The London Particular, New Cross

399 New Cross Road

SE14 6LA

The London Particular is a new café in New Cross. It opened earlier this month with a concept custom-made for South East London: The ‘Bowl Food’ menu combines egalitarian principles with aspirational quality to create something unique to the area.

Its founder Becky, a South East London local, did what many of us do, which is wander around wondering why there are so few alternatives to kebab shops and greasy spoons. So she decided to create London Particular.

She told us:

I’ve been working as a chef for seven years and it had always been my dream to open my own place. I’ve always liked the area and New Cross and Deptford have a real buzz about them at the moment. The return of the East London Line is also a big help.

The opportunity to take on these premises arose and I grabbed it. The whole thing happened quicker than I expected actually, but I’m pleased to say that the response in the first two weeks since we opened has been great. We’re busier than I’d anticipated and local people have been really lovely. During the summer, there are fewer students around, so most of our customers have been young professionals so far.

The “bowl food” concept is based on the fact that I wanted to keep the menu simple and focus on getting the best possible ingredients. But actually, when we first opened, we were selling coffee and cakes. Coffee’s a big part of what we do, we source our coffee from Higgins Coffee Suppliers and have created our own blend, which is nice and subtle. Ross from Browns of Brockley was a big help as we were setting up.

Some of our most popular dishes include brioche pizzas and the ‘Banger Sanga’, inspired by an Aussie on the team. Our home made brunches are going down well too – both the streaky bacon and the veggie varieties.

The plan next is to start opening on Sundays and longer term to increase the seating capacity inside and ideally extend the kitchen and dining areas. It’s a very exciting time.

Read a review by local foodie blogger Hollowlegs here.