I visited the Spring Cafe at 209 Forest Road in a bit of a hurry the other day, so I do hope I will be forgiven for not outlining the entire menu or all of the specials. Suffice to say that on the food front this is a place which satisfies the inner man, if the inner man is into a fry up or burger.
I went in for a cup of tea (60p) and got a smile on entry. It is a pity that I did not have time to tarry as I am sure that I could have spent quite a while in the Spring Cafe. It would not have been spent staring out of the window over to the other side of Century Road at the Coral Bookmaker, though I expect there are a fair few people who have lost more money than they can afford in there who have come over to the cafe and found solace in what is actually a pretty good mug of tea.
Much more interesting than the bookmaker's are the trade refuse service bins loitering in front of Colinson's over the other side of Forest Road, or the view of the trucks and white vans parked in the cycle lanes. These vehicles are the shocktroopers of the parking and clamping wars that are waged up and down this particular road, but opposite the Spring Cafe, they park with their lights flashing in the grown-up equivalent of crossed fingers in a playground. The drivers nip into Homecare for a washer and a sucked intake of breath or pull in at the bus stop, 'just for a moment', to offload merchandise for Best Food's store. Will they get away with it? The dramatic tension would be tremendous if I had the time to let it build up.
Next time I go to the Spring Cafe I think I will sit at one of the outside tables, which have plastic chairs rather than the wicker ones at Coffee and Chat. I'll also give myself a bit longer so I can really enjoy the street theatricals unfold.