The nursery rhyme name, the fairytale wooden cutouts on the walls, the well-stocked play area, the Thursday puppet shows… it’s clear who this café is aimed at and its loyal customer base of under-5s love it. Food is healthy and nutritious –no chicken nuggets here – but they’ll bend over backwards to accommodate children’s requirements with treats such as Nutella on toast and Ella’s Kitchen smoothie pouches. Grown-ups have a fine time too.
There are traditional cakes (carrot, lemon drizzle, jam sponge, earl grey tea loaf), a board of soups and specials, and when it says something comes ‘with salad’ (in our case a nice pea and shallot frittata) they mean five salads: potato, minty carrot, chilli courgette, couscous, houmous, plus a little dish of own-made cucumber pickle. Make it a pitstop if you are following the Green Chain Walk past One Tree Hill (an oasis in this otherwise residential area), or pick up a picnic and head for nearby Peckham Rye.