River Cafe
1 Station Approach
Fulham (changed from Putney by popular demand)
SW6
by Blake Pudding
After years of denigrating South West London as a place populated by Henrys, Carolines or, worse still, Antipodeans, I have decided to embrace my inner Sloane. Perhaps it is my relationship with a young Putney lady or perhaps it is my advancing years but leafy, clean Putney is such a relief after “edgy” Whitechapel. I love being able to go out for a drink and not have people sneering at my shoes.
Alice suggested a trip to the famous River Café opposite Putney Bridge station (not to be confused with the Hammersmith restaurant that sells Italian peasant food to millionaire architects). Lovers of old cafes or just lovers in general will find much to admire here, including original tiling, mirrors, immaculate Formica and friendly bunch of Italians providing the service. One thing they won’t admire, however, is the food. I know this is a “classic caff”, so I am not expecting organic sausages or free range eggs, but when you order ham, egg and chips you expect a hearty piece of gammon, not that wafer thin stuff made from reformed pork product. I asked Alice what she thought of her sausage, she muttered that it looked “scary” and indeed it did. It looked like they had bought the worst sausage ever, deep-fried it twice, dropped it down the back of the fridge, fished it out a month later, reheated and then served it. It would be nice to assume that they were having an off day but food this bad suggests something rotten at the heart of this establishment.
6 comments:
I've had some very good meals here, but then I'm not daft enough to order ham for breakfast - try the bacon next time. You might also like to know you were in Fulham, not Putney - that big bit of water in between them is called the Thames.
Ordering ham for breakfast daft? I think anonymous's grasp of breakfast traditions is as shaky as his grasp of humour or indeed my grasp of geography.
I've also had some superb meals here. Lovely interior, great staff and a fry-up to die for on those mornings after. It's worth a revisit. All the other cafe blogs love the place.
I love this place! great for a hearty breakfast which doesn't break the bank and the service is amazing, no where as friendly and amicable in london.
A put down of SW6 as Sloanie followed by the sort of pretentious drivel only a Hooray would find intelligible!
This is a great cafe.
Hmmm... when you go to a *real* greasy cafe, expecting named (or even sometimes just identifiable) meat in the sausages is a bit lah-di-dah.
Don't let the review put you off: I've had many great breakfasts at the River Cafe: great people, always a welcome, and the food has always been fine.
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