The Electric Cafe

The Best Old-School Caffs in South London | Eater London

"The Electric Cafe is south London’s best caff. It’s so old that its name evokes a time when electricity was a novelty, something worth showing off. The place is a sepia photograph, which provides a glimpse into a forgotten interwar Britain, where we ate out in simple dining rooms, with handwritten menus, creaky wooden chairs and W. M. Still & Son water boilers. The Tsoukkas family has been running The Electric Cafe since the 1970s and like Knight’s Fish Bar nearby, another remnant of south London’s Greek Cypriot community, the hand-cut chips here are simultaneously soft, fatty, and crunchy. There’s an elegance to the fry-ups too — a rarity in caffs — proving that there can be lightness and refinement in bubble and squeak. For lunchtime visitors, it’s worth trying the gammon, a delicious bacon frisbee which goes perfectly with a pile of green peas and golden potato shards. Stav personally recommends the pies." - Isaac Rangaswami