Poppy Cafe Rung — Restaurant in London

I am quite disappointed by the deterioration of poppy Cafe. Years ago it was owned by Dawn and the gang and the service, cleanliness and food quality was 5*.

New owners took over and standards sooon started to slip. Due to previous high standards this was to be expected for sure, so continued to visit every now and again, but not quite as frequently. The food quality was still good, and the beautiful views across the park brought me back.

Problems were slowly becoming more noticeable. Cleanliness: a place which was once immaculate, now has obvious poor hygiene. The mugs are looking quite grubby, there is staining around the rim of the mugs and the odd few fibres from tea towels left stuck to the mugs. The floor is an absolute state. I am sure that it is getting mopped, but it does not look too good. It requires a good scrub. When you pick up any of the ketchup bottles they are very sticky. They have been re-used far to many times. There is only one bottle of vinegar to share amongst everyone too.

For months there was a shortage of Sugar of all things. No sachets or containers. Just one little dish containing a few tablespoons of sugar and a teaspoon that had been well used throughout the day. The sugar situation does now seem to be resolved however. During the winter they do not put the heating on. Yeah I get that prices of energy are high and this will save money. Customers will most likely stay briefly for a cuppa etc before moving on, so why bother putting the heating on at all? Yeah I get that, but sitting there with your coat and scarf on and still freezing your bits off is not pleasant. And that brings me to today... Whilst having my regular omelette which I have loved from this place, halfway through it I come across a nice big black hair. I paused for a moment and headed towards the chips on the other side of my plate, deciding on my next move. I thought well surely a one off and I am sure it is clean. I will disguard that section of the omelette and anything directly around it and try to move on. Yes I was slightly put off, but willing to give them another chance. So I moved on to the far side of the omelette and cut it open and then a sickening sensation went through me as I found yet another hair. That was the end of any omelette eating. I navigated back over to the chips, managed to eat a few, but was rather put off and feeling a little ill.

Now what? Do I complain, wait for them to notice that my plate is half full of food still, or just leave? I moved the plate away from me and sat there for 5 minutes reading the newspaper and saw the owner glance over at me a number of times. By now he must have seen that my plate was half full of food, but he did not approach or question this. Shortly after this, it was time to escape and get some well needed fresh air. This will unfortunately be my last visit here,...

I've not rated the food as didn't get a chance to try it. Was out with my 3yo daughter in the lovely park thinking of going in to get a bite when an incredibly rude lady (not sure if she is the proprietor) started berating me loudly for parking in parallel in the car park and "occupying space for four more customers" (no matter about a quarter of parking spaces was still empty!). I calmly tried explaining that there were absolutely no parking lines painted and I only parallel parked to make it easy for the other cars to exit parking and that I was sorry for parking "wrongly". However, she kept shouting that it was not her problem that we didn't know the rules of parking (there weren't any, we checked!). So I advised her she could have said all of this nicely and left with my daughter bewildered at the whole incident.

The place may have the best food ever but I can't support a business that behaves this badly with potential customers.

P.S : I should mention there was a gentleman next to her who was understanding of the situation but not sure if he was a customer or someone...

Stunningly good Thai food to eat in or takeaway. We've eaten there several times now and every meal has been spectacular. Made to order, dietary requirements and allergies can be catered for.

For those who aren't keen on Thai food, there are also the regular café type options of sandwiches, paninis etc

Free car park, a beautiful park to look across and both indoor and outdoor seating available.

Go on, treat yourself, you won't regret it.

For opening hours it's best to check, but I believe they're open every day until 5 or 6pm...