Pho what it's worth

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but when I was growing up in South London, Streatham was the place everyone went to eat. It just was. (Well, I suppose it wasn't if you lived in Tottenham, or Edinburgh, or Madrid, or Peking, or Alpha Centuri, but for us in South London it most definitely was!)

Even in the 1980s the High Street had more restaurants than you could ever want. There was the Italian Il Carretto, the American Charcoal Pit that gave me my first taste of ‘proper’ burgers, situated strategically across the road from McDonalds. The Acropolis Taverna served up stuff dolmades and stifado that you'd only normally know if you'd been on a holiday to Greece.

In an age when people still made do with Berni Inn, Happy Eater and the occasional over-Anglicised Tandoori or Chinese, Streatham had a lot of very good restaurants offering genuine International cuisine. (It also boasted, and indeed still boasts, a Wimpy where one could order an 'International Grill' but if anything that undermines the point to which I'm meandering!)

Why does everything have to have a 'quarter' these days?

Whatever claim BoxPark Croydon stakes to being South London's premier nightlife hub, it was always going to have a little local competition in the form of the stuff that was there already.

Croydon may still be short of a genuinely world-class pub, but it doesn't lack restuarants. Indeed the stretch of road south of Croydon Flyover has a concentration of eateries of just about every nationality and the area is now branded officially as the 'Restaurant Quarter'.

Honestly there are so many here, I do wonder if the area can sustain that much food. Especially overpriced, indifferent dining experiences of dubious quality.

Beer Circus used to be round these parts too, a small continental style bar that was one of the first in London to offer genuinely interesting imported beers on draught. It's long gone though, so you'll have to make do with the two Wetherspoons that top and tail the Restaurant Quarter (and the Milan Bar, at the Northern end of the stretch, is up for sale and won't be there much longer.)

Whenever places boast a 'French Quarter', or indeed a Restaurant Quarter, I'm always slightly bemused by the expression. What if it takes up more than 25% of the available space? What if you have French, Italian, Baroque, Chinese and Bohemian Quarters, shouldn't they technically be Quinters or something?

It annoys me.

Anyway, not particularly good restaurants in Croydon. Let's go!