Ask any East Dulwich resident about the Thai Corner Cafe on North Cross Road and they will rave to you about it. However, as often happens, reality fails to live up to the legend.

The Venue
This tiny and brightly painted café style restaurant close to the buzz of Lordship Lane attracts the typical Dulwich Crowd of young professionals and families. The restaurant isn’t licensed and thus it’s a “bring your own” which can keep the cost down. Notably, they don’t accept any credit cards so don’t forget to visit the cash point before you go.

The service is friendly, but often scarce, making it difficult to send the food back when it is brought to your table stone cold. However, there is something rather charming about this funny little place. It is frequently packed and it’s virtually impossible to get a table on a Friday or Saturday night.

The Atmosphere
One thing the Thai Corner Café has in spades is atmosphere. The space is crammed with tables and is busy every single night of the week. Which is just as well as the room is neither well-heated nor double glazed and freezing in winter until the body heat of tightly packed patrons warms the place. The room is noisy with chatter and laughter but the tables are spaced just far enough apart to allow an adequate degree of intimacy.

The Food
The food available is, rather disappointingly, distinctly average. Starters are run-of-the-mill Thai fare starting at around £4. The shining star amongst them is the prawn toast; so often chewy and unpalatably boring, which is excellent and clearly freshly made, but may clog your arteries. Main courses come in at around £7 - £10. Portions are small and the choice is by no means overwhelming. The Beef Masaman consists of large tasteless lumps of tough beef in an admittedly delicious sauce which is well spiced and peanutty. The Pad Thai is good but won’t have you writing home. And if you want to branch out and try something different then you may be entering the gastronomic equivalent of a game of Russian Roulette; for example the Pad Keemow tastes almost entirely of soy sauce. Set meals are available from £15 but consist of an uninspiring selection of dishes. Whilst the lack of alcohol on sale keeps the total bill down, the food itself is not especially cheap and, therefore, not particularly good value given the whole cafe feel.

The Drink
Bring your own wine for a nominal corkage of £2, just don’t expect a chiller. A selection of soft drinks is available including cola, bottled water and fruit juice though.

The Last Word
Whilst the Corner Cafe isn’t a tremendous dining experience, for a lively dinner with friends that won’t break the bank it’s a pleasant night out.

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