South London Louie

Unreliable - no brunch was available on the Sunday morning we went - lovely otherwise.

It's my favourite café in the area, my safe place if I have a bad day. The occasional hardstyle makes a horrible atmosphere, but usually the acoustics are totally fine. Could use one or more vegan baked goods, I do find the banana bread a little overpriced at £5 a slice. Coffee is great though, staff is nice, lovely interior. (Edit as response: Hardstyle as in the techno genre. I could hear the bass through my ear plugs AND noise cancelling headphones).

There’s a problem with mice. I’ve seen them on quite a few occasions running back and forth outside by the kitchen door and it’s pretty concerning given contamination of people’s food. Is it not possible to put a screen door at the back of the kitchen if it has to stay open? Gotta think about health and safety here

Lovely café, great coffee but £9 for tomato toast still feels off South London Louie is a beautiful spot. Great coffee (Redemption Roasters), friendly team, and a relaxed setting inside the gallery. I ordered the tomato toast: one slice of sourdough, a few tomato slices, a thin layer of tapenade, and a garnish. No sides, no extras. It looked good but felt very minimal. This wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction. I gave it some thought and posted a review that questioned the value. The café responded with a detailed breakdown of their costs and asked me to update it which I’m doing here. To their credit, they use good ingredients, bake their own sourdough, pay the London Living Wage, and after VAT and overheads, make around £1.95 profit on the dish. My own estimate was about £2 in total cost, so we weren’t far off. The ingredients were very good, and the dish tasted great. But it’s still hard to see past paying £9 for a single slice of toast with tomatoes. The portion is modest, and the value just doesn’t quite land. I’d happily return for the coffee and the atmosphere. But I’ll be more selective next time about what I order.