I ordered a £46 birthday cake from here for my wife with writing in icing on top. When I collected…read moreit, was told it had been damaged because it had been put in a box too small for the cake and the lid had suck to the icing on top. Was then told if I wanted a refund I would have to email to complain. When I did this, I was offered a derisory £5 compensation. Until now I had quite liked this bakery but this was definitely not their finest hour.

We love the the bread and coffee here so we always get a big sourdough or a cup of coffee here…read morewhenever we can. Their toasties are quite nice too. Very cheesy and satisfying when you are craving something hot and hearty. We like the ham or pastrami one the best but try them all out! We also love the carrot cake. Perfect size for a small family and you'll have a bit left for the next day haha. the best part is the cream cheese frosting, it's not super sweet and it goes really well with the cake. The cake is very moist and balanced.

Great breakfast ,great friendly staff , short walk from market we were visiting .struggled to walk…read moreback to market

I love Steve's! The food is your basic cafe food--breakfast, spag bol, cottage pie etc etc, but…read moreit's all tasty and the staff is friendly and helpful. And it's so clean. I has a 5 food hygiene rating. I don't know what more you could ask for from a cafe.

What upon first appearance seems to be nothing more than a bog standard London caff is oh so much…read moremore! Taking a closer look at the pastel menu cards adorning the worn windows and walls, you'll notice that, in addition to the usual suspects of all day fry-ups et al, an ever changing assortment of some of London's best homemade Thai curries are available. The sumptuous plate of Beef Penang that I devoured on my last visit had a delectable and ever so slightly pungent air of authenticity. Authentic Thai or bacon butty, Café on the Hill seems to have something for every sort of London diner. Indeed, the place has a bit of a freak magnet quality about it. Josephine Avenue prostitutes have in the past tended to frequent this local and are still not uncommon. Of course, with more and more gentry moving into the area, Café on the Hill's customer base is particular incongruous for the moment. Just make sure to get over there before the place loses its quirk!

Super friendly good honest caff. This is likely to become my go-to now that the Phoenix has sadly…read moremoved a couple of doors down and slimmed their menu down. Liver & bacon, chips & peas: totally bloody solid.

The "eggs three ways" on their Sunday brunch menu is lovely!…read more You get one egg with buttery spinach, one with ham and one with loads of salmon. The cafe was packed, and we didn't have a reservation, so we sat outside (under a heater) and watched all the brave January swimmers while we drank oodles of tea and ate all the eggs. I had to run away after brunch (as I had a poorly catty to attend to) but I think it'd be nice to spend much longer chilling and chatting here. I'm surprised by some of the harsh reviews directed at the staff...they were all sweeties on Sunday. (^^) You lucky South Londoners!!

I happened on this cafe twice in one day. We first stopped by for a coffee on the way to Dulwich…read more The coffee was excellent and it was great to be out in the sun by the pool in the morning. Only slight annoyance was my girlfriend being given her tea with the milk already in the brew - no one wants this (a very American thing to do). We liked it enough to visit for a late lunch as the local pub had stopped serving. This was much more mediocre. I had a burger which was very poor and could have come from a food van given the cardboard flavour bun and cheap salad tomatoes smothered in mayo. Side salad looked like it was from a supermarket bag and wasn't dressed. My girlfriend had a tart and bean salad. This was a cold plate and only got flavour from a mild vinaigrette. Bottom line, visit for a coffee and avoid for meals. Not sure what The Guardian and The Independent reviews were saying! The afternoons also bring out the young mums and their wailing babies. Not my ideal lunch company.

Great food and soon as I left I wanted to come back and eat some more the service was excellent…read morequick and just amazing staff the ambiance is not very good due to the fact that it's look likes a normal restaurant.

The BEST coffee in London. Hands down! Let me just tell you…read morethat I spent 3 weeks in London drinking crappy coffee from every coffee shop recommended to a girl that LIVES for strong Cuban espresso style cappuccinos. So leaving South Florida for London didn't help my caffeine addiction at all. We originally took the tube to Brixton to go to a record shop my bf and I had been eyeballing for awhile and when we got there the record shop wasn't open yet. We really had no intentions of eating breakfast or grabbing coffee, as I had pretty much given up on the London coffee scene, but I'm more then happy that by chance we decided to sit down at Burnt Toast cafe and wait for the record shop to open. This little cafe is in the brixton village market surrounded by cute shops and the early morning hustle and bustle of Brixton. The seating is all outside as the inside is only big enough for the ovens, cook and the massive amounts of bread, but it's so lovely. There are cute tables set up with everything you need and the service was wonderful and quick. My boyfriend order a cappuccino and pancakes, and I ordered a double espresso and smoked salmon on toast with cream cheese and cucumbers. When the coffee arrived I tasted my espresso and immediately expressed to my bf "wow, this is the strongest espresso I've had in 3 weeks. Let me taste your cappuccino." I immediately ordered a cappuccino as fast as I could catch our server, because it truly is great coffee and very well could be the best in London. And just when I thought this place couldn't get any better, the food arrived. My food was way bigger then I thought and absolutely delicious, and my bf's pancakes were literally some of the best pancakes I've ever had. And I've eaten a lottttttttt Of pancakes. Long story short.... if you're in Brixton, go to Burnt Toast cafe!!!!!

Richly decorated in photo's of classic blues and rock 'n' roll musicians, with oodles of local…read moreartwork slathered all over the walls; La Provencal Café has a welcoming and addictive "home-spun" atmosphere that is rather refreshing to see on the corner of a busy junction in Herne Hill. Surprised by this I didn't really know what to expect as I sat down to my table, and I must confess I was quite enjoying the informal ambience that filled the air. The prices on the eclectic dinner menu (around £20 - £25 a head for a three course meal with drinks), at a glance, seemed adequate in regards to what was on offer; on closer inspect however, once reading past the exciting offerings such as Moroccan Spices or Thai Fishcakes, I came to realise that what I was really looking at merely burgers and chips, or stuffed peppers, disguised with fancy trimmings. I opted for the Pan-Fried Butterfish Fillet with Sauteed Butternut Squash and Spinach with Sun-Dried Tomato and Olive Dressing, yet was severely disappointed to find that the fish was bland and far too over-cooked, and that as much could be said for the vegetables. Despite it's inviting wine menu, I was more than disappointed with La Provencal Café, and almost succumbed to feeling foolish for not paying heed to it's garish orange sign. But if you're not overly concerned with the quality (and choice for that matter) of your food, and opt for atmosphere and good service then maybe this is the place for you.

I dunno what it is about this place. I've been by a number of times, always thinking "I should pop…read morein, seems a nice place to while away an afternoon with a book and a coffee and maybe some soup". So today, I finally went in. I don't quite know how to describe it, but the mood was... frenetic. there was too much going on and too many people in such a small place, and the waitstaff and whatnot didn't seem like they knew what was going on. I couldn't move or get a seat or anything. I finally just ordered a coffee to go and stood there, dodging the waiters trying to get the bar staff to make their stuff, watching as a tray of drinks cooled on the bar. It seemed like a lot of ado, but not much actually happening. Finally got my coffee to go... in a polystyrene cup. Without a drinks lid sort of thing. Now, this is Herne Hill, all organic and/or fair trade and/or ethical, all the time. And it's still, technically, the EU. I didn't even know that polystyrene cups were still legal. And then I had to tear the lid to drink from it. And then it was the worst cup of coffee I can remember. Now, this is including several cups of instant I had while working in rural Uganda & Zambia, when I was desperate for coffee after long terrible trips and hadn't settled on just having tea. I wanted to like this place before I came in. That's why it's got 2 stars instead of 1.

Cool coffee options, with a nice taste. We definitely have to do better out here in the states…read morewhere apparently a ridiculously large cup of Joe is equated with strong good coffee but um no. I learned otherwise at Federation which was nice and cozy and like going green with the sustainable options. For example, they only gave you a to-go cup if you were really trying to go. If you were sitting inside, then you would be using a reusable dish like a decent human being. I loved that idea. Great service and affordable prices.

Federation Coffee suffers from being what one might term 'a victim of one's own success'. The…read morebright, airy, open space of this little café offers tantalising-looking food and ever-compelling coffee to the caffeine-deprived. Late morning on a Saturday was probably the absolute -worst- time to make a first foray to Federation Coffee, though. Interminable lines, no free seats*, and 10-15 minute waits for even beverage orders. On the flip side, my iced soy latte was delightful. The jury's still out on this coffee shop. With so many stellar caffeination stations to be had in Clerkenwell, I'd have to 1) already be in Brixton, 2) be really craving a fix, and 3) have someone else suggest a visit here to consider giving it another go. --- * I was fortunate enough to arrive at the perfect time that a cute stranger was getting up; he graciously offered me his stool.

Tiny cocktail bar run by super skilled mixologists. These cocktails are insanely good and the…read morechoices are pretty amazing. You can go the classics or you can chose from an array of creative combinations of joy. This is not a stereo typical 'sweet' cocktail list and the presentation of everything on the menu is really cool. Think gin, tiger's milk and chilli with a garnish of cured salmon. Something smokey, ginny, nutty, coffee but refreshing, served on a smoking board. There was a tropical green cocktail in a drip bag drink bottle. I could go on about the amazing combinations but it's better if you find out yourself. They also have a very good crew in the kitchen that cook up a couple of very good dishes. The charcuterie is a great start between two... Tiny space so get in early or be prepared to sit close to your mates or date.

The standout here is the staff. So incredibly friendly! We had a nice chat with the bartenders…read more There is an amazing selection of booze on offer and I loved the casual, laid back space. However, I thought the cocktail menu (if you manage to read the incredibly tiny font) was trying to do too much. There were so many ingredients and so many conflicting flavours, it was hard to even imagine what anything would taste like. Sometimes less is more!

Yayyyyy an amazing coffee place has just opened up near my flat! Celebrations everybody…read more I came here on a Sunday morning, ordered iced latte and granola for me and iced latte and ham and cheese croissant for my friend. Both breakfasts came out quickly and were deliiiiicious. The iced lattes were also yummy despite a couple of white bits floating around. We sat outside to enjoy the sun even though inside looked really cool with plugs everywhere for phones and laptops. They also have a book corner with some sofas for when it gets chillier. A well thought out place. Overall a great coffee place which I can't wait to return to. I do hope they stay open. Streatham hill needed this sort of cafe.

I could think of a million other places better to have breakfast other than Streatham on a Sunday…read moremorning, however this place is a diamond amongst the ruff. Great breakfast if your looking for something more of the healthy variety.