Please note, Café Viva has now closed. Time Out Food editors, March 2019.
When Café Viva popped up amid the jerk chicken outlets and market stalls just off Rye Lane, it brought a tiny corner of calm to this end of Choumert Road. It’s an unpretentious little unit – white walls, poured concrete floor and exposed brick – but it has already gained a reputation for the best coffee in the area (roasted by Volcano in nearby West Norwood).
The rest of the food’s rather good too – courgette and pea frittata served with a crisp baby-leaf salad, say, freshly made smoothies and sandwiches, or a moist banana cake (excitingly allowable as a breakfast item, with an option of greek yoghurt on the side) – all served on retro mismatched crockery.
It’s a handy caffeine stop for the loyal following of commuters en route to Peckham Rye station, but when the rush is past, the bare interior is a welcoming home to Bellenden Road types reading Merleau-Ponty or discussing forthcoming art pop-ups.