Restaurant review: JJ Cafe Pie & Mash Carshalton

Not just pie and mash (thankfully) at this pie and mash cafe in Carshalton, Surrey.

On a sunny autumnal Sunday morning I went for a walk around Grove Park in Carshalton with my husband and our baby. It’s a lovely park, bigger than you might think at first, with a playground, mini golf, a restored watermill and squirrels everywhere, plus the adjacent Carshalton pond which always has plenty of wildlife.
 
We decided to get breakfast while we were out and were planning to pick up a pastry from Costa but walking past JJ, a relatively recent addition to Carshalton high street, I suggested we eat there instead.
 
There was plenty of space for the buggy at one of the pavement tables and we appreciated the table service, though you go inside to pay at the end - and be aware they only take cash not cards which I’ve never come across in a cafe before.

My husband had the number 2 JJ breakfast - there were various combinations of full English on offer plus the usual cafe fare, with pie and mash taking up only a small section of the menu. I had a sausage sandwich and was pleased to see it was offered with fried onions, surprisingly unusual in a cafe but it made for a very tasty sandwich. And for a tenner plus change for two of us to have breakfast and a drink it was definitely good value.
 
A Sunday morning stroll around Grove Park and breakfast out might become a bit of a tradition now we have a little girl, and I wouldn’t hesitate to go back to JJ’s - I’d just have to remember to visit the cashpoint first.