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WHAT I MEAN TO BLOG
Musings on being a Self-employed EDITor and Proofreader

London Café Reviews: Café G

15/8/2016

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Name:
Café G Artisan Kitchen & Coffee House
 
Date & Hours Visited:
Monday, 8 August 2016, 3.30-4.45pm

Free Wi-Fi?
Yes, with no password required
 
How Busy?
Fairly busy. Most of the tables outside were full, but the café is quite spacious and there were half a dozen free tables inside.
 
Staff Attitudes:
Friendly, although my needs were few and my interaction with them was pretty minimal.

Noise Level:
I sat near the back, and there was a Gymboree kids' play group in an adjoining room that I could hear clearly for about half an hour. After that one of the staff turned on the radio. First two songs: Karma Police by Radiohead and Island in the Sun by Weezer, which I enjoyed but found distracting. The café patrons were pretty quiet, give or take the occasional baby crying.

Seating:
Wooden-top tables and plastic chairs or booths. I sat on a booth seat that was very comfortable. The table was just big enough for my laptop, tea and snack.

Food/Drink Price:
Fairly pricey for my money, although competitive for East Dulwich: A large yogurt-topped raspberry flapjack was £2.75, and a pot of Earl Grey tea was £2.15.

Food/Drink Quality & Selection:
The flapjack was very sweet, probably too sweet for some peoples' tastes, but I loved it. The tea was a little on the bitter side for me, which I often find with Earl Grey in coffee shops, but still just about drinkable and passes the Starbucks test (Ugh, Starbucks Earl Grey is the worst.) The café has a good selection of breads, cakes, coffee, tea, milkshakes and smoothies, although the menu info is on a few different chalkboards on the walls around the cash area and it's a little hard to see all the options.

Would I Work Here Again?
Probably not, although I may occasionally drop by for a cake with one of my friends who has kids.
 
Overall Ranking:
 5/10

And another thing…
G Café sits comfortably in a niche of child-friendly cafés, which is a smart move in Yummy Mummy central. One of East Dulwich's defining features is its abundance of affluent (and predominantly white) young families, and on weekdays the streets, pubs and shops are full of moms with prams.

This café is exactly what they're after. Moms with cash won't bat an eyelash at a £2.15 price tag for a pot of tea, their babies can exhibit normal baby behaviour without drawing tsk-tsks and head shakes, and their strollers can easily navigate the wide spaces between tables. I willingly surrender the place to them and will choose to work elsewhere.
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London Café Reviews: The Great Exhibition

5/8/2016

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Name:
The Great Exhibition
 
Date & Hours Visited:
Tuesday, 12 July 2016, 12.15-2pm

Free Wi-Fi?
Yes
 
How Busy?
On a weekday at lunchtime it was very quiet, with only a handful of customers.
 
Staff Attitudes:
Pleasant, but not overly friendly. They had no problem with me working there.

Noise Level:
The music on the radio was somewhat distracting, but at least the tunes were good and it didn't stop me from getting my work done.

Seating:
Wooden tables and chairs that were comfortable to sit at for a couple of hours. Not enough room for my laptop and a plate of food on the table at the same time, so work paused while I ate.

Food/Drink Price:
Weekday lunch sandwiches £6 each; main menu is more varied and more expensive.

Food/Drink Quality & Selection:
Small selection of sanwiches at the £6 price during lunch hours, including a couple of vegetarian options. I had a smoked salmon and red onion baguette with (too much) mustard and a ginger beer.

Would I Work Here Again?
Nothing in particular is drawing me back, but I might give it another shot.
 
Overall Ranking:
 6/10

And another thing…
I like food. I don’t like coffee. One of the unique features of these reviews that I forgot to mention in my intro post is that I’ll have quite a lot to say about food, tea and other drinks, and nothing at all to say about coffee. Sorry, java snobs.

I also like choice. A limited menu with only one or two options that interest me is fine for a one-off but isn’t enough to keep me coming back again and again, especially with so many pubs and restaurants in the area to choose from. I'm not the type to visit the same café every day and order 'the usual' each time, and while I might have my favourite places and dishes I get bored without variety.

I understand The Great Exhibition’s strategy in making the sandwich menu limited so that customers will look to the bigger (and pricier) main menu for more options, but if nothing on the cheaper menu tempts me I'd honestly rather go home and make my own sandwich. And even in a trendy part of London where I'm not likely to find a cheaper sandwich, I don't think £6 for a ‘lunch specials’ baguette or bloomer is anything to write home about.
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​A Café of One’s Own: An introduction to my London café reviews

3/8/2016

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Café working is by no means a new idea. Ever since Starbucks resigned itself to Mac-toting hipsters nursing a chai latte and sponging free Wi-Fi for five hours, people have been flocking to cafés for an escape from office life.
 
By now everyone from the Huffington Post and Time Out to the Telegraph and the Guardian has waxed poetic about the joys of working in London cafés, restaurants and bars; so what fresh new insights can I bring to the conversation? Well, despite now feeling like I’m about to defend a PhD thesis, I’m glad you asked!

I offer to you, dear readers:
  1. My razor-sharp wit and boundless charm. Obvs.
  2. My shoestring budget. As someone who’s just starting out as a freelancer and who’s naturally thrifty I’ll be looking for affordable spaces and good value for money.
  3. My focus on southeast London. Although I will happily review places elsewhere if I find myself working in other parts of town, at least initially the majority of my posts will feature cafés in East Dulwich, Peckham Rye and Camberwell. Lordship Lane, represent!
  4. My perspective as a freelance editor and proofreader. I’ll focus on the specific challenges of doing this type of work outside of the home in settings with food, limited table space and other people.
 
I expect the format of the reviews to change over time and before more nuanced and refined as I find my feet with all this. Feel free to comment or make suggestions on this page if there’s anything specific you’d like to see!
 
Now, time for a tea break…
Maya
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