lion Inn in Thornton Heath has had an update, as have ones for the Sugahill cafe in Sydenham and Imperial China on Chinatown's Lisle Street (which seems to be *the* place to meet your blind date?). Places *not* to meet your blind date, unless you want to hang around outside a now-closed pub: the Red Herring pub near St Paul's, and the Devonshire House Wetherspoons in Crouch End.

Finally, pre-gig Brixton favourite the Trinity Arms is temporarily shut for a refurb. It's planned to reopen in August, hopefully in plenty of time for any attendees of 'Progress Wrestling: Chapter 36 - We're Gonna Need a Bigger Room Again' wanting a pre-bout pint of Ordinary.

ewan

This week we're going to Tooting, so why not visit the site of our featured article, the King's Head, SW17 7PB, a grand Victorian pub building which, thankfully, has a pub in it. I've never heard of a swag-curtain before, so why not add it to your vocab?

Our three additions are in the same vicinity: there's The Wheatsheaf pub, large pleasant and child-friendly; Namak Mandi restaurant, which does good Pashtun, Peshwari and Afghan food and which has a naan so large it needs its own stand; and Masaledar, an Indian restaurant, where the food isn't as spicy as you'd hope. Unless you don't like spice.

There are also updates in, surprise surprise, Tooting! There's The Castle, a Young's pub, bit bland nowadays, and the Tooting Tram and Social, no food and also a bit more bar/venue-like.

katstevens

Evening everyone!

This week's featured article is for the Brixton branch of the Craft Beer Co, where you'll find the usual vast selection of keg and cask beer. There's seating space on the first floor but be careful when carrying your drinks up the 'fool of a' staircase: your correspondent's other half suffered an Exciting Injury in this manner a couple of years ago. Readers may also wish to note that the excellent Kings College Hospital A&E is but a short bus ride away!

Our RGL crew has been hard at work of late investigating the delights of Tooting - this week we bring you Saravanaa Bhavan, a veggie-only Indian restaurant whose menu includes the intriguingly named 'Business Meal'. There's also a new page for Affogatto, a modern coffee shop in Norbury. Some closures to report too: the miniscule Oriental Chinese Shop in Surrey Quays, and Chinese Family in Greenwich.

Finally, I'm sad to hear of the closure of HK Diner by Leicester Square - the first place I ever tried bubble tea.

ewan

I'm back-back-back from my holidays to take over update duties from Kat.

風味食堂 (Food House), Chinatown, London WC2

The featured article this week is the imaginatively named Food House, W1D 5QH, which we can confirm does indeed offer food. But perhaps instead you should call it 風味食堂. In fact, it's Northern Chinese and Sichuanese food, moved from that bit of Charing Cross Road currently being refurbished. The food was a mixed affair -- check the review for more details -- but the Chinese 'hamburger' was considered rather good at the most recent visit, and the service is friendly.

Lots of new articles, many of them in Tooting. Those that aren't are a relaxed Italian in Covent Garden, Wildwood Kitchen, and the Clapham Junction branch of We Brought Beer beer shop (we added their Balham branch recently). Moving onto those Tooting outlets, we have: Apollo Banana Leaf (a meaty Sri Lankan); Dosa n Chutny (a South Indian cafe); Gourmet (a Pakistani bakery/sweet shop); Pooja Sweets and Savouries (an Indian sweet shop); and Tooting Daily Fresh Naan, which will sort you out for all yr naan needs (though watch out for the hygiene rating).

There are updates to The Lyceum Tavern and The Edgar Wallace, both on or near the Strand.

Sadly, plenty of reported closures too, most of them pubs as noted in the London Drinker magazine: All Bar One by London Bridge ('redeveloped'); Costa Dorada on Hanway Street; The Fox Reformed in Stoke Newington (renamed); The Gilpin's Bell Edmonton Wetherspoons pub; The Man in the Moon Stanmore 'Spoons; Mela (an Indian on Shaftesbury Ave); The North Pole in Islington (renamed); The Queen's Head in Mitcham; The Widow's Son pub in Bow.

We've heard that Mum's House (a Burmese grocery, not literally your mum's house, unless your mum is Burmese and runs a grocery shop) has moved from Wood Green to Tottenham.

The Misty Moon in High Barnet is now called The Butchers Arms.

Finally, Adams Cafe in Croydon has reopened, for your London Road greasy spoon needs.

katstevens

Hello all!

This week's featured article is for Osterley Bookshop, a second-hand bookshop which makes up half of the old Osterley & Spring Park Piccadilly line station (closed in 1934 - the Station Master blog has a great old photo of the station 'in action').

Two new pages: firstly Dexter Burger in Purley, a small burger joint that offers outdoor-reared/free-range meat, local beers and interesting gluten-free/veggie options. Secondly Lahore Karahi in Tooting is a Pakistani curry house, with corkage-free BYOB and low prices.

Finally, the Bear in Camberwell has temporarily closed for a refit. Unfortunately I cannot confirm whether or not they have used the phrase 'Bear with us' anywhere on their website, because my browser tells me it's chock full of malware. I wonder if fixing that is part of their refurb plan?

katstevens

Evening everyone - Ewan is away for a few weeks so I am back once again, like the proverbial Renegade Master.

This week’s featured article is for Husk in Limehouse. It’s a cafe/community space run by the London City Mission, providing accessible space (and wifi) for working, chatting and eating quiche.

We have some new pages too! Bottledog in Clerkenwell is a beer and brewing supplies shop run by Brewdog, which stocks beers by other brewers too, including some on keg; Chatkhara in Tooting is a no-frills Indian cafe/takeaway; Beer Rebellion in Sydenham is a micropub run by the Late Knights brewery, just down the road from the recently-ish refurbished Golden Lion. Your correspondent visited both of the latter two at the weekend: suffice to say one establishment was more enjoyable to spend time in than the other.

katstevens

Hullo all, I hope you had a good break!

This week's featured article is for Mazi, CR0 2RF, a small Turkish restaurant in Croydon. The kebabs and stews definitely come recommended - the yoghurtlu lamb shish sounds delicious.

New to RGL is Chennai Dosa, a laid back South Indian restaurant in Tooting serving dosas and uttappam (aka Indian pizzas). The spice level is variable but the pricing is very reasonable.

A number of pub closures to report: the Star in St John's Wood, the Green Dragon in Winchmore Hill, and the Carlton Tavern in Kilburn - which was demolished without any warning given at all. Outrageous! Less drastically, the Adams Cafe in Croydon is now a pizza restaurant, the Clarence on Balham High Road is now called the Balham Arms, the Charles Dickens in Borough is closed while it's having a spruce-up, and the Kennington Bookshop is set to close at the end of May.

katstevens

Bonjour everyone!

This week's featured article is for the French Cafe, just off Balham High Road. It's a modern establishment that does cuisine française, as you might expect. I've been trying to learn French recently, and with a bit of help from Google Translate I can tell you that le pâté there is tres bon although le pain is rather less than génial. C'est la vie!

There's a new article for the Langthorne, a pub in Stratford that's part of the Stonegate chain. It won't charge you over the odds for a lime and soda, but it's a bit loud inside. Mes oreilles!

Veggie-friendly Cafe Crema in New Cross has been sold to a new owner, but we're not sure yet if this has meant drastic changes or business as usual. Qui sait?

Finally, the Pontefract Castle in Marylebone has closed - another pub building seemingly destined for luxury flats. Des vaches maigres!