Angels & Gypsies
Published by Peter | Filed under Eating & Drinking
So after a three-year wait, Angels & Gypsies tapas y cerveccaria has opened. Being a fan of tapas, and of the place in it’s previous incarnation (Viva Espana) I was really looking forward to trying it out. So I did.
At first I couldn’t see any big changes to how it was before; the big U-shaped bar is still there, and the table layout is the same. But the more I looked, the more changes I saw: the Spanish tiles around the bar, the new wooden floor, the wider front windows.
We got a table easily (next to the Gay Camberwell ladies, if I’m not mistaken); there were two or three other tables already taken, and it got steadily busier throughout the night. There were still probably too many staff, though.
So, the food: we ordered some bread, serrano ham, calamari, chorizo in cider, croquettes, chicken in apricot sauce, and chips with a bravas sauce. It was uniformly very good; ingredients were obviously great quality, and it was all cooked to perfection.
My one quibble: portion sizes. The dishes were priced around £5, and while most of the portions were fine, I thought a few were too small — especially the serrano ham, which gave five small pieces. With all the nice cured legs of ham hanging around the restaurant, it seemed pretty stingey to not give us more.
After dinner I had an almond and pistachio tart with vanilla & cardamom ice cream, while the wife had a chocolate… thing. Both were excellent.
Without wine, the whole meal came to about £33, which was pretty good, I think. We had a nice rioja from the excellent wine list to complement.
Over all, a really nice experience. It’s probably a little bit of a luxury to eat there too frequently, but for a special occasion or a treat it would be great. I could justify it because it’s my birthday.
In summary: a very welcome addition to the Camberwell culinary scene. Recommended.
Been waiting for this place (like you) for 3 years and I am excited to hear that it isn’t terrible! Can’t wait to go try it myself.
Yeah. I went today with the family for lunch, cash in pocket, and they were shut. Won’t be going back there in a hurry.
Maybe tomorrow.
Just on the price note, since we’re vegetarians and weren’t ordering any meat, we found most of the veggie tapas came in at £2.50–4. Our only quibble was patatas bravas — a tapas staple, that they have inexplicably altered to be ‘chips bravas’. We also had the lovely fresh bread and oil, the roast pumpkin, the tortilla, and the beetroot, rocket and goats’ cheese salad, followed by a rather good cheeseboard (only quibble being their provision of strong-tasting olive bread to eat it with, but we asked for more plain bread and it was willingly provided) and the chocolate mousse cake. The house red was about £13 and was a decent wine. Tap water provided willingly in nice little jugs.
And yes, we spent some of the meal speculating on which blog people were at the other tables! Peter, do say hello if you spot us again!
@Gay Camberwell — I didn’t know it was you at the time; just when you said you’d been there, I remembered the two ladies at the next table.
Surprised none of you recognised me. I was working behind the bar.
OK, not really. Would’ve been funny though. Filipino food has arrived in SE5. There’s a new shop just up from Pizza Hut near the hospital, presumably to serve nursing staff from the hospital. Filipino food isn’t one of Asia’s more celebrated cuisines. Lots of dried goods and overpriced biscuits etc.
Finally! We’re off to test one night this week.
They really need to work on their marketing though. Got an email response this morning(to about 5 emails sent over the last 2 months)saying ‘oh — we’re open’.
Trouble is I’m pretty much fully booked until post christmas. If they’d given me a bit of notice I’d been able to plan to go.
Glad to hear it’s good though — just got back from a sherry tour (read: getting pissed driving round southern spain having tapitas) so have a lot to compare them to.
I think I spotted Peter but I didn’t see the lovely Camberwell gals.
Agree about the PR. There’s nothing on the Church St Hotel website about the restaurant, its opening times or menus, which is a shame. I need to start plotting my next fix in earnest…
@RobP: Yeah, there wasn’t even a sign in the window saying ‘opening tonight’ or anything; also, I’m signed up to the Church St Hotel’s email alerts, and they’ve sent out nothing. Better marketing definitely needed.
@Yak: What time did you come in and where did you sit?
When we asked at the hotel reception, they DID say it is a ‘very soft opening’ — perhaps they’re still looking to iron things out before they launch it properly…
Se5 Forum had Christmas drinks at Sun and Doves last night.
As usual on exemplary form I behaved very badly throughout, drank far too much, told everyone I hate Camberwell ad nauseum, that there’s no hope for the area and I hope Oberon is so successful it puts all the other bars in the area out of business.
Camberwell is like a spoilt brat. ON the one hand we get customers volunteering that our burgers are THE BEST THEY’VE EVER HAD — backed up by Americans telling us they’re the best burgers they’ve had in EUROPE — then we get other customers telling us ‘your burgers are a rip off’ (and, although they are considerably cheaper than say, Gourmet Burger Kitchen) ‘they are too expensive and don’t even come with chips. I like my burger to come with chips’ (and for free obviously). ‘The service was too slow we didn’t get the food soon enough after we sat down; (a combination of dishes from three different menus which aren’t supposed to be mix and match, including Roast Turkey which isn’t even on the menu) especially just for them). ‘we’re not paying the service charge (table of eight) and we won’t be leaving a tip (this from people who book a table, arrive forty minutes late expecting food they ordered in advance to be served immediately when there’s various other tables making about forty other people to serve — people who all arrived on time and have no complaint whatsoever, obviously because they aren’t ahem, twats) oh but the food was absolutely delicious.
And then, having a chat on the forecourt over a ciggy with newly acquainted people just moved to the area and interested in being here, and THEN, that bloody pain in the arse woman who always calls me darling comes up the path and starts begging everyone for fags, ‘can I have a drag on yours then?’ and ‘I’ve got some ganja in me pocket do you want to buy some?’.
And then there’s the general know it all mantra ‘You’re all the same you bars and restaurants, you don’t do enough for vegetarians (at least 40% of the menu has always been meat free and about a third of the rest has been pescatorial in origin) . Think we might rename Steak and Kebab.
NO “fuck off”.
Gah. Camberwell.
Don’t ya just love it!
Well folks, my warnings about BA made a few months back are ringing true. Doubt even the stupid unions ‘protecting us rights and future’ will go for a full 12 day strike, but you never know.
So here’s my next tip for those who are interested. Watch the sale of govt gilts in January very carefully. Iceland, Ireland and Greece we’ll be with you soon, along with Spain! Yay!
Mark — It must be a thankless task. Hang on in there. I will try those burgers one day.
I see the opticians near GX Gallery has been closed a few weeks. How long before it reopens as a shop selling powdered milk and yams and doesn’t bother renewing the sign.
Looking forward to trying the tapas place.
Hi,
Sorry to go off topic but does anybody know if there are any restaurants open in Camberwell/Brixton for dinner on Christmas Day?
Thanks
Marie, I believe that the Cambria is open 12–6 for Christmas lunch.
hoping to try A&G tonight. Does anybody know if they have a phone number so I can book/check its open?
The Cambria, £50 for a not very inspiring Christmas day lunch
I think £50 is good value for Christmas day.
Noodels City. Now that’s value.
@tehbus — you can probably use the hotel number via
http://www.churchstreethotel.com/
T: +44 20 7703 5984
Agreed Phil G.
All you can eat chips and prawns.
Hi Peter — fyi, camberwellonline.co.uk seems to be up and down quite a bit this week. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. This is from different connections, browsers, etc.
Wrong kind of snow?
@Phil — I haven’t been to the Noddel place myself, but some friends went in the other day and say they walked out right away because it was too rank.
@Mark — since I’m one of those vegetarians you talked about, I will try and get over and sample your food soon.
@everyone — the new video exhibit in the SLG is very cool. A tree performance. German artist. It’s only on for a week.
Edit: on the subject of continental artists, thought this was quite interesting: http://www.garudiostudiage.com/news/LYNfabrikken.htm Peckham related.
Yes it’s a shocking place. I didn’t really mean it. I did go once when v drunk and apologised to the forum for doing so in a mock review that I can’t find now.
Snobs.
I am a genuine fan.
Noodels City: I went once out of magnetic curiosity and will never return. An unpleasant, unsentimental and snob free gross surreality. It WAS cheap though. Good Value doesn’t come into it. They are paying the rent and seem comfortable with the amount of trade they generate. Amazing considering the kack they serve in the ambience they’ve made out of it but true — and quite clearly enough people use it to make it work for whoever it is who had the Noodel to do it. It’s soulless and vile.
To my mind it’s a story of Camberwell’s continuing pointlessness.
Anyone notice the radical approach Morrison’s have taken to their car park? £1.60 an hour, no change given, minimum one hour parking; £9.80 for the whole day. Are they trying to force shoppers with cars to go to Sainsbury’s?
On the subject of local Christmas Day lunch establishments, I see that this week’s Time Out has an ‘Open Christmas Day’ restaurant feature, starring our very own Pasha Hotel Kazakh Kyrgyz restaurant!
‘Descend into a world resplendent with Central Asian eats, complete with opulent hamman (Turkish bath), and an indoor pond. On Christmas day, a festive dinner menu priced at £20 per person is fashioned with wine, platters of food and vegetarian options for mains and dessert.’
@Mark — perhaps they are putting the results of the SE5 Forum poll to the test: http://www.se5forum.org. It’s still reasonable value compared to the minimum £2.40 customers must pay to visit shops in outer Camberwell, considering the access to Camberwell Green’s remaining amenities.
Interestingly, Morrison’s objected to Southwark’s plans for more drive-in supermarkets on the Old Kent Road, suggesting they take a dim view of Southwark’s core strategy of maintaining growth of mass free parking destinations near Camberwell. Obviously the Council would never dare to CPO the car park and force charging, but perhaps Sainsburys will follow suit of its own accord? Certainly, it will do so as soon as Lordship Lane is CPZ-ed.
Bang wrong on Noodels Mark.
Take your camera down there on a Saturday tea time and capture the value. Huge numbers of families dining cheaply on food they all enjoy. You don’t like it — fine. It’s pointless?! Ridiculous. How closed minded can you be?
Anyone see that farcical ethical man global warming piece on Newsnight? Pathetic. If you didn’t have doubts about the objectivity of the debate before then surely you would after that..
I can understand its attraction on value alone, but the fare they serve in there is dreadful.
If you want value and better taste (and don’t we all) then get thee to Ginseng Noodle.
Chinese curry and chips is a British classic. It can never be dreadful.
Bit of festive cheer for you Mark.
Punch Taverns, Britain’s biggest pub company, suffered the embarrassment of having its remuneration report voted down by shareholders at yesterday’s annual meeting amid concerns over performance conditions.
Alan. The food at Noodels was the day I went, and I presume remains, awful gloop. CHEAP is its only defence.
Thanks Phil G.
“Shareholder representatives have taken a dim view of the bonuses being paid to executives, increases in pensions and payments to departing executives, including a £652,000 payout to former commercial director Jonathan Paveley, who now chairs Admiral Taverns, £471,000 to Deborah Kemp, former head of the group’s leased pub business and £284,000 to Andrew Knight, the former managing director of Spirit Group.”
These posts from the Morning Advertiser and The Publican forum earlier today:
1) Episode V: The Shareholders Strike Back
At year 1000 year of the Bar Wars calendar
The Twilek dark Jedi Veekhar discovers the Precursors in Kathol sector, and moves to take their technology and power for his own. A force of Light-side Jedi under General Halbret Dajus is dispatched to thwart him. During the battle, one of the Precursor Stargates is detonated, thereby creating a sector-wide holocaust and giving birth to the Kathol Rift with its fallout. The Precursors abandon their bodies and enter the Lifewell to save themselves. Halbret enters a stasis pod on Kathol. The bio-mechanical supercomputer Darkstryder is left to run the planet and awaken the Precursors when the disaster has passed. It never does, but instead takes over the planet.
+ 6 months
The FarStar defeats Moff Sarne and Darkstryder and uses the Kathol Stargate to travel back in time to the Clone Wars and a cataclysmic SEISMIC EVENT destroys Kathol and finally the Shareholders Strike Back.
2) Punch Taverns shareholders in AGM revolt:
It is more than faintly ridiculous that all these people who have proven over a decade or more that they could not organise a pissup in a brewery when it comes to actually RUNNING a pub; as opposed to proving they can milk a substantial part of the national pub estate dry of cash and profit at the foundations; should get such massive pay outs for their performance. It’s just rewarding people for short sighted, short termist, unsustainable business practices and no different from chucking money down the drain. And the notion that this move is in no way meant to criticise senior members of the board is a bit naive isn’t it? It’s a MASSIVE criticism of everything they’ve been doing to bring this company to its knees. It was, of course all very predictable if you had the fortune to be running a tied pub a decade ago.
Reluctantly, I feel Alan Dale has a point about noodels.
I think this kind of buffet food is disgusting swill, but nobody’s forcing me to go there. If others loathe themselves enough to eat it, far be it from me to discourage them.
But the signage is a problem. It’s in my field of vision on the way past. I could use a blindfold, but the buses, dog shit and broken glass would imperil me.
‘loathe themselves enough to eat it’ — exactly.
That’s exactly why it’s full of families on a Saturday tea time.. all there gorging on their own self loathing… nothing to do with the fact that an occasional cheap curry and chips is nice.
Helpful tip: the Asian supermkt next to former Woolies sells tubs of the same Chinese curry sauces that the chop suey places use. Just add water and stir. Hey ho. Good with mushrooms, onions, peppers and chicken/beef.
Salty luvverly MSG curry sauce with leftover veg? Done.
Hey, I want cheap curry & chips, too. Who cares and spelling in this weather? Good old Noddles.
No, the spelling is unforgiveable. It’s something that bound us all strongly at the time. Please let’s not lose site of that.
The spelling is why everyone’s heard of it. Very clever marketing.
The spelling is a secondary issue to the sign’s size and appearance; believe it or not, Camberwell Green is a conservation area, although it doesn’t seem to get the benefit of the application of the rules that it should.
As for the place itself, it’s a shame that cheap has to equal low quality.
The oriental supermarket has some real exotic bargains in there.
Would like to try some of the snacks/sauces but couldn’t find one that didn’t contain palm oil. Much worse than a dose of MSG.
Cheap can equal cheerful. Can’t equal quality. Unless it’s a freshly prepared, slowly cooked winter veg-based organic home-grown stew (ideally containing meat) being served to a lot of hungry people at the same time.
This is making me hungry.
Seen the snow? They were chucking salt about like loonies in the west end. Clearly someone high up in the public sector knows there’s a storm coming. Wrap up warm, lovely people.
Chinese curry and chips: a British classic since 1972. What provenance are the people who run Noodels? Those working when I was there weren’t Chinese. I wouldn’t have a problem if the food they churn out was decent instead of gloop.
Camberwell Green IS a conservation area which should bring up the proposed development along Camberwell Passage including the Job Centre and HSS Hire on Camberwell New Road.
This is a hugely significant site because of its location and aspect and could have a dynamic effect on Camberwell’s future if handled sensitively. There is a chance to get a really good building providing great living space and some belting retail units all round the block. But what’s likely to happen is that a dull, safe and invisible development will appear without a murmur — Southwark’s planning department has been telling the developer that a low key building that blends in with existing is what we want in Camberwell. OH YEAH? And what will happen to the section 106 money?
That reminds me of the extension to Camberwell Bus Garage on Camberwell New Road. Did anyone see any planning consultation about that eyesore? It’s slap bang on a site that could well have been used for retail or many other types of development of much greater value to our community than a bloody bus park. And what happened to the 106 money from that?
The local authorities really are not on our side around here, it’s been going on for decades, it HAS to stop!
Camberwell as seen in the world of Lepidoptery via the filter of card games: http://snipurl.com/tqrov
@mark: who’s the planning guy you met up with recently? might be worth asking him to come along to ‘camberwell can be…’ forum?
personally i think that the madness of ‘must build more homes’ in the areas which are already struggling with amenities, deprivation, traffic nightmares, etcetera has to stop. regardless of what gordon or kim humphries want.
more opportunities to spend the money you don’t have are only going to exacerbate the already massive gap, more people squashed in an area without tube/rail is going to mean more cars/pollution/congestions etc.
meanwhile, in dulwich…
Being cynical but could the attention lavished on Dulwich, Bermondsey and other parts of the borough be anythung to do with the Conservative and Lib Dem support in those areas? They afterall want to maintain their seats and so allocate money more generously to those aras. I am hopeful that come 6 May 2010 a Labour council will be elected in Southwark the members of which will actually care about Camberwell.
The Wai Ting supermarket next to ex-Woolies sells fab Thai curry pastes, 3 for a quid.
This global warming really is getting out of hand. The snow really is thin on the ground round here. The parakeets have shut up, though, that’s good, aggressive, intrusive, invasive bastards.
That Tiger Woods bloke has appeared on telly in Copenhagen to say an agreement has been come to about the global warming. He says there will be no more friction or fiction. Rainforests? To the woods. It’s great, hot stuff from Denmark, as ever. Nina & Frederik — maybe they will have a comeback
The art & crafts market on the Green will be brilliant tomorrow — it’s in a space-age tent. Flux Studios will be selling their jewellery there — they do really interesting, different pieces, excellent for Xmas presents especially for loved & cherished ladies.
Near Orpington, there is a village called Green Street Green. In the town, there is a sign that says,
Library
Museum
but unfortunately it just signs a library and a museum not a library museum which, in Orpington, would be a blast.
@Mumu: Wouldn’t get your hopes up about a Labour Leadership — their past record on Camberwell is dreadful. Just look around you — what you see is not the result of just the past few years. That’s decades of comprehensively bad management — many people’s lifetimes of oversight and shameful neglect. It reminds me of the intransigence, ignorance and lack of imagination of pubcos; which is really saying something; they are FUEDAL.
Wing Tai do very good value mint.
@Liliana: Barbara will have his contact details. He’s called Daniel I think.
If the fair’s as good as the poster http://snipurl.com/tr2xk we should be onto something and that should be followed later by the marvellous Hank Dogs http://snipurl.com/tr2zu and friends at The Sun and Doves. http://snipurl.com/tr2w7 from around 7pm. Frree and a great antidote to the cold and a heart warming lead into the holiday season. As ‘they’ call it in the ‘States.
‘Anyone notice the radical approach Morrison’s have taken to their car park? £1.60 an hour, no change given, minimum one hour…’
Presumably Morrison’s refund the parking fee at the till? If not they’ve been silly, although in time they can measure exactly how it effects revenue. It guarantees I’ll only shop there for the odd thing. It was bad enough being forced to queue 20 minutes through the Green to get there. Morrison’s fresh fish is so much better than Sainsbury’s so it’s worth popping in on foot for that.
Of course Sainsbury’s are far too clever to aggravate their customers with a parking charge, even if there was a CPZ in Lordship Lane. I don’t think it’s a clever policy to charge people for parking in Camberwell. Given the dearth of decent shops and the horrific bottle neck around the green, we need to give people all the incentives we can to bring them in.
@Butterball. Morrison’s parking — there’s no refund at the till as at Walworth Road. However, been doing a bit of research and apparently it’s NOT Morrisons’ who imposed the charges but Butterfly Walk property management (Mumbo Jumbo World; isn’t it just?).
Even the guys who wash cars in the car park say they’ve less business since the charges began. It HAS to have an effect on the rest too.
Meeting Morrison’s manager on Monday to find out more.
Finally got round to trying out the (new) Grove Tavern; the decor is quaint though may have mixed it up with the xmas decorations. Not unpleasant but almost deserted while we were there. We didn’t fancy burgers so moved onto the Petit Parisien to see if the new menu had improved things. Oh dear, not being a meat eater thought I’d try the fish — “fish is off tonight” — so it was risotto; served far too quickly to have been cooked there and then (surely not microwaved). Sad to say it didn’t impress and others must have formed the same opinion as for most of the meal we were the only people there.
Re the car parking at Morrisons, wonder if charges have been introduced to deter people from parking there — it’s popular with King’s College Hospital visitors. Or rather it was popular with them. The car park has been markedly less busy since charging commenced. One can’t help but feel sorry for the car wash guys. The property management company must be very proud of themselves, having driven out the only bookshop in Camberwell they’re left with an arcade (sic) of cheapo stores (sic) distinguished only by a charity shop and a half decent card shop.
This evening I took a stroll down Camberwell Church Street — a recce to see what’s going on. How to recount?
The only places one could describe as ‘busy’ were Caravaggio; Silk Road and Angels & Gypsies. All the others were, for all intents and purposes empty i.e. totally devoid of customers, literally.
Serendipitously got caught up in a wonderful moment at a packed Ambrosia hosting the Butterfly (and associated) Pharmacies’ Christmas staff do. So Ambrosia was busy as well, with two Sikh deejays on the Bangra groove, as opposed to their normal emptiness. Couple of other shopkeepers there, like me, not happy about Camberwell’s performance as a shopping area.
Dropped in to Caravaggio’s and had a chat with Frank — busy compared to others but he’s as concerned about Camberwell as I am. ‘The worst Christmas I’ve ever had, we’re having parties like normal but they aren’t spending; they’re having soft drinks, and there’s more competition like with the Spanish place up the road, the recession is really kicking in. February will be interesting. What’s happening to Silver Buckle is interesting. What are they doing there, bringing it back to the original?’ I paraphrase of course.
I’m trying to get Frank involved with Camberwell Business — part of SE5 Forum; and Kaush from Butterfly Pharmacy and Anand from Bright Stationers and a lot of others too. None are overly interested because they’re so bound up with work all the time. This has been going on for years by the way so I’m obviously perennially doing something wrong.
The manager of Morrisons is called Scott Bradley which bodes well for me. I’ll tell you why if you want but it will not be a short explanation.
Know what you mean Mark. Often I wander about and the pubs other than the Hermits and most of the restaurants are largely empty.
Anyway, next on the sick list is Hoa Viet. Now, I know from years of discussion that this place divided everyone. I always thought it was OK. Not great, but not as bad as some made out. I had some really nice times there.
Well it’s in new hands now and, as I reported here before, they’ve stripped out quite a lot of the Nam dishes. Now they’ve overhauled the menu again and it’s more of a ‘meal dishes’ place where you buy a plate of rice / noodles and something to go with it on the same plate.
So this makes it harder to build group meals to share, though it’s still possible, and in my mind makes it less of a ‘restaurant’ and just somewhere to fill up with a plate to yourself. Also because of the various permutations of quite a basic set of combinations the menu is now about 8 pages long.
Anyway, all this would be OK if our dishes tasted good, which they didn’t. My fried rice was soggy and tasteless, the ribs were chewy and not seasoned as ordered, the girl’s noodles were salty and leaden.
The place was empty, and freezing, and had jarring chillout dance music going.
Still at £4 for quite a big plate I suppose I’ll be back when drunk and on my own and on my way home at some point.
But it’s a shame it’s gone downhill, Hoa Viet had been reliable and I’ve been there many times in the past 3.5 years.
first time post for a long time reader of this blog. Its a great resource and i would like to thank all the regulars for the foodie recommendations.
My partner and I went to Angels & Gypsies on Friday night and were very impressed, nice decor, good service and all the food was excellent apart from one of the desserts — a chocolate torte which was bit to bitter and would have been better served with ice cream rather than cream. We mentioned this and they didn’t mind getting a little constructive criticism. The house Rioja was very nice and at £18 not overpriced IMO for the quality of restaurant.
Last night we went to Silk Road and with some friends and we were very impressed. The pork dumpling at 10 for £3 strikes me as excellent value. We had a big plate chicken and a selection of vegetarian dishes all them great.
Its a shame about Hoa Viet we’ve had a lot of nice meals in there over the last 3–4 years. we’ve been once since it changed hands and the Mongolian Lamb dish which is one of our favourites wasn’t as good. We’ll now go to Silk Road if they got a free table as its always seems busy.
Yes, agree with you, Phil, about Hoa Viet.
Chatting with the waitress there last week, she said it now had new owners and the cook had changed the menu. It now does viet/chinese rather than pure viet dishes.
This wouldn’t be so bad if the food was still as good, but alas, we had a similar experience to you last time we ate there.
Food has gone downhill, there was no one else there apart from us and the old atmosphere has gone.
On another note, Hermits received a great review in yesterday’s Guardian so will probably now be packed with people next time we go there. Good for business but not so good for those of us who like a quiet drink.
Oh well — time to find another hidden gem of a pub in Camberwell. One which is quiet, friendly but not overcrowded.
Just to encourage you who think The Sun and Doves is not a ‘destination’ for food: http://snipurl.com/ts0ks nothing posed
The page from the Guardian, so you don’t have to find it.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2009/dec/19/top-christmas-pubs-boxing-day?page=all
The Hermit’s Cave, Camberwell Green
Garth Cartwright, author
The Hermit’s Cave offers no live music, special food, quizzes or anything else on Boxing Day. Instead, it remains as stoic as it is every other day of the year. Admittedly, the football will be on the telly. But that is stuck in the far corner of this lovable (if unlovely) semi-circular Edwardian pub, so those of us who can’t stand the game manage to sit and drink and chat in relative peace. I have no family, so Christmas is not something I make a big deal of. Which is why this is my perfect Boxing Day pub: the world carries on, nothing appears to have changed, and the same south London locals drop in for a drink. When I travel, I like to be challenged, but when I go for a pint of ale (and the Hermit’s always has a few on tap), I like a certain consistency. The Hermit’s Cave offers plenty of consistency. Why, I don’t think they’ve changed the carpet (or anything else) since I first supped there in 1994.
28 Camberwell Church Street, SE5 (020?7703 3188). Closed Christmas Day.
Garth Cartwright’s More Miles Than Money is published by Serpent’s Tale (£12.99).
Totally agree with Robbie regarding Angels & Gypsies. What they’re doing would be deemed a success anywhere in London. It being in Camberwell makes it a resounding success.
Agree, but slightly less so, with Garth Cartwright. Have always loved the Hermit’s and share his love of ale. The Shrimper’s there can be gorgeous. But it costs a bit too much for a session beer and can be inconsistent. And for some weird reason I have the habit of falling out with one of their staff every couple of years!
Wetherspoon’s is great for ale. The value and volume virtuous circle makes for a pleasant beery experience every time. Shame about everything else.
Food at S&D is looking great. Will pop in for some in that nice quiet bit between Xmas and New Year. Hopefully see you then Mark.
Frank at Caravaggio’s is an absolute sweetheart and and all the staff there are just as lovely. Took hubby, 1 year old daughter and the in-laws there for Sunday lunch, they really look after us and are so welcoming which is often not the case when you have a small baby with you — even an impeccably well behaved one!!
It wasn’t as busy as I’d have expected for the time of year though, I must admit. I know it has a devoted following, so I can’t imagine that it won’t weather the storm.
Over Xmas/New Year am going to retry some places in Camberwell I haven’t been to in ages, to see what they’re like now — Sun and Doves, Su Thai, The Bear. Will also aim to try the new tapas bar and the Grand Union. Looking forward to it — the social life has suffered a bit generally since having my little ‘un, time to let my hair down a bit!
Caravaggio annoyed me the day I went there for a panino and despite them having a big basket of bread and loads of fillings on display, they told me that they weren’t serving them any more. I grudgingly ate pasta instead, but I still harbour some ill-feeling towards them for it.
Thanks copeywolf — since Robin Jackson arrived, we’ve made loads of progress and the food IS whoohooo. IN the new eyar his influence will really strike home as he takes over everything on the menu and we start buying from market daily.
We’re closed for a couple of days over Christmas — close 3pm Christmas Eve open again Tuesday 29th. On New Year’s Eve we’re closed during the day but open from 7pm and will stay open until as long as there’s a reason to stay open until the New Year. We will be closed all New Year’s Day for recovery and open as normal from 2nd until the end of 2010.
In January we’re doing two Acooustic Saturday nights you should put in your diaries — fab live music (served with food if you choose to order it) — on 9th and 23rd.
And our three real ales are going down a treat with those that go that way.
On Morissons with car park — it’s true, the management company brought the charges in without arranging any means of reimbursement from the shops. It’s had a SERIOUS impact on trade in Butterfly Walk shops. A scheme should be in place starting 1st January.
Camberwell Business is a part of SE5 Forum. We NEED more involvement from local shop keepers. Morisson’s manager Scott has agreed to join up and Terry from MacDonald’s too. If I can get Frank from Caravaggio and Anthony from Oberon plus a few others we’ll be rocking. SERIOUSLY if any of you know anyone who trades locally ask them to get involved. Together we can lobby both Lambeth and Southwark and get a lot done — there’s a lot of 106 money around thats’ not being directed particularly by anyone other than Officers who don;t live here or give a hoot aboot it either.
Email me at mark@sunanddoves.co.uk please!
Also SE5 Forum need volunteers to do simple unpdating of the website and a few important project we don;t have the human resources to do on our own…
We particularly need people with grant bid skills. Barbara@se5forum.org
@Mark Dodds: The Sambrooks is really nice. What about getting some Doom Bar in as well?
@mark: should there be a distinction between those trading locally & local traders? i’d like to see local traders encouraged/centrally placed within a town centre — there really is nothing local about mcdonalds & morrisons & im a bit befuddled that they would be key people to get on board. ok im reading the ‘key people’ bit in, but im considerably less tolerant of them i guess, as i really very much doubt ‘local interest’ will ever come first, no matter how good their pr team may or may not be. end of rant
@Peter. Doom Bar sounds too much like a portent for the future but I’ll give it a try if I can track it down…
@Liliana. Terry and Scott are people who, like other local traders, have an interest in Camberwell. What is significant about them is that they turned up to a meeting which is a rarity in this little town of ours where a lot of people complain and have a lot to say about a lot of things but aren’t prepared to DO anything about seeing their points of view are enacted. The meeting today was specifically about parking at Butterfly Walk, an issue that affects a lot of people, which is having an immediate significant impact on local shopping footfall. That their work is with large corporations is a separate issue. What Camberwell Business needs is input and frankly I don’t care where that input comes from as long as it’s well intentioned, practical and has an impact. I’ve been trying to get people interested in this sort of thing for the best part of fifteen years around here and I’m bloody tired of there being almost ZERO input from other people.
Either I’ve been doing something VERY WRONG or everyone’s always too snowed under with their own pressures to be able to have the time, energy or wherewithall to get involved. I think it’s the latter. But hey what do I know? These guys getting together is a major step forward and will lead to more local business people and traders getting involved.
Mornign everyone — who else has no water this morning? We had very low water pressure which Thames Water have just informed me is don to a water leak in the Camberwell Grove area!
@Hannah — our pressure seemed OK at 9am. Perhaps you’re higher than we. On elevation Camberwell Grove must have hda real problems if there’s no pressure so far down below where we are.
Morrison’s — just heard that parking charges are being scrapped until January 14 by when there will be a reimbursement scheme in place for choppers. A victory for common sense.
Wonder how this information will be dissemanated at the car park.
Well — Angels and Gypsies are definitely no longer a soft opening.
Got an email through advising that they are open — also there’s a 10% discount voucher:
Using seasonal, sustainable, free–range & organic produce, we source locally using the best of British while importing our own Iberico hams and Spanish Beverages.
We would love to invite you down to try out our New Menu and would like to offer 10% discount on your food bill during December:
http://www.churchstreethotel.com/pdf/voucher.pdf#view%3Dfit
T&C’s. Cannot be used in conjunction with other promotions. Subject to managers discretions and can be removed at any time. Offer valid until December 31st 2009.
All bookings welcome;
Call 020 7703 5984 to help us organise a special time to celebrate this season.
That was a copy/paste btw — I am in no way connected to them!
There’s an awful lot of misery about Camberwell venues around at times, and I do wonder whether it’s justified. As a resident of Camberwell, I am of the view that if I don’t socialise here very regularly (and encourage others to come here) then I shouldn’t be surprised if places close. Intriguingly a number of my friends seem to be content to simply complain about the deficiencies of Camberwell. But then, also, I wonder whether the venues here are really doing all that is possible to maximise the customer base here. Having drunk in pretty much all of the venues in Camberwell on a regular basis, in my view there are a number of things which could be done to increase customers. First, venues need to have mailing lists and to send out regular emails. I’ve signed up to all of the mailing lists of all of the bars in the area and yet have received nothing from anyone — other than, once — a few years ago, an email about Mark’s birthday party in the Sun and Doves. To take the example of the Sun and Doves — it has regular films but I rarely go (despite being a film addict who has already been to the cinema twice this week) since I often don’t know what’s going to be showing (particularly since some months even the website doesn’t even provide illumination). The Castle has started doing comedy, but seems to have almost no publicity about it. The one exception, now I think of it, is the Art’s Bar. But since they are a performance space, they really wouldn’t get any traffic at all if they didn’t publicise. The Pheonix emailed awhile ago to say that they were going to be emailing more and then…silence. At the moment, I have to work to find out what’s going on and that surely can’t be the right way round! Second, we need somewhere that serves good classic cocktails. Bar Story in Peckham has demonstrated admirably that people like drinking cocktails a lot. And yet (with the recent honorable exception of the Grand Union — though these aren’t cheap) there’s nowhere in Camberwell to drink good classic cocktails. The Funky Munky’s cocktails are definitely on the rough side, whilst the Sun and Doves has only its speciality cocktails (with the exception of a Bramble, if memory serves). I like cocktails. But I don’t like drinking random concoctions. Some nice well mixed mohitos, cosmopolitans and gimlets, please. Third, there need to be more regular events (that are publicised — see above). A while ago every venue seemed to be having a jazz night (I get my fill in the crypt anyway), but that’s tailed off. This means that what we’re left with is most venues having a regular quiz…and that’s it (bar the unpublicised films at the Sun and Doves and the unpublicised comedy at the Castle). How about a games night? Or one of the venues to get table football / a pool table (since the only place with a pool table is the rather grim Joiner’s Arms…). The regular storytelling nights in the Persian shop in Peckham have been popular (as it is in other parts of the London) and might also be worth thinking about. Fourth, interesting wine lists. I like drinking wine a lot. But I wouldn’t say any of the pubs in the area have particularly interesting or special wine lists. The Dark Horse (for all its faults) at least had a very decent wine list (I remember the Malbec well). With the lovely Green and Blue so close, I wonder why no venue has thought to collaborate with them to try and add a little excitement.
But I should add that I don’t think that the aspiration should be to turn Camberwell into an East Dulwich. What I like about Camberwell is that its very diverse population can co-exist comparatively well — much more so than (for example) that of Shoreditch or Bemondsey. In aspiring to improve Camberwell, we need to be careful to make sure we don’t try and push people out of the area (not least because this would be unsuccessful and simply lead to segregation and resentment) — but instead have an area where the Grand Union, Angels and Gypsies and the Sun and Doves can happily co-exist with Nandos, Noodels City and McDonalds.
@RobP good stuff about the A&G offer, we should all take them up on it.
@molly — excellent post with lots of very good observations and well made points! I have no idea how you got onto my birthday list along with Harriet Harman and David Cameron without being on the general email invitations. Can only suggest it’s the result of being pressed all the time to do things which should be better organised and more clearly thought through from the start. It’s called firefighting and I am SURE that most of the businesses in Camberwell are under similar pressure, this is a high rent area with a complicated and difficult to satisfy passing trade based around businesses which, by and large, are small and under funded.
My work email address is mark@sunanddoves.co.uk if you want to get those invites — do send me a message and I’ll try to make sure you’re put on there. This applies to anyone who fancies being spammed with unfeasibly huge amounts of promotional material from the Sun and Doves = about three emails a week.
Sweeny Todd is being shown as we, ahem, speak. And tomorrow night (Wednesday 8pm start) is QUIZ night, this one with a Christmas theme. What exactly a Christmas theme is I’m not sure. Probably playing Away in a Manger as background music. Anyhow it’s £2 per person teams no larger than six (please) £60 minimum main win, runner ups of drink vouchers and bottles of wine, and a quick draw question every week which has six envelopes with five excruciatingly difficult questions and a fabulously, embarrassingly easy question. On a rollover week (like last Wednesday) a 22 year old from Kentucky could walk away with £80 for knowing that the Mardis Gras began in New Orleans.
I will take time to read, mark well and digest your post further — and pass it around at the next management meeting for discussion. Thanks for taking the time to write such a thoughtful and informative post.
I’d like to make it clear that our wines are VERY good and MUCH better value than almost anywhere else I’ve ever visited, and I do visit other places quite often.
Try our house sauvignon blanc ‘Les Charmes’ against any other house SB and I guarantee it’s better AND cheaper. Same applies to the red grenache Champs de Moulin. Both French both really well made and exceptionally consistent wines. I’ve had FOUR major wine suppliers pitch for our list in the last six years and not one of them has been able to match the quality and value of the house wines I spent YEARS tracking down to serve to you lot.
Went to the Fentiman Arms for a brief scoop on the way back to work from cash and carry. Long short story I would like to tell — being pissed off hugely by a new teenage member of staff who didn’t have a clue about what she was serving or doing behind the bar. Basically it was over a gin and tonic (£4.35 single measure) served in a hot glass with three cubes of ice which melted instantly — a bottle of tonic poured in by her without reference to me (that’s, in this instance, the customer) and my mentioning the hot glass and the melted ice and being told ‘I didn’t do anything wrong’ and her totally turning her back on me.
Well, the same drink at S&D is £2.60, which just shows what a bunch of idiots we are, and it’s served in a glass full of ice and you get to put your own tonic in if you want. I’m writing to Rupert about this.
You make some good points Molly. I too often find it difficult to work out what events are on and when in the various pubs, regular quizzes aside. As such on a bored Weds or Thurs night I’ve missed jazz, comedy, films, the lot. I also don’t want Camberwell’s pubs to go more samey, like in EDul.
One thing I would say about Camberwell is that a substantial proportion, perhaps the majority, of its population don’t seem to go out in many of the pubs and restaurants at all. I think that’s behind a lot of the empty places. Remember Bar Miura before it closed? That was often packed with W Africans.
Anyway, I must say that my cheap n quick food favourite at the moment is Ginseng Noodle. Effective, greasy slop but, unlike Noodels, it’s quality and tasty too. However the cafe decor is a bit horrid and it’s not a place for a date.
The SE5 Forum site is an obvious place to gather together all upcoming events.
It already has an events calender. Maybe needs to be more accessible/prominent.
A review of Angels & Gypsies by a local foodie blogger: http://www.tehbus.com/2009/12/angels-and-gypsies-camberwell.html
@Phil G I like Ginseng Noodle too — and so do the family. Sometimes slightly hit and miss but never awful. The wonton noodle soup is always good ad refreshing — use chilli sauce and soy to perk it up. It’s incredibly good value too and the owners are very nice and work very hard.
@copeywolf Good point about the SE5 Forum website calendar. Could also do with a part time regular admin.
Still not managed to get to A&G. Feel like I’m missing out.
Loads of complements today for the specials at S&D and the venison chilli. And the Moroccan lamb stew (the animal is not Moroccan but the recipe is) and the Beef in wine.
It was great that the Hermits featured in last Saturday’s Guardian’s choice of the 50 best winter pubs in the whole country (therefore in the whole world). Their man called the Cave “This lovable (if unlovely) semi-circular Edwardian pub.” Like this…
A man goes into a lovable (if unlovely) semi-circular Victorian pub.
“I’d like a lovely (if brown in colour) cylindrical pint o’ Nu Elizabethan beer, please,” says the man.
“Sorry sir, I think you’ve had enough already,” says the barmaid.
“Yeah,” pipes up a regular, “don’t serve ‘im, ‘e’s a cyclepath.”
“Yeah!” chips in one of the even more regulars, hoping for a shindig, “e’s a stickleback.”
“A Ridgeback!”
“A conundrum!”
“‘E’s rhomboid!”
“E’s pie-arse squared!”
But.
“What do you call a chicken is a shell suit?” says the man.
There is a total silence throughout the whole 180 degrees of the alehouse.
“An egg,” he says.
And disappears into the night, twirling his silver-topped cane, for it is the shade of the Marquis of Camberwell Green, “the downiest dude ever seen”.
@Mark: So excuse the ignorance, but what is 106 money? What is it there for and how will it benefit.
@everyone: I think that it would be a good idea to all meet at Liliana’s meeting thingy…sorry can’t find the link at the mo.
I also think that we should look at getting in touch with the vast group of people who also live in the community but who have no access to the internet let alone this blog and the SE5– and there are many. I know 3 of my neighbours are illiterate and the majority do not have a computer at home. How do you ask them, and others like them what they would like in the area? I do not mean this as a criticism but put it forward to ask people to come up with ideas.
It is all very well, and well meant, to want to improve an area, but you need to get all people involved not just a relatively privileged few (like us).
On another theme, Angels and Gypsies. Better than any tapas I ate in my 6 years in Seville (not as difficult as it sounds, but there are a few very good places there). Annoyingly, only saw the ten percent off offer when we came back from dinner that night.
@Monkeycat: 106 is also called planning obligation money, I think. It’s a complicated thing but in essence there is money around for community improvements that most of us don’t know about. When a new building development is planned the local planning department levies a percentage of the costs to be put into local services or amenities. Say a large housing project is proposed, the developers may have to put money aside to improve existing school provision or improve play facilities in local parks, say with a big shopping plan, money might be put into traffic management. Southwark has a very good booklet detailing this called “Section 106 planning obligations supplementary planning document (SPD) 16110″. It can be got hold of through the Planning Policy and Research Team on 020 7525 5471 and planningpolicy@southwark.gov.uk.
106 money from development projects can be substantial and is supposed to be spent in the vicinity of the proposed development. So, in the north of the borough there’s oodles of cash around for improving public amenities, landscaping and all sorts of things. In Camberwell there is less. However there’s a lot of development going on in SE5 over all which suggests there must potentially be some fairly hefty sums to be put to good use in the area.
Community Project Banks:
The Council will consult local communities on priorities for their areas (this obviously falls down where there are not very good established links with local communities). This where Community Project Banks come in — the community can make proposals for improvements to the area and put in applications for section 106 money to get the proposals made into reality.
My interpretation of this (probably flawed) is that we the people of Camberwell (and those you know who don’t have computer access or any kind of voice) ought, in an ideal world (!) to be able to come together and substantially influence plans for the future of their area that actually benefit them; rather than watching all sorts of odd things springing up out of pavements, parks and streets which they know nothing about until after it’s happened — like ‘welcome to Camberwell / Lambeth’ signs that no one really wants or needs.
@everyone and Liliana’s meeting; I completely agree we ought to make the effort but MUST point out that it seems impossibly hard to get people galvanised locally. And that SE5 Forum is NOT a snotty nosed aloof community body but down to earth with quite a lot of clout with both local authorities but it needs more people involved in running it than we’ve managed to get so far. Frankly some of those ‘illiterate’ people Monkeycat mentions above would be more than welcome if they had the nerve to put themselves forward. Training for involvement and confidence building, and improving computer literacy, can probably be arranged through grants.
Angels and Gypsies I have failed to find them open when I’ve been able to visit. Determined to while my folks are around for the next few days. I lived in Cordoba for a while and was stunned that there was so little decent food in restaurants there; although some of the tapas specialities available in individual modest bars were wonderful.
In teaching you need to think of the the different ways that people take in and understand information.
Some people are good at reading it; some at listening; and some are kinaesthetic learners (i.e. they like playing with stuff to see how it works). This is very simplified version of how it is, but will suffice for now. If you want to involve people, flyers and leaflets are not necessarily the answer. Nor websites, nor hoping they have the confidence to come forward. We need to get out to them and ask.
I will do so, I hope that others will too.
I was not suggesting that the SE5 forum was full of snotty nosed people, just that this blog and the SE5 forum appeal only to one section of Camberwell’s community.
Happy Christmas from Lancashire where there was until today about 1 foot of snow.
HAPPY GREETINGS to all from aboard the Bongo Friendee on tour. Recently there was a Freda Montague on Camberwell Grove, which is a Ford-badged Mazda Bongo.
Indeed, the wonder festival is a time of deep sleep, reflection and interrment.
For instance, the coolest car in Camberwell currently is black, the black Mini parked by Parisien. It looks like a dodgem car from a 1960s funfair — they were all-tin, not plastic, so made a real clang when shunted — and the best one to get into amongst all the bright-coloured rides was the black one, grand like a Bentley or at the very least a Humber.
Out here in the wilds, there is more to life than Camberwell. Yet there is all life in Camberwell, which is why we are lucky to call it home.
A foot of snow is a good antidote to London.
Oberon is being stripped back, The Tiger has been revealed, set in green glazed tiling.
Wonder where Tatiana is?
Oberon was king of the fairies. His wife was Titania, Queen of the Fairies.
Has anyone been to Chariots Roman Spa in Vauxhall? Their staff spill out from behind the arches near the Vauxhall City Farm end — they are tiny boys with cloven heels and little horns in their curly black hair.
Will Oberon be a theme pub?
Thanks Dagmar I hoped you’d do that. http://www.egeskov.com/en/node/377
Went to Seizure yesterday: http://www.flickr.com/photos/markdodds/sets/72157622957994019/show/ worth a visit.
We saw the Silver Buckle being stripped back today — it looks great underneath all that horrid cladding that had ben put up .. one question why are they callign the new venue the Oberon when it’s already has the name “The Tiger” proudly emblazoned on the revealed tiles — i like Tiger as a name for a pub — they could get people from the art college to make a suitably tigery pub sign.
The Tiger is a good name.
Representative of the tiger economy that will ensue in Camberwell.
The Camberwell Tiger.
Heard on the grapevine today that ‘they’ might be calling it Tiger after all. I will enquire further of the horse’s mouth.
Lee Green has an Old Tiger’s Head and a New Tiger’s Head opposite each other, the Old one being confusingly newer than the New one. One is up for sale, but which one escapes me.
Would make a good anecdote for the opening press release..
Hamish Champ, who is the City editor for The Publican — a pub trade paper — plays in a band called the Kings of Oblivion. They play at the Old Tiger’s Head in Lee Green on occasion.
The New Tiger’s Head is the one for sale.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markdodds/sets/72157622510507194/show/
Back to Angels & Gypsies.
Finally managed to get there last night. A few detailed niggles about the food but close to spot on all round. The ham was BRILLIANT and everything else not far off. Manzanilla is the perfect way to prepare your body for tapas and they have a very lovely one by the glass. Would be an idea to sell it by the bottle too.
Great ambience, lighting and decor, matched overall by the service.
An excellent and seriously much needed addition to Camberwell. Though all was good the bill was a lot for what we had.
It really does show what you can do to a building when you have a proper budget. One day…
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markdodds/sets/72157623099970698/show/
I think Peter’s wonderful sign in using a verified signature is wonderful but I have lost my avatar somewhere in the ether
Trying the signin with different applications as I’ve lost my avatar
Trying the signin with different applications as I’ve lost my avatar
Trying the signin with different applications as I’ve lost my avatar
cor blimey this is like a bowl of spaghetti
No idea what I did with it but it’s not here anymore
I remain, as ever, confused.
The best time for confusion is when you realise you’ve found yourself.
I like the look of The Oberon (Old Silver Buckle)
They have removed the oversized sign and stripped the paint back to reveal some beautiful green tiled mouldings…although the old sign has some extensive visible damage…
Looking forward to it opening…
You avatar ‘ave ether if yer live in Esher,
But if yer live in Camberley it’s got to be shandy.
Interesting about Hamish Champ and the Lee Green Tigers, Mark. They are both fine alehouses, once the life of the area.
Ou song les neiges d’Artagnan? Ubi sunt? Those were the days my friend we thought they’d never end.
Let’s go darn the Strand — avatar a banana.
I love the old green and orange tiles and sign of The Tiger where The Silver Buckle was…
They look a bit too damaged to be fully restored but it would be lovely if they did make an effort to match the tiles and mend and repair…Isn’t it fashionable and more environmentally friendly to do so?
It seems to me there was a lot more attention to aesthetic and detail back in the day — It looks effortlessly elegant — I hope the refurbishment puts it’s neighbours (Noodels City) amongst others to even greater shame
A landmark pub on the junction of the Green is one of the best things presents Camberwell can have for the new year…
an update on Angels and Gypsies:
The place is now open for lunch (opened yesterday apparently) and the food is fab. They do both eat in and take away.
Chatting with the owner, all the bread is freshly baked on the premises by his chef. I had a parmesan chicken roll, cost £3.95, and excellent!
Get in there and give it a try, definitely the best place for lunch now in Camberwell!
Have you been to The Sun and Doves for lunch recently sg? You won’t be disappointed!
hey Mark,
yes, we were at S & D last Saturday for lunch. No complaints, good burgers as always
sg thanks for visiting; you could also have tried the rosemary jus Lamb rump with dauphinoise http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesunanddoves/4246876079/
or duck breast http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesunanddoves/4247648138/in/photostream/
or the coq au vin http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesunanddoves/4246878771/in/photostream/
or the Victorian (recipe) sausages and mash: http://www.flickr.com/photos/thesunanddoves/4227970179/in/photostream/
Went impromptu to Angels & Gypsies this afternoon for a late-ish lunch with family. My second visit their first.
Have to say all round that it was the best meal I’ve had in a LONG time. The boys ate everything placed before them, SHE says of the best meals she’s had in ten years it’s 10/10 for quality, taste, interest, ambience, service the lot — I agree — and, given what you get, it’s pretty good value as well. I really admire what they’ve achieved and it really was worth the unbelievably long wait! (the three years since the hotel opened I mean, I’m not referring to the service!).
I notice they do Manzanilla by bottle as well as by the glass now. The house red is an excellent Rioja at £13.
There was nothing to fault at all today although the very pleasant and well organised staff could do with being a bit more buzzy. Jose and Mel have truly upped the ante for Camberwell.
I hope to load some pics of the rather good food and give a link here and now. Subject to internet connection, it’s uploading very slowly.
It took an hour but hey; anything to promote progress:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markdodds/sets/72157623183330190/
Camberwell is on the UP and we’re going to match them!
I must try Angels and Gypsies soon…
I am Iberian after all (Half Spanish/Portuguese) so I will be curious to see what they serve up…If they serve Albarino from Galicia I will be pleased…
Up the Hamlet! — They haven’t played for a month due to the weather but they will have a load of home games all bunched together over the next couple of months — so I urge you all to try and get down there…if you like real grass roots community football that is…
http://www.dulwichhamletfc.co.uk/
You will be pleased to learn that they do have Albariño at A&G if memory serves.
On a slightly different note, I notice that the SE5 forum has a meeting on Wednesday and Liliana has the Camberwell can be… meeting on Thursday. Neither of which I can come to because I am teaching…Damn.
Something I keep meaning to ask and mention is why don’t all the bus stops have the electronic display to let you know when the next bus is coming?
It is all slightly random. There are displays at the stop outside Haart and near St. Giles’ Church but no others that I can think of. Considering how important Camberwell is as an interchange for buses I would have thought it would be a perfect place for the displays.
Has anyone ever contacted TfL to ask? If not, will write and find out but wanted to know if there is some reason first.
FOUCAULT! The corporate narrative of University of the Arts London is stirring up the merde in our parts.
The function of the University is not to epater les bourgeois’ stultifying cultural regime like the Hornsey and Chelsea of old but to “ecraser les enfants et leurs knackered parents de SE5”.
The University of the Arts depend too much on the money from the well-off families of the shires, the local letting estate agents ditto.
The coddled gifted who come here to study video, with their fascination for images and fetishisation of their own image, also depend too much on the same source of cash for their expensive dining out and flirtation with heroin.
They use these funds to perpetuate their oppression by Guantanamo-Baying their neighbours with loud music and methane-powered discourse, then ethnic cleanse ‘em from the local pubs.
The knackered parents are then unable to look after their bewildered children or work for the money to bring ‘em up.
“Who are the Rolling Stones?” ask the art students like dusty old high court judges. They are art students from down the road, but from another time, when the bourgeois were taken apart by talent not propped up by University of the Arts, whose salariat live on Telegraph Hill, where their students n’existent pas.
Eusebiovic, How much is a ticket to Dulwich Hamlet?
My kids want to go to football match… a real one, not on the TV.
Thanks
@monkeycat: oh boo was really looking forward to you being there thursday!!!
@dagmar: what they done? (i too went to camberwell but they’d changed A LOT since from what i gather)
Gabe
£8 adults, £4 children. Bovril 80p I think
Gabe
As florian says £8/£4…also there is a nice warm bar with cheap prices and black country pork scratchings! — what’s not to like?
Dagmar — Quality post as usual…Indeed we are going backwards…Another example to add to the substantial tranche of evidence…
Still we can tuck into our Bovril on a bitter January day and cheer the mighty Hamlet to keep warm!
SMALL FAMILY TOTALLY TURNED OVER by noise nuisance, Liliana (club wattage gear) at 3am then after request to turn it down, start up again from 6am onwards. Family still all over the place 3 days later, rowing, stressed out, tears. Not the first time — nastily sporadic.
Much mirth about this next day from posh art student fellows. Wonderful sight of knackered mother with rings round eyes and dad totally humiliated, unable to protect his kids aged 6 and 3.
University of the Arts want high-paying toffs like this. Big change from just 3–4 years ago — their parents taxi for them — at college.
University of the Arts seek trend-followers who they can place in media jobs.
Total humiliation by countryshire high rollers who “play” in bands but are mumbly McFly impersonators (except McFly were good).
University of the Arts take note. You now farm “it’s so unfair” festival mass-gathering fascists who flirt with heroin and fuck over their neighbours.
Dagmar
There are some totally vacuous art students about in these culturally and politically pasturised times…
They have no idea about anything…They think looking and talking the part (which they are still rubbish at) is merely enough…And they are still trying to mimic the YBA’S (Emin,Hirst,Lucas,Chapman Bros) 20 years after the train has departed! — They all think being in a band is easy but have no creativity or originality or concept about anything…so they all take drugs like the “poor” folk do when of course the majority of the latter don’t touch the stuff with a barge poll!
The Hoxton/Shoreditch scene has a lot to answer for…and no genuine,lasting legacy to show for it…
We’ve had some interesting run ins with local art students in the summer who seemed to think that the walk way in our block of flats was just the right venue for skateboarding and sitting around drinking on a sunny day — cheeky gits didn’t even live in our block.
However for all the posturing they are pamapered middle class kiddies at heart so few choice words and a threat to call the police sorted them out.
Dagmar, while I have sympathy for your victim state please remember that late, loud parties that fuck over the neighbours are what art students are supposed to do. Art students are the vanguard of irresponsibility and long should it remain so.
Late, loud and drunken parties are where impenetrable concepts are born, where ideas turn into meaningless images and bohemian rhapsodies are created. Teeth are lost in brawls about George Braque and steamy, seamy encounters grow out of rhyming couplets and narcotic haze.
In ten years the poor dears will be sitting at their desk in a suburban childcare project and realise that these, indeed, were the days.
Under the looming tory regime, art students will become ‘results-oriented’, forced to focus on practical outcomes and will have little to look forward to except work experience in a minor direct marketing agency. We will all be the poorer because of it.
Rejuvenate your spirits by plotting revenge. Identify as many as possible and then plan how best to demonstrate your withering contempt of their output at the end-of-year shows.
Buy a beret and duffle coat and become a retro beat poet, declaiming the inadequacies of current student work in the Hermits. You may have to do it in blank verse.
Or add a coda to the party with a small anonymous note pointing out that if they have another before June you will torch their house and all within it. It might spark a little consideration.
An oldster’s trick…
1/ Wait ’till they’ve gone to sleep in the morning
2/ Turn-up your Tony Blackburn radio station up to 11
3/ Point your speakers at them
4/ Then go out for the day
@dagmar: totally sympathise about disturbed night sleep. we live next door to mr & mrs crabtree (see also: southpark) & their growing number of children (five at last count i think!). we have constant uninterruptable noise day in day out, which mostly consists of (lock caps): ‘you effing moron!’ ‘now!’ ‘shut up!’ ‘come!’ ‘go!’ ‘don’t!’ ‘eat your dinner now!’ ‘shut up i’m watching this!’ etc ad nauseam. fortunately they tend to collapse about 11pm as those voicecords need regenerating.
THE 5 POSH ART PRINCES NEXT DOOR ARE THE KINGS OF SE5, YES, BUT THEY CAN’T CONTROL THE PEOPLE THEY BRING TO THEIR BASEMENT CLUB IN THE EARLY HOURS OF THE MORNING.
THEY ARE OK DJS YES — WE HEAR IT — THEIR DJ GEAR IS TOP — BUT THEY PUMP THEIR PROFESSIONAL WATTAGE INTO MY 6 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER’S BEDROOM. FORTUNATELY HER 3 YEAR OLD SISTER IS UPSTAIRS WITH HER TOTALLY USELESS DAD. BUT I AM AWAKE ALL NIGHT AND CONCERNED.
If we complain, their club will close, so we will face reprisals. Not so much from them but from their clients and their suppliers.
My Danish dad used to tell me that anything elite or class one is bad and the fascists proved him right. It took loads of you gormless British to die like pigs to put it right.
I am annoyed, forgive me.
We would move but it is hard to sell a place next to a posh class one gentlemen’s club.
University of the Arts can’t do anything, council can’t do anything, their parents love it and drive Audis. Even their friends drive Audis.
We are, the Dagmars, in a word, in big trouble and extremely stressed, distressed and deep in the shit.
However, we have been in this situation before in London. And the police, whatever the posh people say, are
EXCELLENT.
I was under the impression that anyone concerned with noise pollution would be able to get a decibel recorder from the noise pollution department at the council. Have you asked?
From previous experience of annoying neighbours a diary of the annoyances and unsocial behaviour is always helpful. Sometimes helps to let the annoyers know this as well.
I am obviously getting middle aged and find that the younger and posher the adult, the dumber they get and less understanding of others and the world they get. My younger sisters and their friends, who have all just left uni are, as their dad says, the thickest bright people he knows. A friend of one of them, an Oxford graduate no less, asked in all seriousness “The channel tunnel? Is that a bridge then?”. My dear sister Hannah, has been complaining that her bike doesn’t work. Apparently it was really difficult to go uphill. When my stepdad asked if the gears (all 21 of those big coggy things on the bike) worked ok, she said “What gears?”.
I despair, I really do.
Dagmar — Is the posh art students club licensed — if not complain to the police and the council and they can get them shut down on health and safety grounds.
If it is licensed complain to the council anyway you can force a license review and you can remain anonymous.
If it’s just kids playing loud music in a domestic house you can complain to the environmental health and they can seize their audio equipment.
Why do you think the Council can’t do anything? On the basis of the one time I called them, the noise team are very good.
Have you seen this article?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6306615.ece