S And M Cafe, E1 6AG
- 48 Brushfield Street
- sandmcafe.co.uk
S&M was a café/restaurant on Brushfield Street in Spitalfields. It used to be part of a small chain, but by late 2011 this was the only branch left, and even this one eventually closed for good in early 2012. As of April 2012, Caterersearch reports that the Pho restaurant chain has taken over the site and will be opening there in late June.
The information below is retained for people who want to know what it used to be like as S&M.
The S&M Cafe offers sausages and mash — no spanking by goths, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your outlook. It's a nice little restaurant decorated 50s diner style with bright red checked plastic tablecloths and the atmosphere is relaxed. There is a room upstairs which can be booked for a large party.
Bec says: Starters and mains are traditional, but most people go for the S&M mix and match for £8.25 — that is, you pick out 3 sausages (loads of different ones including vegetarian) from the menu or the sausages of the week menu, a mash, a gravy, and a veg. I had three veggie sausages — spinach & mature cheddar, glamorgan, and another one I can't remember because it was a few months ago and the menu has changed — but all were gorgeous and I was pleased that the glamorgan featured on the sausage of the week menu. I had spring onion & herb mash, onion gravy, and mushy peas and it was fantastic.
I really want to go again for breakfast sometime, because I love my veggie soss and that is the one thing that I crave when having a fryup and that is most likely not to be on little greasy spoons' menus. I don't know the vegan-ness of the sausages, obviously cheesy sausages are not!
Sam says: The "Traditional London" sausages are also delicious, and just what they say — perfect sausages made of sausage and nothing else. My companion says that the wild boar sausages were also very good indeed, dense and meaty and delicious. The cauliflower cheese was nicely al dente, with very good sauce. However, the bubble and squeak (one of the mash options) was a definite disappointment. What we actually got was mashed potatoes with green peas mixed in, which is not something I'd ever heard described as 'bubble and squeak' before. The blueberry crumble was also good, but incredibly sugary.
The menu is available as a PDF on their website.
See also: