a good place for a cup of tea and a think

cafe miscellania

from Kieran
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
from Clare
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!
from Lambros
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
from The Shropshire Cafe
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.
from Dave
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.
from Abby
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.
from Emma
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

Open Sauce

I've got these various blogs about cafes. I love cafes. But it's gradually dawning on me that I'm not going to be able to visit every cafe in the world. So I'd love to invite your contributions. If you want to do a cafe entry like one of these then please do, just send it to me - russell at russelldavies.com and I'll put it up.

Star Express, 71 Chapel Market, London, N1 9ER

This is a good place. Nothing fancy. No historically significant design. Just a good cafe, a good business, good people. Refreshing to find somewhere like this so close to lower Upper Street.

A very decent cup of tea. Bag left in so you can self-medicate. I've chosen to hide the bag from you in this picture. I'm very thoughtful like that.

All the traditional condiments in good order.

A little touch I've never seen anywhere else. The table numbers marked in Tippex. I like that.

Nice stuff on the walls too. Makes it feel a little personal, lets you know where you are.

And I'm really getting to like these posters of food that cafes can get now. It won't be long before I'm trawlering ebay, trying to find one for home.

April 30, 2009 in norf | Permalink | Comments (0)

Macari's Icecream Parlour, 246 Terminus Road, Eastbourne

I have a very good and old friend who lives in Eastbourne. Every time we've visited I've asked if there are any interesting cafes in town and he's always said 'no'. And then, on the last visit I stumbled past this place, and a couple more. And he said he'd just forgotten about them. And that, to some extent is the genius and the curse of a great old cafe. They're part of the civic furniture and they're easy to forget until they're gone.

Now, obviously that's a high quality cup of tea. Murky and lovely. You might say murkly. But look next to it - lemon meringue pie. OMG. You can't beat that can you. Oh no.

And you might even be tempted by a coffee, because you get it in one of these lovely cups with the glass and the metal and the handle. I love these things.

That sugar bowl's somehow like a flower arrangment isn't it?

But the killer thing about this place is how fantastic it looks. The splendidly cluttered and full cafe aesthetics. You could sit here for hours and always have something new and interesting to look at.

The booths are especially gorgeous, look at those colours, that upholstery. I can imagine posh designers trying for years to try and get that combination of colours right.

Cakes in a case. You cannot beat cakes in a case.

A splendid place. People Of Eastbourne - remember Macari's. It's right there. Frequent it frequently.

June 03, 2008 in south coast | Permalink | Comments (3)

guardian breakfasts

Very excited to have done some stuff for The Guardian today. There might still be time to get one at the newsagents if you're out and about. There's lots of eggbaconchipsandbeans stuff and some excellent words from Malcolm at the LRB. 30 years of reading it and finally I've done a bit of writing.

April 12, 2008 in misc | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Islander, 5 The Maltings, Uttoxeter

Finding The Islander was like coming home. This is what I remember the East Midlands being like. This is the sort of place Shane Meadows would use as a setting and tug at your heart strings and make you laugh. Fantastic place.

A strong, stirring, no-nonsense cup of tea. If this doesn't cheer you up you're Morrissey.

What a brilliant sign. What else do you need to know?

I took these pictures ages ago, May 2007, pre-smoking ban. I wonder how they're coping now? The Islander was a place that didn't mind a proper smoker. It was part of the atmosphere.

You can probably see the enormous ashtrays on the tables, smoking wasn't just part of the atmos, it was part of the furniture.

Fantastic utilitarian furniture. This isn't about nostalgic design, this is a working cafe. It's about decent grub, reasonable prices and being able to take your time over a cuppa. Brilliant.

January 04, 2008 in midlands | Permalink | Comments (3)

Zippy, 42 Goldhawk Road, W12

I've been to Zippy's a few times, taken pictures a few times, but never gotten round to writing it up. Not sure why not, because it's a splendid place. A vibe of 70s burger bar overlaid with traditional cafe and community centre. Lots of regulars. Good atmosphere.

Good, thick, meaty tea. Tea you could build an economy on.

Unusually for me these pictures are from a couple of different perspectives, because they're from a couple of different visits. Normally I just shoot whatever I can from wherever I'm sitting, but this time you get more of a look round. Lucky you. This is perspective A.

This is still me in Perspective A, but shifting a bit round in my seat. You can see all the lovely worn, red, leatherish seating. With those deep curves and depressions from decades of bottom shuffling.