Regency Cafe

ColmMcMullan

17th November 2009

0 found this helpful

The authentic London cafe, if you only ever go to one make it this one.

The set breakfast on a Saturday morning is a great start to the weekend and the booming voice shouting out when your order is ready really is something to be experienced - just make sure you're ready when it's your order that's called :)

Good service, good food. There are cheaper alternatives nearby (see XLNT: http://trustedplaces.com/review/uk/london/cafe/1a72m7w/x-l-n-t) but the Regency has great personality and is a must visit.

thamshere

The Regency Cafe 6th November 2008

2 found this helpful

This wonderful cafe is a rare find indeed. A real old-school cafe with fantastic decor and the best in traditional greasy-spoon food. Mushy peas, chips, eggs on toast, shepherds pie, gammon - you can't go wrong really.

Lunchtimes are overseen by the amazing lady behind the counter. Queue in line to place an order, then grab a seat when you can (or get your mates to hold one for you!). When your food's ready, her voice booms out from behind the counter so loud that you wonder where the megaphone is. "Two eggs, chips and beans! Sausage and chips! Special & rice!" It's amazing to see that voice come out of such a small woman and especially surprising when you come to talk to her and find that she's so lovely to boot.

Prices are good, service is good, atmosphere is amazing, food is exactly what you'd expect.

It gets pretty busy at lunch time so you might be in for a bit of a wait and orders arrive at random - it's not rare for one member of a party to have licked the plate clean before another's dish arrives. Despite that, I have never been to a better cafe!

walid at 06/11/08

Would be great if you could catch a quick video clip of that lovely lady with a megaphonic voice ;-)

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Litro_K

The Prince of Cafes 11th December 2007

7 found this helpful

I used to work just around the corner from The Regency Café, and I miss it terribly. It's the kind of place I would now get up early on a precious Saturday morning to go and visit, that's how great it is.

But lunchtime is when this place really comes into its own. By 1pm every weekday, it's a steamy, buzzing place, stuffed full of an unusual cross-section of people: cabbies make up its staple trade, but they usually pop in a bit earlier along with local builders, to avoid the rush of Westminster suits, Civil Servants, and Channel Four workers.

The food here does exactly what is says on the tin. Hearty, stodgy mains courses are always plentiful, and the special changes every day. The most common orders are for eggs, beans, sausages, and their legendary chips- huge yet somehow light golden bites of fluffy goodness. The scampi and the chicken fillet burgers are some of my other favourites. Scampi salad is a real pleasure- a chunky, basic salad topped off with refreshingly unhealthy fried morsels. My only criticism is that they’re still stuck in postwar school-dinners era as far as their peas are concerned- they use those sludgy khaki-coloured tinned processed ones.

But the most memorable thing about this place is the sheer volume at which the owner/ proprietor, Marco “The Voice” Schiavetti, bellows out the orders to customers as the dishes arrive piping hot from the kitchen. You’re expected to be on the ball and remember what you’ve ordered, as well as be ready to step up and collect it. If you’re female, he’s a pussycat. If you’re male, you’ll get an appreciative nod if you get to the service counter promptly.

This place has been used in all kinds of film and tv adverts and is an iconic slice of postwar London. It’s a cheap lunch and an unforgettable experience to boot! Get down there before your food goes cold.