Peter de Wits Breakfast/Lunch
Something that always puzzles me about Sundays in Greenwich is that while the market and surrounding shops, the park and - well - practically everywhere else in the town is heaving, Peter de Wits is nearly always virtually empty whenever I walk in for brunch.
Maybe the tourists just walk past - it's small and perhaps unexciting-looking from the front and perhaps the (very slightly - we're not talking Las Vegas here) flashier-from-the-front-but-a-bad-idea-once-you-get-inside sandwich shop next door looks more inviting. PdW's, after all, has plain white walls and simple-looking tables where the sandwich shop has cakes in the window (don't bother trying them - they promise an AWFUL lot more than they deliver) but this is one case where looks alone are deceiving.
I have always had a soft spot for Peter de Wits anyway. Any cafe that's only got about eight tables that still manages to present live jazz two nights a week (and not just local music students - proper names) deserves a bit of respect. But I actually enjoy their food. It's a simple menu, that doesn't try to overstep the size of the kitchen - on Sunday I had a slice of the special quiche - all home-made and very enjoyable and the very fact that the tourists seem to pass the place by often means I can take my paper in there and enjoy a cup of coffee and a simple lunch virtually undisturbed. The staff are always friendly (as opposed to next door) and the prices, though not bog-low, are fair.
It's particularly lovely in the summer, when they open up the back and there are a couple of ancient tables surrounded by pots of whippy greenery next to the loos (much nicer than it sounds.) I am always slightly surprised when I can get a seat out there as it's such a sweet little secret corner in the very centre of town, but I've never been disappointed yet. Just the place to dissect a Sunday paper and its never-ending supplements...
Peter deWits has undecipherable opening hours. I often try to go there and it's shut. I have to make do with the Organic Cafe opposite which is nice enough, and reliable, but not as fun as PdW (try reading the paper next to the loos there you won't be popular - there's often a queue and it's next door to the kiddies' play area...) You just have to accept that PdW's seems to open on a whim and enjoy it when you strike lucky...
Maybe the tourists just walk past - it's small and perhaps unexciting-looking from the front and perhaps the (very slightly - we're not talking Las Vegas here) flashier-from-the-front-but-a-bad-idea-once-you-get-inside sandwich shop next door looks more inviting. PdW's, after all, has plain white walls and simple-looking tables where the sandwich shop has cakes in the window (don't bother trying them - they promise an AWFUL lot more than they deliver) but this is one case where looks alone are deceiving.
I have always had a soft spot for Peter de Wits anyway. Any cafe that's only got about eight tables that still manages to present live jazz two nights a week (and not just local music students - proper names) deserves a bit of respect. But I actually enjoy their food. It's a simple menu, that doesn't try to overstep the size of the kitchen - on Sunday I had a slice of the special quiche - all home-made and very enjoyable and the very fact that the tourists seem to pass the place by often means I can take my paper in there and enjoy a cup of coffee and a simple lunch virtually undisturbed. The staff are always friendly (as opposed to next door) and the prices, though not bog-low, are fair.
It's particularly lovely in the summer, when they open up the back and there are a couple of ancient tables surrounded by pots of whippy greenery next to the loos (much nicer than it sounds.) I am always slightly surprised when I can get a seat out there as it's such a sweet little secret corner in the very centre of town, but I've never been disappointed yet. Just the place to dissect a Sunday paper and its never-ending supplements...
Peter deWits has undecipherable opening hours. I often try to go there and it's shut. I have to make do with the Organic Cafe opposite which is nice enough, and reliable, but not as fun as PdW (try reading the paper next to the loos there you won't be popular - there's often a queue and it's next door to the kiddies' play area...) You just have to accept that PdW's seems to open on a whim and enjoy it when you strike lucky...
Labels: Cafes, Eating Out, Secret Greenwich
posted by The Greenwich Phantom at
08:35
6 Comments:
Us locals should get in there and spend some money otherwise they will not survive. The owners were telling us how the council were trying to get them out so do yourselves a favour and as well as coffee and brunch try Friday and Saturday night jazz as well as it's the most amazing venue for live music.
While Jazz is not my thing, I can certainly confirm the reccomendation for Brunch. The staff were friendly and the service was good. A nice hide-away spot that I probably wouldn't have tried without the reccomendation. Thanks.
I found this link to their opening hours -
http://www.peterdewitscafe.co.uk/Peterdewitscafe/Hours.html
No wonder it's been puzzling you. Closed Mondays and Thursdays? Ho hum.
I too love the place. :)
"the prices, though not bog-low, are fair."
£13 for two bacon sandwiches and a pot of tea. Fair?
We haven't been in here because frankly, it's too expensive. I understand they have rent to pay but agree with anonymous above.
Why are council closing them down though? They've just closed down the really friendly 'new' cafe at the Standard too, which was apparently 'making food on the premises' - er, there's a chinese restaurant next door?!! It was a great little place. Soon there will only be Starbucks :(
I didn't know that the council were closing them down. That would be an absolute tragedy if so. I need to find out more...
The fate of Cafe Viena is documented elsewhere in the blog, but let me summarise. Basically every shop in the country is licensed by the council to do certain things - there are different types of licence, for different uses, so that in theory at least, there aren't too many of one kind of shop in any one area. They're pretty wide-ranging - retail, food, business etc.
When a company takes over a shop and they want to do something different from what the shop used to do, they have to apply for a "change of use" agreement fromt he council. As Cafe Viena used to be a travel agents, they needed to apply to turn it into a cafe. As there are several cafes in the area already it would have been touch and go as to whether the council would allow it, but it is in everyone's intrest to keep diversity. The council asked Cafe Viena to submit an application and gave them a long while to do it in. They didn't do it, so they were closed down. I confess that however nice their coffee may have been I don't weep for them - filling in a form would have given them the opportunity to be legitimate - and what with all the various appeals if the council had refused it, they could have gone on for years if they really wanted. Or they could have taken a shop that was an ex cafe and not bothered to submit a request.
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