Sydenham Article

[Dirtysoutheast]

Apologies for coming on here to shamelessly share an article I wrote on Sydenham, but I hope it will be of interest. I did visit here to gauge opinion of various places in Sydenham first.

http://deserter.co.uk/2015/11/they-call-it-sydenham/

I really enjoyed the couple of afternoons I spent in SE26. I hadn't been out there since I was a teenager, many moon ago and obviously it has changed massively in that time. But I thought the investment in the pubs, the proliferation of cafes and the vinyl music scene and the parks, all make it a nice and very underrated place to be.

[_HB]

Great stuff Dirtysoutheast.

I'm a big fan of the blog. Keep up the good work!

[Mayowthorpe]

I have enjoyed the previous posts on your blog Dirtysoutheast, and agree with Rod Taylor - you sized up Sydenham very well.

Cheers.

[robbieduncan]

A really good overview. And probably fair on all points

[monkeyarms]

Yes, good stuff.

However, as a former vegetarian (lapsed since fatherhood) I feel obliged to take boringly pedantic issue with yr mate Roxy's rather dated veggie-restaurant caricaturing. Especially as Calabash of Culture is an African cafe and what with African cuisine known for a strong tradition of vegetarian cooking. It's the last place you'd ever find veggie bacon! I think you'd have to time-travel back to 1986 to find restaurants that bothered with that sort of thing. (Though don't get me wrong: if I'm in a gastropub for a boozy brunch I'll happily tuck into a veggie sausage or two...)

I agree about Raffaele though. Went for the first time last Friday. Nice cosy ambience, and I'm sure I'll be back many times due to its kiddy-friendliness (and Aperol Prosecco) but I can't say the food was all that marvellous. I'm spoilt; I used to live 2 mins walk from Franco Manca.

[KEVD]

A good read and some good points.

[mosy]

Thanks for sharing, Dirtysoutheast

On vegan food, Shirin (more or less opposite On the Hoof) do some pretty good vegan salad meze items that can be taken away as a "selection of" or eaten-in, inside a grilled pita bread panini thingy. Their falafel/salad topped one is good too. Not forgetting their extensive sweet baked dessert counter.

As Mayow Park was mentioned, it would have been good to show a long shot pic of the stretch of gym equipment (a mix suitable for adults or kids), a great addition to the park. Then again, it'd be impossible to include everything good about Sydenham

Cheers!

[Dirtysoutheast]

Thanks, everyone. I'm glad the article has gone down well. It's really encouraging to get this kind of feedback.

As for Roxy's vegan views, I can't disagree with you. But as she'd say. 'Never resist a gag.'

[sugahill cafe]

Enjoyed the piece,well done Dirtysoutheast for an honest review you obviously done your homework & spent some time in the area.

[calabashculture]

Great article on Sydenham - We are a vegan cafe that do not have fake meat products - everything is plantbased and natural. We are also not an African cafe - our menu is a very mixed one - we have from caribbean dish - stewed peas, bean stew (dependent on style of bean can be African) to a mushroom stroganoff, lasagne, creamychickpea pasta etc - which I do believe is not african cuisine (thank you monkey arms for letting them know we don't do fake meat though!)

here is a link to our menu on facebook

https://www.facebook.com/128604529637/menu/?p_ref=pa

[leenewham]

Calabash are amazing. I was surprised at how good the food was. Probably the best vegan food I've ever had.

If it was a fully fledged restaurant with amazing ambiance, I'd go there in the evening for a meal. Nice people too.