| Restaurant Review - Terry°s Caf’ |
Terry's Cafe 8 Great Suffolk Street Open 7.15 am č 1.30 pm MončFri, 7.15 am č noon Sat, closed Sun
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Cheapest cup of tea in south London at 20p a cup
and arguably the best cafe in South London too; Terry°s is a caf’ in the
pre-war London chop house tradition č you order at the table and the tea
arrives in a cup and saucer. Everything is cooked (in sunflower oil) while
you wait, so there are no reheated, charred sausages or stiff plastic-like
eggs. Mornings are London breakfasts. Two eggs, mushrooms, fried tomatoes and a large, ņavourful Cumberland sausage is my usual, which comes out around £5 with tea. Egg, bacon and bubble & squeak is £2.90. If you want to be dainty, Buck Rarebit is £1.80, and there are hot salt beef sarnies at £3. Lunch from about 11.45 am is usually three special hot dishes č such as meat pudding, gammon steak or stew with veg and potatoes (boiled or mash) or spaghetti bolognese č or salads, all at £5. The stews really set you up in the cold weather. In the summer you can eat al fresco at the front. Terry (or Tel) is an ex-Smithfield porter and has been here since the 1980s. This is a family caf’: Terry°s son Austin serves and mother Cath comes in on Saturdays. It is not a place for vegetarians, or the caŁe latte crowd, but it is a place for good cooking and a bit of banter. Patrons range from firefighters, taxi drivers and local tradespeople in the early morning, to poly lecturers (like me), and architects later on, and suits from accountancy firms at lunchtime. The late, great god of ring and stage, Brian Glover, used to come. The place is busy early on, though much affected by the Trinity Street road closure and the introduction of parking meter places along all of Great Suffolk Street. This is a place where they watch out for traffic wardens, so I put my car on the single yellow line in Sudrey Street if I ever drive there. But it°s now a lovely walk along Trinity Street for us lucky locals, so why drive? For newcomers to the estate, a visit here is an instant introduction to the history of the area. The walls are covered with photographs from the last century, ranging from beanos and charabanc trips to hop-picking; from a riverside short back and sides for cadets at the London Nautical School to trams at the pre-war Elephant. A photo of a Sainsbury°s van in a night-time London peculiar is a reminder that their depot used to be nearby. Dried hops festoon the walls. As Terry°s notice says “We are a friendly caf’, so enjoy the food, enjoy the fun, and if you can°t take a joke you are in the wrong place°. Robert Holden |
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