Our destination was buying cheese at Bayley and Sage opposite, but we wanted to toilet and a place to sit down and have coffee. The Bayley and Sage shop pointed across the road to St Clements Cafe.
Unfortunately St Clements Cafe is are only open until five thirty pm. They had already closed down the coffee machine. But we bought a cake.
They let us both use their toilets, which are downstairs, and delightful. Painted white. Fresh and clean looking. With wonderful hand wash gel. I looked up Aesop hand wash. Rather pricey, at about £15 and up for 50 ml.
The seats outside are painted blue. A very pleasant spot.
Did I mention the cake? We bought orange and almond to take away, and ate it in the car. Take away food is slightly cheaper because you are not charged VAT. Cake. The aroma of oranges hits you as you open the paper packet. Orange zest. The nuts are crunchy tiny chunks. Very satisfying.
Downstairs.
Pistachio cake on the right.
Whole orange almond cake gluten free, £2.40 to eat in, £2 to take away.
We must go back. I fancied the pistachio cake. It is served with strawberries and cream. Not the ideal item to take away, somebody else said.
One can dream. Of strawberries and cream.
Want to go there? They are open for breakfast.
I asked for an address card. They didn't have one, but they gave me their loyalty card. If you have eight cups of coffee, they give you another free.
You won't necessarily be offered the card. If you are asked whether you live or work nearby, or visit the area often, your server is not expressing polite interest in you. (After I told her a summary of my life story and travels, condensed into five minutes as she brought in the chairs, I realised why she asked. She was trying to find out whether it was worthwhile handing out the loyalty card and explaining its validity. Oh, the embarrassment!
I recall my dear son telling me, "Mum, they are not your friend, they are your landlord/tenant." I imagine in the cafe he would roll his eyes and say, "She is not your friend. She is selling coffee and cake - and she wants to shut the shop and go home!" I suspect this is true, despite all those Facebook motivational pictures trying to assure you that the world is full of 'friends that you have not yet met'.
Never mind. They let me use their toilet although they were about to close. And I bought a lovely piece of cake.
St Clements Cafe
201 New Kings Road
London SW6 4SR
tel: 020 7998 8919
www.stclementscafe.co.uk
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
No comments:
Post a Comment