Southwark Park Pavilion Cafe — Restaurant in London

Sadly this cafe has completely lost its sense of soul and identity. This cafe has such enormous potential but my visit earlier left me feeling very sad and extremely frustrated.

We arrived at the cafe earlier today to find that the outdoor terrace overlooking the lake had been taken over by a rap DJ playing extremely loud music through a thumping loud speaker. The music was so loud that I couldn't talk to my friend next to me without having to shout. I had planned to take friends to the cafe this morning so that they could enjoy a relaxing coffee surrounded by the serenity of lake and the beauty of the green trees and lakeside wildlife. However it soon became evident that we weren't going to be able to have a relaxing coffee that we'd hoped for. It was noticeable that a number of other customers who had planned to drink/eat in had decided to leave as they couldn't talk to each other due to the excessive noise. I felt really frustrated and quite embarrassed as I had been looking forward to going to the cafe with my friends. We quickly made a decision to go for coffee elsewhere. The loud music was audible as far away as the park Kings Stairs Gardens.

Don't get me wrong, I am all for giving musicians, artists and creatives a platform to showcase their music and creativity and showing talents to a wider audience. There are many venues in London which would be far more suitable for this type of event but a calm lakeside cafe in a park is certainly not an appropriate venue for extremely loud music. This is a beautiful public park where people go to enjoy nature and its tranquility as well as to escape the hecticness of the London urban bustle.

I am extremely disappointed by my experience at the cafe today. The event wasn't advertised online and members of the public hadn't been given any prior warning. It would be so sad and extremely disappointing if this were to...

Southwark Park Pavilion Café is the sort of place that looks like it should be in a lifestyle magazine. It has that bright, airy charm, the smell of freshly brewed coffee in the air and a menu that makes you feel very smug about your life choices. I ordered a BLT, fries and a coffee, fully expecting to be transported into café bliss. The BLT delivered – crispy bacon, fresh lettuce, juicy tomato and bread that was clearly baked by someone who cares. Then came the coffee and fries, which, bless them, clearly missed the memo about being served hot. The coffee was more like a polite handshake than a warm hug, and the fries had that “I once knew heat, many moons ago” vibe. I half expected David Attenborough to narrate their journey from fryer to plate, describing their gradual cooling in their natural habitat.

Still, the staff are lovely, the setting in the park is perfect, and it’s a great place to people-watch while convincing yourself you’re only here for a quick drink before “going for a brisk walk” (spoiler: you’re not). If they could just persuade the hot items to actually stay hot, this could easily be one of the best park...

🚩 🚩 🚩 Food hygiene standards red flag alert 🚩 🚩 🚩 Compelled to write a review after eating a tuna mayo panini at the Pavilion cafe today that caused stomach upset the minute it hit my stomach and am still in much discomfort after over 2 hours. I left without complaining as was optimistic it could be mild indigestion that would pass quite soon. (Note- I don't suffer from indigestion usually but do have a very sensitive stomach when it comes to food that's gone off...)

Called the gallery next doors once home to alert the cafe staff as there's no phone contact listed for the cafe here on Google!

Had I bothered to write a review before today it would've read as-

Beautiful setting but the coffee is sadly always very disappointing (I've tried it 3 or 4 times over the last year). Had once a jacket potato that was reasonably priced and of the (bog) standard one expects going by the quality (and taste) of the coffee on offer. But recently the prices on the menu have shot up, making the quality of food available not very good value...