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Recommendation for S E London

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Re: Recommendation for S E London

Postby Busybee » Sat May 08, 2021 2:38 pm

Thanks Pampy, we had quite a few Brunning and Price places near us, and if I’m honest they are always a bit hit and miss.

I hadn’t realised that he had sold the pubs and Northcote, - I knew that he had stepped down as head chef and Lisa had taken on the role, but not that it had been sold. Now I think about it I haven’t had anything marketing wise from them for some time, probably since I moved here. I really enjoyed attending the cookery school, my OH bought me a couple of days there as a special birthday present.

We have eaten at The Clog and Billycock when it was fairly newly opened and really enjoyed our meal. What Ribble Inns offered was very innovative with the focus on traceability and local when they first started, however all the others caught up with them and they no longer seemed quite so special.

Oh well, looks like we won’t be going there when we visit in June.

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Re: Recommendation for S E London

Postby Pampy » Sat May 08, 2021 2:50 pm

Interestingly, I came across this site https://www.nigel-haworth.co.uk/haworth-at-home/ when I was looking for "at home" meal boxes.

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Re: Recommendation for S E London

Postby karadekoolaid » Sat May 08, 2021 2:54 pm

It always worries me when you get a set menu and “roll and butter” is listed as an item - somehow it’s a harbinger of rock bottom mass catering with faint pretensions

Do places still impose a "cover charge"? I have to admit, there was a time when that really irked me!

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Re: Recommendation for S E London

Postby Busybee » Sat May 08, 2021 3:07 pm

Pampy wrote:Interestingly, I came across this site https://www.nigel-haworth.co.uk/haworth-at-home/ when I was looking for "at home" meal boxes.



I do like Nigel’s cooking, I had thought that he was retiring when he stepped down at Northcote - he is obviously still very busy working.

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Re: Recommendation for S E London

Postby Stokey Sue » Sat May 08, 2021 3:38 pm

karadekoolaid wrote:
It always worries me when you get a set menu and “roll and butter” is listed as an item - somehow it’s a harbinger of rock bottom mass catering with faint pretensions

Do places still impose a "cover charge"? I have to admit, there was a time when that really irked me!


Stokey Sue wrote:I haven’t seen a cover charge in ages though, and most of those places where you can only have a set menu give you bread and water as a matter of course
:klingonbanana

However I just looked and the Wolseley has a £2 cover charge so they are still out there in the mainstream, I maybe don't notice them as the friend I most often ate out with and I tend to go for set menus

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Re: Recommendation for S E London

Postby jeral » Sat May 08, 2021 5:39 pm

I have a feeling that cover charges went when rules came in about standardisation, i.e. VAT being included in the item price and people thought therefore it was the price they'd pay. Didn't it coincide with upselling, when owners preferred to sell profitable desserts rather than people filling up on bread which became a separate charge as a disincentive and so thus to leave room for pub.

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Re: Recommendation for S E London

Postby herbidacious » Sat May 08, 2021 6:51 pm

I live near Penge. The station I use to get to the office is Penge East. There is nowhere decent to eat in Penge (ok maybe the Goldsmith's Arms) and nothing great in Sydenham (where I live) and not a lot in Beckenham (Pizza Express, Zizzi etc. There are some Turkish chain-style restaurants too but quite ordinary.) In between Penge and Beckenham is a lovely little Sicilian restaurant called Sicilian Art which has a lovely cosy atmosphere and decent food, and very friendly service.
Crystal Palace is far better. The pubs the Sparrowhawk and the Alma do the best food. (The Alma is, or was, very good.) Joanna's is not great imo although it has a lovely interior. Maybe it's better for meat and fish eaters. It's quite old fashioned...

edit: I didn't mention the Crystal Palace Market because it's not so good for vegetarians.
There are actually lots of nice places in CP though. There's a nice Sardinian restaurant - Mediterranea - (in)famous for sometimes (in the past) having Casu Maru :)


Belair House is worth a try. West Dulwich en route to the picture gallery so doable by train from Penge East (two stops.)

However if they have a car, the best fanciest restaurants are Babur (posh Indian food) in Honor Oak and Franklins in East Dulwich.

Of all of these, Franklins is the standout best, but quite up market. I once spotted Timothy Spall in there :)

All of these are subject to 'have they survived?'
Last edited by herbidacious on Sat May 08, 2021 6:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Recommendation for S E London

Postby herbidacious » Sat May 08, 2021 6:53 pm

karadekoolaid wrote:Found it. It ´s called Llewelyn´s, in Herne Hill. Here´s the link:
https://llewelyns-restaurant.co.uk/



Yes, Llewlyns is good. Also en route to Penge East on the train. 3 stops.

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Re: Recommendation for S E London

Postby Pampy » Sun May 09, 2021 12:22 am

herbidacious wrote:There's a nice Sardinian restaurant - Mediterranea - (in)famous for sometimes (in the past) having Casu Maru :)


I first came across casu maru when I lived in Sardinia. We had been invited for a meal to the house of a couple who had the older family members living with them. After we finished the dessert, grandad got up from the table and brought back something wrapped in brown paper and string, which he proceeded to unwrap and then sat quite happily digging a spoon in and eating the contents. How I kept my meal down, I don't know!

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Re: Recommendation for S E London

Postby KeenCook2 » Sun May 09, 2021 2:40 pm

Ughhhhh .... of course I had to look up what it is, Pampy ... and I kind of wish I hadn't, straight after my lunch :lol:

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Re: Recommendation for S E London

Postby PatsyMFagan » Sun May 09, 2021 3:30 pm

Ooh, I think I know what that is, without looking it up. I think Rick Stein tried it on one of his food tours :vomit

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Re: Recommendation for S E London

Postby Earthmaiden » Sun May 09, 2021 4:26 pm

I was reading something the other day that suggested that people used to happily eat Cheddar infested with maggots in this country. Not heard that before.

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Re: Recommendation for S E London

Postby Stokey Sue » Sun May 09, 2021 5:42 pm

Elizabeth David quotes a country woman who didn’t think feathered game like pheasant was adequately hung until maggots dropped from it

Personally I think the pendulum has swung too far the other way, and most pheasant sold in London is not hung long enough so it is tough and tasteless and nobody under 60 understands why it’s supposed to be special

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Re: Recommendation for S E London

Postby herbidacious » Tue May 11, 2021 11:37 am

Casu Moru is actually illegal, I think... I think when they did have it in the CP resto it was by invitation only.

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Re: Recommendation for S E London

Postby Pampy » Tue May 11, 2021 2:10 pm

It's illegal to sell it or serve in restaurants, Herbi - but telling a Sardinian that something is illegal is seen as an open invitation to do it :lol: :lol:
https://www.eatcrickster.com/blog/casu-marzu

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Re: Recommendation for S E London

Postby Suffs » Wed May 12, 2021 8:25 am

In our family older pheasant and birds shot later in the season are hung and then pot-roasted or casseroled, but we serve young pheasant without it being hung for more than a day or so, and then it’s quickly roasted and served pink ... preferably with a fruity jelly .. crab apple, Rowan, medlar etc ... delicious.

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Re: Recommendation for S E London

Postby herbidacious » Thu May 13, 2021 3:05 pm

Pampy wrote:It's illegal to sell it or serve in restaurants, Herbi - but telling a Sardinian that something is illegal is seen as an open invitation to do it :lol: :lol:
https://www.eatcrickster.com/blog/casu-marzu


I thought it was pretty much illegal full stop. Local restaurateur got round it by not officially having it on the menu. Question is how did he get it into the country? Well one can imagine, but it doesn't bear thinking about!

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Re: Recommendation for S E London

Postby Stokey Sue » Thu May 13, 2021 3:12 pm

When we and Sardinia were both in the EU almost nobody was stopped coming across the border were they? And if you were stopped I imagine:-
What’s in this big Tupperware?
Just some of nonna’s home made cheese
Cor, bit whiffy innit!

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Re: Recommendation for S E London

Postby herbidacious » Sat May 15, 2021 8:20 pm

Grace Dent reviewed the Alma, which I mentioned earlier, in the Guardian today. Rave review, I'd say.

https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/m ... fgcLAaz9WY

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Re: Recommendation for S E London

Postby Pampy » Wed Jun 02, 2021 3:22 pm

BusyBee - it seems that Nigel has taken over The Three Fishes again - https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/n ... b-country/

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