The place has been serving up low cost grub to students, bohos, office workers and pensioners since the 1950s, a classic formica clad time warp of a place where the waiters dress as sailors and shout at each other, a place stubbornly untouched by the creeping dread that is ‘human progress’, right there, just outside the door.
We went down yesterday for a Socialism editorial meeting to say goodbye to the New Piccadilly, somewhere that’s been a safe haven for so many for so long, tucked away as it is from the Mc-High Street, doing it’s own thing. I don't want us to come across all dewy eyed about how things will never be the same, but surely a place like this can co-exist with all those chains selling you two shot soya foaming skinny lattes. Surely somewhere serving just about drinkable coffee in glass cups has a place in our society in 2007???
Anyways, our meals, in case you were wondering were - starter - 4 slices of bread and margarine. Mains - ham and mushroom omelette and chips/steak pie, chips and peas, cup of coffee/coke. Change from twenty quid for two. It was both reassuring and disappointing to have to queue up because it was so packed - if it had been this busy once or twice a week, maybe it would have survived? In the end, we were just glad to be able to say goodbye. We’ll miss it, what a shame.
