Dinner at Clapham Junction(A Nostalgic Multi-Racial Gathering).

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Dinner at Clapham Junction (A Nostalgic Multi-Racial Gathering).

Last Thursday evening (4^th of November) a group of us, all boyhood friends , gathered for dinner at the Gourmet Cafe , Lavender Hill, near Clapham Junction. It was a meeting which had been a nightmare to arrange.

One of our group, B, a manager of a betting shop, had won a substantial amount of money by betting on Obama to become President of the U.S.A. He decided to use his substantial winnings by treating his mates to a dinner at the Gourmet Cafe, a lovely “eat-as- much-as-you-like “ establishment which is based in what used to be a bank. It is a stone's throw away from Clapham Junction Station, almost directly opposite Asda.

The evening was almost inevitably going to be a boisterous and jolly affair, what with there being 9 adults, some of whom had not seen each other for over 30 years. There was an awful lot of catching-up to do, anecdotes to swap, tales to tell...

One thing stood out -- one noticed how diverse our group was---one of Chinese/ South African origin, one of West African descent, one of Afro-Caribbean parenthood, one of Northern Irish background, two of Indian/East-African stock, one Anglo-Italian, one whose parents were Greek, and one full-blooded Englishman( married to a lady from Mexico)...It was a heart-warming dinner which would not have been out of place in the cafeteria of the United Nations Building!!!..Well, perhaps without the raucous laughter, and the puerile humour....

The Gourmet Cafe concept is a great one, and it seems to be a bustling, thriving place. Throughout our couple of hours there, we saw a constant coming and going of customers---a popular buffet with fresh food will always attract custom if it is in a good location, and the price is right. At this restaurant, you can fill yourself up for £6.90. Drinks are extra.

We then left for a nearby pub for even more chat and banter, and a few drinks. Fortunately, we had taken the precaution of eating well beforehand, thereby reducing the

possibility of suffering a hangover the following day...I felt sorry for those who had to turn up for work in the morning----after all, some of these guys were in fairly senior positions of great responsibility....

The bar staff kicked everybody out at eleven thirty ---far too early for a major city like London, but perhaps it is not economically viable for them to open beyond that time on a Thursday night.

We all felt a warm glow of brotherly love as we walked down to Clapham Junction, some to catch trains to Surrey and Sussex, others to catch buses to West and North London, and yet others only had to walk round the corner to go home.

This is the area around which we all grew up. Our school, Spencer Park, a stone's throw away, has long been defunct—closed because of a drop in the birth-rate—even the Chapel is now a French restaurant...

There were fraternal hugs all round, with all of us vowing to repeat the experience soon....I jumped on the bus feeling a warm glow, a reminder of a balmy past, a relatively- innocent time when we were teenagers growing up around Clapham Junction.

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Food for The Soul in Holloway.

Food for the soul in Holloway


Finding somewhere to eat in London can present a major problem for the unwary visitor---there is an embarrassment of riches from which to choose. Anyone wandering down any of the main streets in the centre of town will be faced with the usual array of multinational fast-food brand outlets, as well as smaller outlets specialising in a wide variety of foods of the different ethnic groups which have estalished themselves here.
In general, you will find at least one "Indian" and one Chinese restaurant in every locality. Most of them offer a home delivery service at night. While the Chinese restaurants sometimes vary slightly in what they offer, being from different regions, the "Indian" restaurants are overwhelmingly owned by people from the Sylhet region of Bangladesh.
All ( or most) ethnic restaurants have a reputation for cheapness, and recently this has begun to cause problems for their owners. The pressure to keep prices down has meant that these restaurant are finding it hard to recruit and keep staff, considering the low wages which they can afford to pay.
As a consequence, the quality of the food varies from place to place.
One area which is bursting with eating places is Holloway. The area boasts everything from Ethiopian to Korean restaurants. Three of my favourites are located around the Holloway Road-Seven Sisters Road area.
If you come out of the Caledonian Road Underground Station, jump on a bus going towards the Seven Sisters Road (ask the driver), or walk the 10 minutes or so. Cross the Seven Sisters Road, and walk North. A few yards up the road, you will encounter The "Amazon Cafe. " Over here you can have a good, home-made meal lovingly-prepared by the women-only staff. I have only ever had a late breakfast here, but I can assure you that it is marvellous. Everything is freshly-prepared, and it shows...
A little further up the same side of the road you will encounter the Crystal Kebab House. This is a legendary little cafe with good food, and low prices. After early evening, there is always a queue to be served---the high turnover of customers means that customers are assured of fresh Turkish food.
Come back to the Seven Sisters Road , and take the bus 91. Get off at the second stop as it turns into Hornsey Road. Two or three doors away from "The Plough " pub, you will see "Mr.Cee,s ", a very good-value Caribbean Restaurant. Delicious Jamaican specialities await you in this friendly family-run establishment. Their Curried Goat with Rice and Peas is heavenly!!!
After filling up at any of these three restaurants, you can get on the bus 91 back to Trafalgar Square, or continue to enjoy yourself in the Holloway area. Bon appetit!