Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Brockley Mess - new cafe opened today on Brockley Road

I'm writing this from inside Brockley Mess - the new cafe that has opened today on Brockley Road, in what used to be Moonbow Jakes. I'm really impressed with what they've done with the place - it used to be rather dark and dingy (which suited Moonbows, as it was more of an evening, live music kind of place), but now it's all light and airy, with great colourful tiles and wallpaper, and some huge old black and white photos on the wall (one is of Brockley County School, what is now Prendergast Hilly Fields and the other is of South East London Technical College - Lewisham College as now is).

Brockley Mess is run by the people behind Royal Teas in Greenwich and there is definitely more of an emphasis on food and the day time trade than Moonbows (they're currently only planning to open until 7pm, but might open later at the weekend if demand is there). There are not one but SIX types of cake, all baked on the premises, including a delicious gluten-free and vegan orange one which I tried. They also do a wide range of all day breakfasts, platters to share and even cream teas!

Oh and they have wi-fi (hence I'm writing this now).

I don't normally do quite such shameless plugs for businesses on this blog, but when Moonbows closed it left a gaping hole on this stretch of Brockley Road so I'm really delighted that we've now got a worthy replacement and I wish Brockley Mess every success.

PS: A big thank you to Lewisham town centre manager Liz Bannister who I believe played a role in this all happening.
PPS:It also looks like something will be opening soon in the former Brockley Kitchen site, which will hopefully be one less empty shop a bit further up the road too.

4 comments:

bob said...

This is very exciting. Altho I will always miss Moonbows, the Mess looks set to fill that gap well.

HannahB said...

Hurrah hurrah hurrah! GREAT REVIEW-cant wait to check it out

Unknown said...

Shame that the staff are so rude. And chaotic. But mainly rude, with more attitude than they've any right to display after one week of chaotic service.

Anonymous said...

They've been very friendly and polite on the two occasions I've been in there so far, so hopefully your experience was an exception.