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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

....any more disappointed customers lately? I noticed today that the hot drinks have not only gone-up in price but shrunk in size. Maybe it's more Costa if only having a cuppa.... 

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I want to wish Cem (pronounced Jem the Turkish way) and his co-workers good luck in their efforts to provide the locals with good service   very few people have any idea how difficult catering is but I lived through it when my ex-husband went bankrupt in the 80s   his bistros were successful but he still failed    I had many reasons to dislike the man intensely but had to admire the way he, a former horse guards officer, learned to cook, deal with customers and clean everything in sight  I was a BBC journalist for nearly 40 years but learned more about cooks, chefs and restauranteurs when I edited the Saqi publication Turkish Cookery, a book about Turkish cooking    I worked with top British and Turkish food experts to raise money to help pay for further education for children whose parents were killed in the last earthquake

my gout has restricted the enjoyment of my favourite occupation-eating out- but I look forward to visiting Cafe Lemon in the near future

Not Mustoe Bistro in Primrose Hill by any chance?

yes, Hugh, Primrose Hill was Edward's first, followed by Kentish Town

I have very fond memories of Mustoe Bistro in the eighties. A basic down to earth no-frills French bistro in London - even down to the Duralex glasses. 

I must have spent my entire student grant in Mustoe Bistro during the early '80's. I had student digs in Chalcot Square, no really. The only rented accommodation in a 1/2 mile radius. The food was terrific, the red wine cheap and another bottle always seemed like a good idea at the time.

It was opposite a grand terrace, one house of which had a blue plaque, that stated that Friedrich Engels (Father and benefactor of Marxist theory) had lived there. In the summer, on a Saturday, one of the best things to do, was to sit outside the Queens pub with a pint, and wait for the inevitable asthmatic diesel coach with East German plates to turn up. 70 people or so would troop out and start taking pictures, and eventually one of them would screw up the courage to ring the bell. Which would always be ignored until it had been rung for the fourth or fifth time. A sash window would suddenly fly up with a crash, on the second floor, and a head would come out and shout.
"Yes, he used to live here, but he doesn't live here now! So take your collective, and collectively f**k off!"
Such a long way to come, for so little succour...
Mustoe's was an institution, luckily I wasn't married to Edward, and I don't suppose he was an 'easy' man to live with. But, a terrific bistro and great evenings spent there.

Joan Bakewell lived in Chalcot Square and among the other many interesting locals was Sandy, Alexander Faris who wrote the Upstairs Downstairs theme which I heard as I took my children through a hotel lounge in Istanbul but he was my hero because he wrote THE book about Offenbach   we lived in St George's Terrace, by the side of the Queen's but moved to Islington when the children were born and we needed more room

oh the Mustoe Bistro! I could probably still find my way there blindfold from Finchley Road where I lived after uni in the early 80s. Thank you for happy memories. One of my flat mates used to conduct every first date there.

I worked in catering for over 10 years.

Hi

Thanks for your comments. With regards to coffee sizes, there appears to be a misunderstanding. We didn't used to have a small size coffee. We had only medium and large. We had medium size at £1.99, now £2.20. Our medium is the same size but 20p more. Now we've also introduced a small size at £1.85. The small is our standard size and we tend not to push customers to buy a bigger size. 

I met the alternative strategy in Twickenham this morning. I went to buy a coffee and was offered regular or large. When paying I noticed there was also a small. I prefer Cem's way of doing things, thanks.
Reading this has made me more likely to go there! As an Antipodean I am very particular about my coffee. I tend to stick to very specialty coffee shops where I can ask for a "long black" and not receive a "small Americano" which usually contains about twice as much water as I would like! Well done for going free range, Cafe Lemon - I'll be sure to visit soon!

Good to hear and looking forward to some friendly faces 

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