vote for the best coffee in Sydenham

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mosy
Posts: 4111
Joined: 21 Sep 2007 20:28
Location: London

Re: vote for the best coffee in Sydenham

Post by mosy »

Can't agree a good idea as my idea of good coffee is no doubt way different from other people's. No argument about making recommendations to try for oneself though.

I know that if you ask people what they buy as their preferred instant or ground (or bean) coffee at home, you'll get 99 different answers so I'd think it really unfair to receive a bad review because an individual had found something more to their preference elsewhere. Coffee isn't "one fits all". Of course, if a café has other things to recommend it, you could always buy tea instead ;)
WeatherGirl
Posts: 34
Joined: 31 Mar 2012 13:19

Re: vote for the best coffee in Sydenham

Post by WeatherGirl »

Blue Mountain flat white gets my vote.
Delicious.
Tim Lund
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Joined: 13 Mar 2008 18:10
Location: Silverdale

Re: vote for the best coffee in Sydenham

Post by Tim Lund »

I've probably not been to enough of these recently to have a definite view, but tentatively I'd go for On The Hoof
Pally
Posts: 1492
Joined: 2 Aug 2014 05:38
Location: Sydenham

Re: vote for the best coffee in Sydenham

Post by Pally »

On the Hoof by a mile!
Eagle
Posts: 10658
Joined: 7 Oct 2004 06:36
Location: F Hill

Re: vote for the best coffee in Sydenham

Post by Eagle »

Kente of course
Pally
Posts: 1492
Joined: 2 Aug 2014 05:38
Location: Sydenham

Re: vote for the best coffee in Sydenham

Post by Pally »

Eagle wrote:Kente of course
Used to be but not these days I think! Kente seems to have gone down a bit recently.
leenewham
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Joined: 2 Sep 2007 11:58
Location: SYDENHAM
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Re: vote for the best coffee in Sydenham

Post by leenewham »

I like places in Sydenham for different reasons.

The place we go to the most is probably Brown & Green, because it's in the park, they do coconut water and other things you don't tend to find elsewhere, plus their fantastic scrambled eggs which are rather unusual. It's child friendly and pretty relaxed and laid back and a genuinely nice place to sit (although I've never encountered any issues like Rod has). It's the only place locally we tend to visit reasonably often.

But we like other places for different reasons (OTH is one of our favourites, but we haven't been for ages as there isn't much reason to venture into Sydenham Road for us), although we now travel further than just locally for a change of scene.

I have to admit my go to place is Gail's in Dulwich Village, simply because they do the best cheese cake and carrot cake we have ever tried, and they actually do nice tea. I don't get this obsession with coffee, but I love tea and it seems sadly neglected. It needs a pot, proper tea leaves and a pot of milk to adjust to your liking. There is a ceremony to it, and it makes cake taste better!

Gail's isn't cheap, but we don't go often, which it makes it more of a treat.

The Alexandra Nurseries in Penge and the Bluebell cafe are also great places to sit and they are very friendly.
mikej
Posts: 430
Joined: 14 Dec 2006 21:55
Location: New Beckenham

Re: vote for the best coffee in Sydenham

Post by mikej »

My favourite so far is On The Hoof, followed closely by Alexandra Nurseries.
marymck
Posts: 1579
Joined: 9 Feb 2008 16:30
Location: Upper Kirkdale

Re: vote for the best coffee in Sydenham

Post by marymck »

Cafe Jasmine on Kirkdale. Open on a Monday morning too, when some other places closed.

The peppermint tea in Fig & Pistachio is very good too. I haven't tried their coffee.
pip
Posts: 462
Joined: 17 Jan 2006 16:35
Location: adamsrill

Re: vote for the best coffee in Sydenham

Post by pip »

I am not a coffee connoisseur but have noticed they do coffee in both the Golden Lion and the Dolphin pubs and just wondered if their coffee was any good.When I moved to Sydenham 30 years ago the only place that had a coffee machine was the ice cream parlour next to the Golden Lion I think.
JRobinson
Posts: 1104
Joined: 5 Jan 2010 12:40
Location: De Frene Rd

Re: vote for the best coffee in Sydenham

Post by JRobinson »

Rod, I don't know most of these places well enough to rate the standard of the coffee, as I usually go to the cafe in Mayow Park, and have a chai latte (though maybe not now, after seeing the amount of sugar that might be in it) - previously I've rated Blue Mountain as rather good.

rather intriguing in the OP that you want recommendations for tourists to Sydenham... I wonder what sites you think these tourists are visiting?

I can't think of a reason why anyone would specifically come to Sydenham for anything other than it being their local shopping area. Where are the hoards of Japanese with cameras around their necks?
demeaux
Posts: 21
Joined: 7 Jul 2014 09:53
Location: Wells Park

Re: vote for the best coffee in Sydenham

Post by demeaux »

I don't get the love for Blue Mountain. Or On the Hoof (they do the coffee at the station and forest hill station as well right?).
What is it with serving everything so HOT?

I've yet to find a decent coffee in Sydenham.

I judge them against Tapped and Packed on Tottenham Court Road.
Rachael
Posts: 2455
Joined: 23 Jan 2010 13:42
Location: Sydenham / Forest Hill Intersection

Re: vote for the best coffee in Sydenham

Post by Rachael »

demeaux wrote:I don't get the love for Blue Mountain. Or On the Hoof (they do the coffee at the station and forest hill station as well right?).
What is it with serving everything so HOT?

I've yet to find a decent coffee in Sydenham.

I judge them against Tapped and Packed on Tottenham Court Road.
Oh, don't get me started on scalding coffee. The milk is not supposed to be boiling, but a comfortable drinking temperature when served. Not thirty minutes later.
chrisj1948
Posts: 537
Joined: 15 Jul 2008 15:12
Location: Sydenham

Re: vote for the best coffee in Sydenham

Post by chrisj1948 »

<coffee snob mode>
Every couple of days I medium roast a batch of green beans. Favourites are Old Brown Java and Guatemalan HueHuetenango. When I want a basin of coffee I grind about 3 oz, put them into my ancient drip filter machine set to 'slow pass through', warm up some milk with sweeteners, and then mix coffee and milk in an enormous mug.

Compared to this anything from a Sydenham cafe just tastes awful, although there may be degrees of unsatisfactory.

</coffee snob mode>

;-)

Regards
Chris
Pally
Posts: 1492
Joined: 2 Aug 2014 05:38
Location: Sydenham

Re: vote for the best coffee in Sydenham

Post by Pally »

Rachael wrote:
demeaux wrote:I don't get the love for Blue Mountain. Or On the Hoof (they do the coffee at the station and forest hill station as well right?).
What is it with serving everything so HOT?

I've yet to find a decent coffee in Sydenham.

I judge them against Tapped and Packed on Tottenham Court Road.
Oh, don't get me started on scalding coffee. The milk is not supposed to be boiling, but a comfortable drinking temperature when served. Not thirty minutes later.
The On the Hood bistro lattés are just right ...not too hot, lovely flavour, really good. As are the Capucinnos!
Libellule
Posts: 1
Joined: 24 Mar 2016 14:28
Location: Sydenham

Re: vote for the best coffee in Sydenham

Post by Libellule »

I only like black coffee so places like On the Hoof which serve Monmouth coffee get my vote!
sophie
Posts: 350
Joined: 8 May 2005 16:50
Location: Sydenham

Re: vote for the best coffee in Sydenham

Post by sophie »

I enjoy the lattes in Brown & Green in Mayow Park. Sorry for non supporters of chains but I also enjoy the coffee in Costa by Sainsburys. I used to be a regular in Kente but no longer; sadly it has gone down hill so much.
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