How is it that a tiny delicatessen in Blackheath right next to Starbucks doesn’t go out of business?
I thought I’d do a comparison of the two. I’d been into the Village Deli a few times. It is nice enough, but feels more like a cafe than a delicatessen. It’s nothing like Starbucks. You pay afterwards, which always feels nicer, and there are plenty of tables outside to watch the world go by.
It’s not perfect though -the tables were slightly sticky, and could have done with a good wipe. A small latte was good, and cost £2.
Now, Starbucks…. You, being nice Blackheath people, know how Starbucks is, so I’m not going to describe the usual things.
What is odd is that from the outside you cannot see how few places there are to sit down. It is as though they have decided that they have no interest in serving customers inside. It really might as well be a booth with a dispensing flap at the front. Inside, it is like a morgue most of the time. The staff (baristas – God, what a strange word to choose), were unfaultable, but really it felt so empty.
The coffee was £2.05. Not sure what you get for your extra 5p- maybe a bit more cow juice. And Nora Jones
I can’t help thinking that if it weren’t for the Village Deli’s location, it would have been annihilated by the Starbucks juggernaut. Not because Starbucks is better (it isn’t), but because the station is such a hub of activity in Blackheath, everyone seems to radiate towards it in the mornings and away at night, and the Deli is the first coffee shop that is visible from outside.
Licensed under a 
14 Comments
May 27, 2008 at 9:59 am
I love the deli – their sandwiches are amazing. However they are damn pricey! It is a great place to go for breakfast when the trains are all cancelled as well.
Regarding Starbucks – I am a regular and I have to say the staff are great – very friendly and they do a great mint mocha.
With the issue with lack of seating, I recall that Starbucks got into difficulties with Lewisham council and the Blackheath Society over the complex issue (well to me anyway) of licencing. They were supposed to apply for restaurant licence – look at all that space downstairs – but ended up retail only. This meant they could not set up more than 2 or 3 tables. So it’s not that they have no interest in serving customers – they simply are not allowed to.
They must be loosing a fortune because I cannot believe they get enough daily customers to pay for such a prime location.
May 27, 2008 at 11:57 am
Every time I leave the Deli, I swear that I will never return. Although the service is just about passable during the week, I am almost always left to hang for a sapping period of time at the weekend. And there’s about as much chance of getting a smile as there is getting change from a tenner.
Blackheath is crying out for a mid-price ‘caff’ that serves tea in mugs and white sliced bread buttered with a pallate knife. If only Turkey’s finest ‘Cafe Panorama’ (at the end of Belmont Hill) could be relocated. This, next to the desire that Tesco Metro puts Costcutter out of its misery soon, is my dearest wish for the village.
May 27, 2008 at 2:45 pm
Maisie is right about the licensing issues with Starbucks. The council were/are trying to keep a mix of shops in the village and had a policy which means that no more restaurant licenses for the core retail area of the village.
At the time there was a strong sense that restaurateurs were driving out other business, and while that was good for the night-time economy it was less helpful for residents and other retailers.
Starbucks were unfortunate in that they were the test case; they took the council’s decision to court and lost. If they’d taken over another restaurant rather than what had been a clothes shop they’d have been able to have all the seating they wanted.
May 27, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Interesting stuff! That explains the lack of seating… Regarding Cafe Panorama – I was planning to do a post about incredibly-missold-top titles for cafes and restaurants – the “Mountain View” restuarant and “Cafe Panorama” both spring to mind… Although I’ve never tried the cafe panorama, so it is possible that they have an incredible vista out the back – herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically etc etc…
http://www.fawltysite.net/episode07.htm
May 27, 2008 at 5:14 pm
I think Cafe Panorama probably wins the prize for inappropriateness by virtue of its situation at the *bottom* of a hill.
For a brief time it was ‘Cafe Panoroma’ due to a signage mixup, but that’s another story for another time.
May 27, 2008 at 7:31 pm
[...] David and Goliath The Bugle can’t work out why Starbucks have so few chairs. Readers supply the answer. [...]
May 28, 2008 at 11:40 am
I have always wondered why Starbucks had such limited seating – it must have the worst seating in all of London! Even the Starbucks Shacks outside of train stations are more accomodating.
I have been to the deli once and was quite pleased by it. The food my boyfriend and I had was not bad for the price – and I found the italian cakes they sold among other products to be quite charming. It is however not much more than a local workman’s cafe if you look beyond everything else, which is the most disappointing factor (sticky tables AND FLOORS!), and is the reason why we haven’t returned.
The Mountain View restaurant is my favorite Indian in London thus far.
May 31, 2008 at 8:08 am
One unfortunate aspect of all this is that Starbucks is the only coffee shop in Blackheath that has easy access for parents with children in buggies, plus it has a large and easily accessible toilet which anyone with children will know is a very welcome bonus!
Parents with children make up such a large part of the community, and are so badly served in terms of access and facilities in the rest of the village, that it is absurd Starbucks are restricted in this way and this situation should be reviewed by Lewisham’s planning department.
June 6, 2008 at 8:13 am
[...] a recommendation from Michael P here, I thought I’d have a look at the new Petite Boulangerie Jade. It is next to Neals Yard [...]
July 20, 2008 at 1:55 am
[...] might have to reappraise what I wrote about the Village Deli back in May… After today, I’m not sure I’ll be heading back. It all started well [...]
April 4, 2009 at 11:04 am
As mentioned above , I too would love the costcutter to be turned into a Tesco/Sainsbury Metro. Any chance of setting up a petition…
Noticied that the off license Thresher has closed but this would be too small.
April 7, 2009 at 7:26 pm
I agree that the deli is very expensive and I only go there on weekends for a coffee and because the guy in there has a very nice smile. : ) Can’t really say the same about the women- who intimidate me a little.
April 8, 2009 at 10:55 pm
Oops….have just realised that this is last year’s topic! Not sure how I found my way to it.
April 9, 2009 at 6:54 am
It’s ok! People comment on older pages all the time. Plus there’s a section at the top of the homepage showing the most recent comments. Thanks for posting!