Picture of Roome, SE24 9JU

Roome, SE24 9JU

Cafe in Herne Hill.

It's small but smart and clean, seating 14 people on a combination of tartan-upholstered banquette and metal hoop-backed chairs, plus another half-dozen on high chairs flanking a counter. The floor is wooden boards, and tables are small but sturdy slabs of wood. Walls are a mix of exposed brickwork and cheerful turquoise paint. Lighting is provided by several dozen small lightbulbs with ceramic shades shaped like inverted mugs, hanging from the ceiling on long looped cords.

A glass service counter to one side holds cakes, sweet bakes, and pastries, with jars of Birchall tea pyramids displayed on top. Paper sacks of Monmouth coffee beans line the shelves behind.

Kake visited on a Monday morning in December 2017. There were already two other customers when I arrived around 8:15am, and several more turned up while I was there, both for sit-in and for takeaway. By 9:30am it was actually almost full. No music was playing.

Egg mayonnaise and smoked salmon on toast (£5) photo was pretty good. The eggs were cut into decent-sized pieces, seasoned well with fresh ground black pepper, and not swamped with mayonnaise. The salmon wasn't too salty, and there was a good quantity of it. The bread was sliced fairly thinly, but was good quality with a decent chew. Unfortunately the salad leaves on the side were a little past their best.

A pot of tea (£2.20) was a generous size, and the tea itself was fine, but the cup was one of those annoying trendy ones with a handle too small to get your fingers through.

No service charge was added to the bill, but there was a tip jar by the till.

They have WiFi, with the network name and password on a board on the wall.

Child-friendliness: They have at least one high chair (IKEA Antilop with a tray). There were several children in on our visit, ranging in age from babies in prams to a schoolchild enjoying a babyccino.

Accessibility: A step to get in. Toilets are in the back yard, and require going outside and up four steps with no handrail.

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Last visited by Kake, December 2017.
OS X co-ord: 532118 OS Y co-ord: 174381 (Latitude: 51.453005 Longitude: -0.099930)
Last edited 2023-09-05 13:51:20 (version 2; diff). List all versions.