Star(less) Cafe in Orpington

Within rellies flying in this afternoon and rain falling, we decide to stay fairly close to home, so head to suburban Orpington, on the Greater London - Kent border to the south. Three open-at-seven-o'clock options welcome us on the High Street, and we choose the Orpington Star Cafe. 

Well, that's where the star-glamour stops.  Really, nothing special. The couple running the cafe are not interested in a conversation, not even an exchange of friendly greeting, keeping to their tasks of serving and cooking.  Few people come in, and no construction-types. We wonder if this is a consequence of being in suburbia as opposed to small town Kent or an urban community in London. Or, is it McDonald's?  That is the fourth early-morning option on the High Street - and it is hopping!  Prices are cheap and...it's McDonald's.    

The food at Star Cafe is fine -- not McDonald's. Set Breakfast No. 1 at £3.60, including tea and toast, is the way to go.  Looks good on the plate, and tastes...well, it tastes like a set English Breakfast. Three points: very hot tea, brown bread, and an eclectic collection of prints on the wall including two London scenes.

Orpington High Street presents a delightfully long stretch of commercial enterprises including a Singer sewing shop and at least 10 charity shops.  So, rain or no rain, we enjoy the morning before returning to meet the rellies.

So we may be back to Orpington, but next time we'll try one of the other two early cafes.

Next week we'll be in Hythe, along the Channel -- hoping for a friendly cafe with a view of the seaside!
Have a good week.

Faversham fried eggs!

Up early, Happy Husband prepares a travel mug of steamy coffee and off we roll in the dark, out of London, toward the Kent countryside.  The ancient market town of Faversham beckons, with its medieval buildings, "flying" church spire and numerous charity shops.
After an hour drive, we park near the train station and head toward the market square. With no set destination for breakfast, we ask at an open news agent's where we can find some food.  "I tell the cafes they should open earlier!" the proprietor laments.  We mosey on.
The clock on the Guildhall tower glows 7:00 am.  All is still in the morning darkness.  The town's oldness stretches back to pre-Roman times with claims of a 12,000 seat Roman theatre -- which we've never found on any of our 4 visits.

With a free hour at hand, walk to Standard Quay on Faversham Creek, once a major river port.  Today the low tide sands stretch from shore to shore.  Boats tilt at their moorings.
 The flat barge, New Brittanic, (pictured on left) ferried 3000 soldiers from Dunkirk to a British war ship -- the crew merely the owner, Walter Read, and his 15-year-old son, Joe.  The Cambria, a wooden sailing barge, the last to carry commercial goods in Britain under full sail, rests nearby.
 A narrow houseboat shows signs of current usage, bicycles chained to its approach.  Fabulous brickwork adorns the harbour structures.

We  stroll down Abbey Street, back toward the town centre. The skies lighten as we near the twelfth century Abbey wall, now integrated into a private home,

 And across the street -- Arden House, holding stories of murder and intrigue.

 The corona or "flying" spire of  the Parish Church of St Mary of Charity towers at the end of a narrow street. The Abbey was dissolved, but the Parish Church remained.

Back through town, now active with people and vehicles -- we find the Moonlight Cafe.  Turns out it opens at 7:00 am, so we must have passed just before they turned on the lights.  The building is plain, so it would have been easy to overlook as we admired the numerous half-timbers all around.

It's a family business -- warm and welcoming.  The parents hail from Turkey.  The elder son takes our order, writing it out carefully.  That's him in the photo.  At about 8:30 Mum bundles both boys into winter coats and heads off to school.

The food is worth waiting for.  Perfectly runny eggs on brown toast.  And large cups of hot tea with hot milk.  At 8:45 the place fills, every table!  Turns out a "Friendship Group" for pensioners meets here daily.  In the warmer weather outside in the cafe's garden, today in an atrium area now toasty with a space heater.  The "Friends" are happy to chat and pose.


After completing a couple crossword puzzles, we head out into a sunny street.  The rain comes and goes throughout the day.

And that's our day in Faversham, Swale, Kent.

Just love those medieval buildings ...

Brockley Breakfast -- where locals go

Ah! Breakfast in Britain -- Another perfectly prepared portion of eggs and toast being enjoyed by Happy Husband. Today at Central Cafe, on Brockley Road in Southeast London (SE4).  We try the fried eggs instead of poached, though poached are available; set in round molds to create perfect circles, Eastern European style.  Runny as we like them.  And the piping hot tea is brought to the table -- feels like luxury. 

Delightful display of double-decker buses passing the front windows (routes 171 & 172 stop across the street).  Minimal personality, with gold framed standard restaurant-fare pictures hanging above bouquets of plastic flowers. But bright, light and warm on a cold morning in London.

So...condiments.  What do we find on our breakfast tables?  Here at Central Cafe we find the regulars of salt & pepper, sugar, vinegar and tomato sauce.  Then there's soy sauce.  Why the soy sauce?  They do serve lunches, but on what would one shake soy sauce?  And vinegar?  Where has that tradition come from...vinegar on chips (french fries)?  I love it, don't get me wrong, but were the fried sliced potatoes of old so bad that they needed a flavour to cut the fact that they were a big edgy?  Or one day did someone just discover it's a good combination of flavours?  And no, to folks from outside the UK, that is not catsup, nor is it ketchup.  Tomato sauce in Britain is an animal unto itself.  My brother-in-law, of recent British descent, insists that there is more than vinegar and sugar in it, even real tomatoes.  

Frequent flow of customers fill the 40-seat single store front.  Some choosing take away egg sandwiches. Noticeable cleanliness -- tables wiped clean as soon as they are emptied, ready for the next diner.  As you can see, plenty of newspapers to go around.

Standard illustrated menu, immovable furniture -- parties up to 4 only, I guess, or split in two. But fine for the two of us.  Radio on, a blend of talk and music, hip hop mostly, but pleasantly unobtrusive.  Could be louder, but thankfully not. 

Brockley Road, the "high street" of Brockley, is mostly cafes, restaurants, a laundromat and a couple small shops, and there's a Costcutters for bread and bananas, but not a tourist destination.  Though St Andrew's United Reformed Church, a five minute walk down the road, is a lovely old Presbyterian style church built in 1882, remodeled about 15 years ago creating a new bright cheerful interior. (SE4 2SA)

So, in general a good review for a typical greasy-spoon cafe breakfast.

See you next week!

http://www.yelp.co.uk/

Rochester - Legends Cafe

After a 45 minute drive southeast, through a cold grey Kent morning, we arrive at the Legends Cafe, one of our favourites, for an early morning brekky in Rochester.  At 7:00 am the cafe exudes warmth, the heat quickly fogging up our spectacles. 


Soon Happy Husband gleefully holds his cup of piping hot tea!  Yes, they happily provide a substantial pitcher of hot milk upon request.  

"Historic Rochester" brochures boldly proclaim "where legends were created," thus the cafe name.  Not sure Dickens or Wellington actually ate here, but Dickens surely walked the street!  And William the Conqueror probably passed nearby assessing the spot for the Rochester Castle, the keep of which holds the grand honour of being the tallest keep in England at 113 feet high. (Don't trust my history lessons to be exact; it's the two eggs on toast I'm after.  But I do love Rochester.)




So, going with the theme, Legends Cafe's decor focuses on Hollywood Legends.  We figure eight framed photos constitute a theme. 

Back to the eggs and toast...Happy Husband's smile attests that we're pleased with our meal.  The toast is thick and perfectly toasted.  They don't poach eggs, but the fried eggs run when pierced, just as they should.  The £2 price is a pleasant 50p less than most cafes we've found.  

The counter staff provides friendly and pleasant assistance.  We overhear a stead flow of women's chat covering topics from tropical fish to family stuff, but not so loud as to be bothersome. 

The real treat at this place is no noise!  No music.  No loud cappuccino machines. No TV.  Just a peaceful warm space in which to enjoy the newspapers provided and the Women's Weekly we brought along. Okay, we did hear a bit of noise...the air hand-dryer in the loo and the milk steamer she used for our hot milk. But that's it.  And the loos --- on site and very clean!

Overall, the cafe presents a clean and pleasant atmosphere, plenty of seats for all, and a menu board with lots of choices.  Enough working men chow down a hot meal or come in to grab takeaway to provide our desired connected-to-the-community feeling. 

There's free parking out back, but we like to park at the Castle Parking area, then walk around the Cathedral (built in 1060), ambling along a tree-lined pathway through a park, then up the street to Legends. 

We complete a circle back to the car, walking down the historic high street that always delights with its Dickens-links, tea shops, book stores, charity shops (op shops for those of you in Oz; thrift stores for the North Americans) and today -- a cat in the window above the butcher's!  Look closely and you'll spot the cat stretching it's full height up the left side of the window above Capon's Butcher shop.

So, there you have it...another tasty Thursday morning breakfast in Britain.  We'll be back to where legends are created! See you next week....