Brown and Green (AKA Mayow Park Cafe): Fab!!

[sydenhamboy]

Just had a very fine breakfast there. Brilliant place. Really nicely decorated inside and out. Mayow Park's nice anyway - but this cafe is a brilliant addition to the park and Sydneham.

Great atmosphere and really bustling. It deserves to be a real success.

Come on On The Hoof ... your turn ...

[G-Man]

Fantastic. Didn't realise it had opened. Looking forward to a visit.

When are On the Hoof due to open?

G-Man

[sparticus]

Nice but a bit pricey. Full of yummy mummies and their brats this morning. Bloody place is turning into to East Dulwich!

[Sydenham Syd]

Nice but a bit pricey. Full of yummy mummies and their brats this morning. Bloody place is turning into to East Dulwich!

Jesus wept.

[robbieduncan]

Nice but a bit pricey. Full of yummy mummies and their brats this morning. Bloody place is turning into to East Dulwich!

I shall have to tell my better half (and yummy mummy) to get along!

[Pally]

Nice but a bit pricey. Full of yummy mummies and their brats this morning. Bloody place is turning into to East Dulwich!

One would sort of expect to see parents and children in a park cafe!!!

[Mayow Park]

Nice but a bit pricey. Full of yummy mummies and their brats this morning. Bloody place is turning into to East Dulwich!

That wasn't you I overheard saying you'd come back when it was less busy, was it?

[jonekt]

Went today & thought it was excellent. Food was brilliant. Service friendly. The decor was really nice; you could see an awful lot of thought has gone into this place. It was spacious & yet busy with atmosphere.

For me, they really have gone the extra mile & deserve to do well.

[sarahsyd]

I also went today, with my brats. It was great to see it busy. We were impressed with the decor, food and prices. A lovely lovely addition to Sydenham.

On the Hoof should be opening soon? Last update was for 9 August..

[Ria]

Great to have a cafe like this, lovely place, tasty coffee and friendly staff! However, in my opinion they are a bit too expensive for a cafe in the park (even more than places in East Dulwich). Another thing is their price list, a bit confusing...take away, drinking in, drinking out.... It would be more useful to have an option to choose between big and small coffee for example. Their coffee is delicious but I could do just with the half portion:)

[robbieduncan]

Hope to get round this weekend to see what it's like. From the reviews above I'm getting:

Pretty
Pricey
Tasty

[Krispycat]

Sounds great, I'll look forward to taking my big ol' pushchair and my 6 month old brat with me next week.
I suspect that the Yummy Mummies will help keep the business afloat during the week...my baby won't though, he's just not into Cappuccinos yet!!!

on a slightly separate note, good to see Cheque Cashing centre close so soon after opening!!

[robbieduncan]

Sat outside now. Really impressed with the look and atmosphere. Very busy today. Not so into coffee served in glass tumblers. Definitely not right for cappuccino!

Bacon, sausage and egg buttie was delicious. The quality of the produce really shows. Fast and friendly service too. A really good addition to Sydenham

Edit to add a picture from outside. You can see the rather tasteful signage

[Search East]

Agreed on the good reviews for Brown and Green.

Me and my girlfriend enjoyed scrambled egg with chorizo and scrambled egg with feta cheese (a new brunch favourite).
Washed down with tea and cappuccino coffees.

A great new addition in Sydenham and thankfully a personal bonus of only being 5 mins walk from home.

[Ronski]

Overall its a great addition to the park. Pretty good decor, cricket theme is a nice touch, decent toilets for once in the park as well, I think the community garden will have lots more visitors which is really great it gets used.

Couple of niggles I hope they can fix...
£2.60 for a Flat White is just about Soho coffee prices which is a bit ridiculous. It was pretty good though, not quite St Davids quality yet.

They could do with some better ventilation in the kitchen, inside had a bacon smoke cloud which will be a problem in winter when people sit inside.

They need to have prominent numbers on the tables, they didn't know who had what where, would speed things up I reckon, just give your table number. They took 25mins to make a scrambled eggs on toast, they said sorry then complained to me how busy they were, not exactly the right first impression

Anyway I guess they are finding their feet so I'm sure it will improve but its great its doing well and people are going and I I'll be back I'm sure.

[Fairlawner]

Nice but a bit pricey. Full of yummy mummies and their brats this morning. Bloody place is turning into to East Dulwich!

Brilliant observation Sparticus. Its weird having to pay a little more for great tasting food, perhaps you should eat at some of the more established 'delight' ful restaurants in Sydenham (more tinned marrowfat peas then you could ever wish for!!!).

My wife, brat and I enjoyed a lovely brunch at Brown and Green and were more then happy to pay the reasonable prices for great tasting coffee and wholesome food. And when our twins are born, will be joining the masses of locals with kids to help make Brown and Green the success it should be.

I welcome the opportunity for Sydenham to become a more approachable, kid friendly environment like East Dulwich, where we can say goodbye to crappy pound shops and pawnbrokers and enjoy nice restaurants and well presented businesses that actually care about their high street.

[Steveofsyd]

Couldn't have said it better myself Fairlawn.

[sparticus]

sparticus wrote:
Nice but a bit pricey. Full of yummy mummies and their brats this morning. Bloody place is turning into to East Dulwich!


Brilliant observation Sparticus. Its weird having to pay a little more for great tasting food, perhaps you should eat at some of the more established 'delight' ful restaurants in Sydenham (more tinned marrowfat peas then you could ever wish for!!!).

My wife, brat and I enjoyed a lovely brunch at Brown and Green and were more then happy to pay the reasonable prices for great tasting coffee and wholesome food. And when our twins are born, will be joining the masses of locals with kids to help make Brown and Green the success it should be.

I welcome the opportunity for Sydenham to become a more approachable, kid friendly environment like East Dulwich, where we can say goodbye to crappy pound shops and pawnbrokers and enjoy nice restaurants and well presented businesses that actually care about their high street.

Ever heard of sarcasm? I think Brown & Green in the park is brilliant. As I said, a bit pricy for round here as others have commented, but it's great to see it busy and it brings something extra to a park which, when we first took our brats there, was a semi-derelict dump.

But there is a serious point to be made about where we want Sydenham to go. I, and many others I suspect, certainly don't want the High Street to become a Lordship Lane clone, full of over-priced eateries, shops selling expensive tat and populated by vacuous, self-obsessed Clapham wannabes. The mix we have is great, and the presence of pound shops, ethnic grocers and cheap fast food joints alongside the newer, more upmarket places is testament to the fact that we haven't completely pushed out the people we all need to service our child-friendly, privileged lifestyles. And there's nothing wrong with marrow-fat peas in my opinion. I enjoy them alongside fish and chips just as I enjoyed the duck gizzards and foie gras (not for the vegetarians amongst us!) in On the Hoof last night, another estimable addition to our high street. The diversity we enjoy in Sydenham is, as the reviewer in yesterday's Guardian said of Catford, is like what a lot of inner London used to be like, and long may it last.

[Steveofsyd]

Well, I for one would much rather have a Lordship Lane, Crystal Palace, Beckenham type of high street than the current mix...I like the new additions like On the Hoof (was there yesterday and today) and Cherry and Ice but want more.
A high street survives on bringing in trade from outside as well as locally and if Sydenham is to prosper we need offerings that are commercially viable and attractive to the greater populace.
Having desireble establishments which include higher quality shops, will act as the magnet to get the trade ball rolling and also attract more businesses, which is good for all.
I lived just off Lordship lane in the 70s and 80s and it is miles better now...

[Rachael]

But Lordship Lane and Beckenham and Crystal Palace still have a mix - they still have pound shops and greasy spoon cafes and discount supermarkets. I'd say all those 'high streets' are balanced about 50/50 between 'essential' shops and places for people to spend discretionary income. If Sydenham Road moves towards that balance, I'd be happy with that. Yes, you have to attract trade from outside. You also have to supply basic needs.