To be overly impressed with nice simple old fashioned cafes/restaurants

[soupyspoon]

I popped out to go to a little cafe today which does some fancy flavoured latte I havent tried yet at a fiver a pop, all industrial and fashionable inside, selling overpriced soaps and 'statement pieces' but they were full up

So I went next door instead which was a little old fashioned Greek restaurant/cafe, with brick wall paper and ordered a latte

It was your bog standard 'milky coffee' and served with a Mcvities digestive

I dont even like digestives but I just loved the simplicity of it, the old fashioned coziness of it. The unashamed not keeping up with so called fashion and expectations

Dont know why

I ate the digestive and very much enjoyed it.

I miss a nice cafetiere and also a rombouts filter coffee

And I hate the noise of those stupid machines.

They take fucking ages as well

There are so many cafes in my area now, I don't know how they all keep going.

We had a lovely tea rooms near me, sadly the lady retired and it's a fancy deli place now 😢 they did toasties, jacket potatoes, homemade soup, fabulous homemade cakes and always a hot dinner like lamb chops with mash and veg and gravy, or a hearty stew and dumplings 😋 I really miss it!

Ooo can you remember what this was called? Would love to try it!

We live in over 55 housing. It's a massive complex of apartments. The ones under the Extra care have a restaurant in, they do everything, everyone pines for on this thread. We are also lucky to live in a area with a proper tea room, modern eateries and a good Weatherspoons. One of the most successful food stalls in Liverpool, is Spud man. Pound Café and cafés in the likes of Home Bargains are still comfortably old fashioned.

This is my kind of thread.

I went somewhere can’t remember that did a cafetière! DH let me plunge it, it’s the little things.
We have a couple of nice cafes in my city centre. And in the nearest little town. But I’m in the north east.

I mourn a cafe in Islington called ‘Alpino’s’ , in
Chapel Market, that was run for years by an Italian couple . Never less than heaving from the moment it opened , autographed photos of every famous person that visited , and the breakfasts were numbered - and fabulous. I often used to go there for lunch too as it was such great food and value for money . And proper Italian coffee . Then I think the landlord put the rent up
and they had to move and rename . A pity .

I love an old fashioned simple cafe, but I would only drink tea there, not coffee, as i do like a really good coffee, and as a pp said, modern places do better coffee.

Oh I agree OP. All you want sometimes is a bowl of soup or a good old fashioned cheese sandwich. Not Iberico ham served with samphire, grilled peppers and mustard mayo on rock hard sourdough. It would also be nice to have a slice of homemade Victoria sponge instead of rich double chocolate and peanut butter cake with tripple salted caramel candy floss (or whatever)! The old Greek Cypriot or Italian cafes used to be the best for simple but good fare but they've mostly vanished now.

Totally this. I dont think Ive seen a basic cheese and pickle roll in years. Particularly in cling film so that the crusty roll loses its crustiness and becomes soft and chewy by lunchtime.

Gorgeous.

Oh god yeah. A cheese and pickle roll in cling film from one of those old fashioned glass cabinet things they used to have on cafe counters. The stuff of dreams!

I really mourn all the Stockpot and similar restaurants that we used to have in London. Simple and cheap and filling.

I would just like to find cafes which offered normal size portions of food! I don't want massive cakes, scones, muffins etc., and if I want a sandwich I just want one with plain fillings, not a pack of two stuffed to the gills.

I do like a good coffee though, but I don't live in the UK and you can get good coffee everywhere here.

Oooooh.

I might dream of these tonight.

Hopefully served by a matronly woman in a pale blue gingham overall.

I will take a picture tomorrow of the cheese and pickle rolls wrapped up in one of our cafes tomorrow. I think they do ham and pickle, corned beef, and peering at their fb, I think ham and beetroot which is a brave option

Oh god. I bet house prices are high near you, the desirability factor of a proper cafe. Forget catchment areas, pah!

Do they do a cheese and tomato?

What about ham and piccalilli?

Could it get any better!

There are plenty of cafes like that on the South Coast. There are also the "Lounges" which have popped up in repurposed bank buildings etc, where you can get a mug of soup and half a sandwich pretty cheaply on a weekday lunchtime, also selling all day breakfasts and various specials.

@soupyspoon I think yes to cheese and tomato, but I don't remember seeing piccalilli. However, in the interests of this thread I will report back - I don't buy sandwiches as I'm gf so only paid attention in a fascinated look at the retro corned beef. I regret no blue gingham overalls in any of our establishments, only the ladies in the greengrocer wear them.
House prices very reasonable, but it is a proper little town with a hardware store who sell everything you can possibly think of, bakers (who also sell filled rolls DH reminds me as well as proper cakes like lardy cake), fishmongers and a ladies shop who do sell the polyester overalls and proper nighties should you need one.

Thank you OP for this most lovely of threads ❤️

I miss proper caffs, tea rooms with real cakes and proper pots of tea, and simple bistros.

The Regency cafe near Victoria is good, though too well known really, and I’ve read good things about Arthur’s in Hackney but don’t know if it’s still going. It’s now such a nice surprise to find a proper cafe or tea room. I can’t abide the “cakes” at Costa Fortune or Starbucks.

The best caff type meal I’ve had in years was recently; heavily pregnant and in for a check up, DH bought me beef stew and chips from the hospital cafe. It was amazing. I’d have married him all over again. Plans to revisit the hospital cafe sooner rather than later…

LARDY CAKE!!!!!!!!

Are you in the West country? I had proper lardy cake for the first time down there somewhere, high in lard. It was incredible.

Proper bakers as well, overalls were present. Not a chain

I know you can get them in that west country chain (cant remember the name of it) but they're not lardy enough there.

Sounds fab. Do you remember the name and location?

Check out caffsnotcafes on instagram - the guy has posted details of loads of great caffs.

In more recent times he’s widened his scope to cover different cuisines (Czech, Indian, Ethiopian) but scroll through & you’ll find a real treasure trove of caffs.

I miss a caff that does proper fried bread! 😩

I took DH to a similar sounding one recently, although not in London.

I kept expecting Count Arthur Strong to blinded his way in through the door