Picture of Oasis Cafe, CR7 7ES

Oasis Cafe, CR7 7ES

  • 106 Bensham Lane, CR7 7ES

Oasis Cafe was a British and Caribbean cafe in Thornton Heath. According to Google Street View, it closed down by May 2019 and was replaced by a Caribbean cafe called Life Food Hut (or possibly LifeFood Hut).

The information below is retained for historical purposes.

British and Caribbean cafe in Thornton Heath.

It's quite small, seating just 10 people at wood-effect formica-topped tables. The floor is grey tiles and the walls a combination of cream above and cheerful turquoise below. There's an open kitchen at the back, behind a glass counter displaying pre-cooked foods such as peppered prawns, fried chicken, and callaloo. Condiments including ketchup and chilli sauce sit in plastic baskets on the tables.

Kake visited on a Tuesday morning in October 2017. I was the only eat-in customer at 10:30am, but several others came in for takeaway while I was there. A Christian talk show was playing on a flatscreen when I arrived, with the sound on. They later put on a CD of Christian music, quite loud (they asked me if it was too loud, though, and I got the impression they'd have happily turned it down if I'd said yes). Service was friendly and welcoming.

They have a British and a West Indian menu, both including breakfast options, and I chose a West Indian breakfast consisting of fried egg, fried dumpling, ackee with saltfish, fried plantain, and baked beans (£6) photo. Tea (90p) came in a large mug with the teabag left in.

The egg was offered as well-done or sunny-side-up, and I chose the latter; it came with a very nicely crispy white and a fully-set centre, though was a little greasy. The plantain was also a little greasy, but fine aside from that. The ackee with saltfish was quite salty, but this worked well in context. Unfortunately the dumpling was over-microwaved and very hard. The baked beans were great, cooked with onions, scotch bonnets, and red and green peppers for extra flavour and texture.

Accessibility: A step to get in. No obvious customer toilet.

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Last visited by Kake, October 2017.
Last edited 2022-01-09 17:59:42 (version 2; diff). List all versions.