please empty your brain below
Ha ha - “smart in a Bexleyheath High Street kind of way”. I live in Bexleyheath and get it.

Peter | 16.11.20 - 7:22 a.m. | #

Wenlock Cafe is a short walk away along Shepherdess Walk & Murray St. It was still open in January 2019 (Tripadvisor) & I hope it survives the lockdown.

My favourite cafe is (was?) Station Cafe on Westbury Avenue next to Turnpike Lane tube. I taught bike maintenance courses nearby for a few years until 2017 & took trainees there for lunch. Huge portions of English or Turkish with a drink for a fiver, & the only place locally where 8 people could eat & get back in an hour. I suspect even Armageddon won’t close down most cafes in that area:)

Toni | 16.11.20 - 8:17 a.m. | #

In the late 1990's I was working for a while near the Elephant & Castle and was lucky enough to experience the Walworth Road Café, what a delight it was, run at the time by an original Italian mama (Marie and her diminutive cook/husband). Oh how I miss those lunchtimes, I can hear her now shouting my order at her other half...

Kevin Too | 16.11.20 - 8:27 a.m. | #

Back when I lived with my parents, Russel Davies book on Eggs, Bacon, Chips and Beans was a highlight of the bookshelf. Memorable establishments included Birmingham's Mr. Egg, Selly Oak's Selly Sausage, and the Salt Box near Tutbury and Hatton in Derbyshire. I wonder how many of the caffs he visited are still standing... it's enough to make you go out and search for a fry up.

TheLupineOne | 16.11.20 - 8:30 a.m. | #

That news has spoiled my morning somewhat. Of course it is just one of many places lost to progress but one which had a few memories for me from a short time based nearby.

Alan | 16.11.20 - 8:41 a.m. | #

It must be older than 37 years. I remember using it when I was at school nearby.

Paul Draper | 16.11.20 - 8:52 a.m. | #

I remember the occasional lunch at the Shepherdess when I worked nearby in 1975.

Perhaps it was under different management then, and those who've sold up after 37 years took over in 1983.

Suse | 16.11.20 - 9:01 a.m. | #

As a sausage sandwich person (white, toasted, brown sauce..never red) I'm also sad at the demise of The Sheppardess. I never had the pleasure, because it was always so busy when I passed. As with all such independent places, we should use 'em before we lose 'em. There's a good one on Goswell Road just up from Barbican station that attracts much of its patronage from a rare independent hardware shop nearby.

Frank F | 16.11.20 - 9:03 a.m. | #

Have to say, the new place looks like somewhere I'd be happy to try. Well done to anyone setting up a new business just now.

Princessmaycontainnuts | 16.11.20 - 9:45 a.m. | #

That's a crying shame.
I never went there, but I like the fixed seating for the noise reduction.
The new place is going to suffer from the constant racket of chairs being scraped back and forth (the bane of many modern coffee shops).

Joho | Homepage | 16.11.20 - 10:16 a.m. | #

I used to have a breakfast at the Market Café in Whitecross Street, just off Old Street when working nearby. Well worth a visit, as is the street Food Market itself at lunchtimes.

Richard | 16.11.20 - 10:22 a.m. | #

I like a cafe where I can get scrambled eggs on toast - white of course.

Cornish Monkey | 16.11.20 - 10:37 a.m. | #

I used to like Alfredo's in Essex Street, N1. Did the police ever recover the frontage?

Nigel | 16.11.20 - 11:07 a.m. | #

Frank F, that'd be the People's Choice Cafe, which I used to frequent whilst in the offices on Charterhouse Square. There's also the Piccolo deli just over the road, as well as the usual central London fare (Pret/Costa/Abokado &c)

Andy | 16.11.20 - 1:21 p.m. | #

In its 'About Us' section, the new website says

"Shepherdess BBQ Cafe is located on 221 City Rd, Hoxton, London EC1V 1JN. We are for you and all you need to do is decide what you want to eat. We have all your favourite dishes such as Sandwiches, Sweet Snacks and many more."

I'm beginning to suspect the regular clientele may not be coming be back.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 16.11.20 - 2:43 p.m. | #

Two favourite cafes that my friends and I would visit on our days out in London were Franks under the railway bridge at Limehouse, and the Sandwich Bar / Cafe in Star Alley just off Fenchurch Street. Great bacon sarnies in both places at very reasonable prices.

The first time we went to Franks, it was full of policemen getting their morning take outs. It's the sign of a good cafe when the police get their eats there.

We can only hope that when we are allowed out of Essex and back into the wider community to resume our London adventures, that both places will still be trading.

IanD | 16.11.20 - 6:06 p.m. | #

Then theres the one that is often used when filming 1950's and 1960's period dramas..The Regency I think.

Sadly US themed diner "Starvin Marvins" (on the A40 near Greenford/Perivale) is long gone, even the metal US style diner building is gone. Filmed for "Lewis" that was.

MilesT | 16.11.20 - 7:08 p.m. | #

Toni - I wonder which cafe near Turnpike Lane tube you frequented - Cafe Station with a roundel on their sign, or Gonül Cafe & Diner, with the film memorabilia? They are both good.

dg writes: the former.

Bob L-S | 16.11.20 - 8:21 p.m. | #

In the beforetimes I used to regularly eat in the Shepherdess, as I have a friend nearby. Very sad to see all these cafes disappearing - I wonder if we will have any non-chain high street shops and cafes left at the end of this.

ChrisMitch | 16.11.20 - 8:44 p.m. | #

I think I only visited the Shepherdess once (for a hungover bacon butty, on my way to settle a tab at The Eagle - having accidentally left my card behind the bar the previous evening), but remember being impressed that pretty much every dish came with a garnish of a handful of chips, fresh from the fryer.

martin | 16.11.20 - 11:27 p.m. | #

Bob L-S - Station Cafe for lunch. But on Fridays we used to teach cycling at a special needs school, & afterwards met for an hour or two of coffee & cake as we wound down, wrote up a report of the day & planned the next.

Gonül Cafe was a favourite for a while, as was the nearby b-fit cafe, but over a few years we tried most cafes in the area & kept going back to the ones with good coffee & cake, & quiet enough music to talk over.

Toni | 17.11.20 - 3:37 a.m. | #

Regency Cafe in Westminster is a real gem along similar lines.

Neal | 17.11.20 - 10:28 a.m. | #

HELLO DARLINGS!

(To avoid spam reports that was the favourite line of the old owner)

Theo | 17.11.20 - 1:19 p.m. | #

The Piccolo bar cafe shown in the photo (on Queen Victoria Street) is still open. I think it was closed in the first lockdown, but has remained open during this one.

Andrew | Homepage | 18.11.20 - 9:22 a.m. | #

Not paying a final visit to the New Piccadilly is one of the great regrets of my life. Reading your article from 2007 almost brought a tear to my eye, DG. For fool me for not being a reader of your blog back then.

James Matcham | 18.11.20 - 3:50 p.m. | #











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