Star Cafe

Star Café is Crofton Park’s greasy spoon, selling primarily a variety of english breakfasts and various sandwiches.
I’ve undergone a recent conversion to English breakfasts’ thanks in part to my work canteen which reliably churns out excellent examples of English breakfast at its best, and, even, most healthy: delicately grilled tomatoes, lightly fried mushrooms, immaculately poached eggs and beautifully cooked sausages of surprisingly high quality.
So it was with unquelled optimism that I set forth for the Star today in search of a hearty breakfast to set me up for the rest of the day. Alas, I was sorely disappointed. First to puncture my enthusiasm was the realisation that practically everything had been heavily fried and was glistening with a layer of fat. The mushrooms appeared to have been doused with salt, the sausage didn’t seem to be much more than 30% meat, the ‘grilled’ tomato had a charred crust tasting of meat (ugh!) and I didn’t dare touch the potato pancake after having established that its primary ingredient was oil. The toast, beans, poached egg and tea were slightly better, despite each nevertheless having their shortcomings.
It might be expected that this comes with the territory — that low-​grade ingredients cooked slapdash are all part of the charm of a greasy spoon. I disagree. As the nearby Brockley Mess shows, English breakfasts can be high quality and cooked with more love and care. After all, at £5 a meal, the Star Café’s prices are not negligible.
Overall thus, if you find yourself in Brockley/​Crofton Park with cravings for an English, I’d advise you avoid the Star in favour of either the Mess (if you’re Brockley based) or the Jam Circus (if you’re Crofton Park-​based and it’s Saturday). Or there’s always the DIY option, which will cost you a fraction of any of these. Whichever it is, your stomach will thank you!