Brown and Green

After hearing all my friends rave about this place, I found the food unimpressive an cold. Very slow service considering how much staff they have. Best go elsewhere. Remember busy never equals quality

As far as my middle-​class aspirations go, this place is great. The food is very tasty, and makes a nice change from the usual sausage butty grease-​fest you sometimes get elsewhere.
You can tell that it’s posher than a regular café, because they put tomato and rocket on the sausage and bacon sandwiches. When I was growing up, the only rocket I’d heard of took people to the moon!
It’s not just the sausage butties that are posh, there is a good selection of pork pies, scotch eggs and sandwiches.
And the cakes! Wow, the cakes are great.
There are the usual suspects; carrot cake and red velvet, some amazing caramel shortbread and there are even some gluten-​free treats.
There are two reasons this little hidden gem doesn’t get 5 stars.
Firstly, it’s not always the speediest service. This can be quite an issue if you are trying to grab breakfast before running for a train. Like with a lot of places, It’s particularly bad when it’s busy.
The second reason it’s only 4 stars is the price. I know, you get what you pay for, and I do like it’s aspirational middle-​class elite-​ness. But I picked up a sausage and bacon sandwich, an iced tea, some ‘breakfast pudding’ (wonderful squidgy caramel shortbread), and an extra sandwich for later (whatever, I’m a big guy) and it cost me over a tenner!
I guess the main problem I have is my champagne taste, but lime & soda budget.

This place is great. The staff are friendly and helpful. The food is lovely and it’s great for getting your caffeine fix before your commute to work.

I visited at the end of March when coming to Crystal Palace for the first time ever, just as I was exiting the station before going to see a new flat in Gipsy Hill. I was pleasantly surprised by how homely the place felt, with such a great environmental/​sustainability focus. There were many cakes to tempt me but I only had a quick hot chocolate. It was very good quality, speedy and service with a smile.
Their loyalty card has a fantastic photo of the twins on one side and the stamp collection on the other.
Thanks to the great mood I was in after meeting some of the great people in the area, I’m now happy to say I moved here and have their other branch in Gipsy Hill station on my doorstep too. And it was all thanks to them!
Keep up the great work!

crystal palace station has just reopened its original station entrance after a period of refurbishment, and within it, the newly opened brown and green café sits. it’s so lovely having this greeting you at the entrance to the station, and it is beautifully kitted out with the original victorian tiled floors, railway sleeper bar, bucket lightshades and all sorts of lovely little details. there are plenty of seating options and a wonderfully short but enticing menu. we went on a saturday afternoon and ordered from the brunch menu. my boyfriend had the breakfast and i had the veggie breakfast, although i was super tempted by some of the scramble options (scrambled eggs with marmite anyone?). as the breakfasts didn’t list what was included, i was pleasantly surprised when my plate turned up with some halloumi, a fried egg, a fried tomato, rocket and a little pot of heinz baked beans. I think it was around the £5.50 mark, and it wasn’t a huge heaping plateful of food (which i was glad for), so i think the £5.50 is justifiable, but erring on the expensive side. the breakfast also came with a round of pre-​buttered toast. i like that they butter it for you, what a nice touch! my boyfriend’s meaty breakfast was the usual sort of meaty breakfast, and he enjoyed it.
the girls working behind the counter were mega busy the whole time we were there, but the service was customer friendly orientated and relaxed. very good! i had a look at the drinks menu offering and i thought their ranges of coffees/​teas were fairly priced, and i will definitely pop in there on cold mornings when i am too tired to function… although it will mean me having to leave the house that little bit earlier!
i also read somewhere someone suggesting that it would be lovely if it opened on a couple of evenings mid week and had an alcohol license — i totally agree and think this is a fabulous idea! what a lovely atmosphere to wind down with an after work drink. i know that the girls behind brown and green are still trying to figure out their ideal opening hours, so this might be something that they want to consider for the future.
so happy to have something like this on my doorstep, and i am sure we will make full use of it as crystal palace locals!