London - The Lido Cafe

Lunch dishes: £4-9

Brockwell Lido
Dulwich Rd
Herne Hill
London SE24 0PA

There is little better than open-air swimming on one of the few sunny days of the summer (well, September, but we have to take what we get).  In fact, I love Brockwell Lido in south-east London so much that I went twice in a weekend, and both times ate at the Lido Cafe, which serves up decent-sized portions of interesting food to hungry swimmers and locals.

Sitting on the canopied terrace, the service is frustratingly slow, but it is a very pleasant way to pass an afternoon. Or a morning. Or an evening. The cafe serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, although the kitchen tends to get overwhelmed towards the end of each service and shut down early.

The best value for money is probably in the salads - decent-sized plates piled almost-high with various combinations of veg and starch that you can mix and match should you so want.  The burgers - hefty, meaty blocks, are served with chips that practically crackle at you, so crispy are they.  The ratatouille tart has all the right vegetables in all the right places, although my friends and I couldn't place the filling - egg, cream, cheese, or some combination thereof? Its drink selection is comprehensive and fun, they have got you sorted from milkshakes to small-production beers.

Overall, the Lido Cafe should be a destination if you are near Brockwell Park and are too hungry to take the bus to Brixton.