SE23 Forum

The lovely deli on HOP is up for sale. I'd like to thank Jacqui and Emma for brightening up our parade and bringing the best Guinness cake in the world into my life. I wish you both the best and hope whomever buys the business keeps on the excellent existing staff and local produce.

Like Hopscotch over the road? I'd like another deli please!

I will really miss the deli. Very sad news.

I have to say I wished them all the best when they opened and really hoped it would be an addition to the high street. For me sadly it was not. I was disappointed by the price and choice of items for sale there, and I did not rate the croissants they had in (this was a while ago) though I think they had these delivered in. I only ended up going in a few times as it was just not for me. I liked the idea, but not the actual experience.

I'd personally love a french style boulangerie / patisserie with really fresh bread, croissants and cakes. That said if someone can take the existing business on and make it a success I will wish them the best of luck of course.

Agree with above poster, went a couple of times,underwhelmed by both selection and cost...never returned.
Re; the earlier poster who said they'd like a family friendly coffee shop, there are quite a few a short walk away in Forest Hill,
Canvas And Cream,St Davids,Montage,Teaspoon and The Archie Parker opposite the pools.
I also feel there has always been better choice of breads and cakes at the Saturday farmers market than there ever was at Hills and Parkes.

What a community spirited bunch this forum attracts. Every time a local independent shop or restaurant closes the vultures circle with calls of "it's was c**p anway" and "good ridence". Don't worry, it'll all be Tesco Metros, Nandos and Sainsbury's Locals soon enough.

I wish that were the case, but if you check the local restaurant thread you'll see those same local gems being crucified.

Nooo! Where will I go for lovely home made scotchs eggs, pear and stilton spread and all the other goodies?

It'll all be exactly as in that wretched document the estate agents "accidentally" published a while ago. All the indies gone.

I've set foot into that Sainsbury's store exactly once since it opened, and walked out empty handed. Fresh is different. Fresh bread is very different. Mediocre choice at higher prices than their large supermarkets. Meh. So much for "better products at cheaper prices".

i dont think people are being mean spirited. But clearly it could improve. I would go there more if they improved the bread, meats cheese etc and dropped the prices a bit. Similarly, if they could make it more welcoming it would help when you want to sit down.

We actually need wider pavements on the high street so shops/cafes etc. can have more outside space

The criticisms on here are in my view well-founded.

It did some things well enough:
- overall look
- coffee
- bread choice (depending a bit on what you went for)
- Scotch eggs

But it fell down on:
- space utilisation - far too much of it for the shop, far too little for customers
- pricing - some things were outrageously priced


So it hasn't reached its potential. The croissants at S'bury's are pretty much as good and about a third of the price. You need those sorts of basics to be right and good value for what they are.

Cross reference the French Cafe on Forest Hill Road over towards ED, by Peckham Rye Park. I'd like something more like that - you can go for brunch, you can get stuff to go, so you can hang out or dive in and out. And at fair prices for what you're getting.

BCM, please re read the restaurant thread, you will notice both those for some restaurants and those against. Free will in expression.

BCM - just because something is independent does not mean I have to like it. I gave it a chance, I explained why it did not work for me. If that offends you so be it, we can all start posting how great every independent shop is and how terrible each chain is and ignore the service \ products we are actually being offered. But that's not for me.

I actually did not post my thoughts before this as I know how hard it is for small independent shops and did not want to have something publicly saying I did not rate them, but actually if someone takes this on or wants to open a similar venture better they can read some constructive feedback and decide what they want to do with it.

Vultures - no community spirit hmmm

Anyway no big deal, have a good rest of your day.

I'll be sad to lose H&P, even if I didn't go there that often - bit too expensive for me, but that doesn't mean I can't celebrate the fact that there's a classy joint in the hood catering to my more upscale neighbours
I remember going in there once to get some nice organic artisanal honey and being fairly stunned that they didn't HAVE ANY!!! What purpose does a shop like this serve unless it's to sell the three deli essentials: cheese, olives, and HONEY!

Re. pricing - c'mon, of course organic, often locally produced food is more expensive than the supermarket variety, especially sold by a small, independent shop which cannot get bulk buying discounts and bully its suppliers. But given the choice over mass produced chicken full of water 5 times a week, I'd rather have some quality stuff twice a week, to be honest.

Tinkerbell - I agree with all those points. H&P pricing was way above the level those factors would take it to. I don't expect it to be S'bury's price, but I don't expect the sort of multiples it is running at for some (not all) of its stock.

It smacked of a lack of competition to me - some of the prices were some way above ED prices.

londondrz I did read the restaurant thread, hence my mentioning it in this post. It was littered with people voicing how offensive they found our local restaurants, which is exactly what I said. Failing to see your point, and perhaps you should re-read it in the context of this thread.

Very sad that Hills & Parkes may not be with us for much longer. Lovely staff, gorgeous selection, and plenty of delicious treats that Sainsbury's certainly doesn't offer.