Surrey Quays

What do you like best about Surrey Quays?

I’d love to hear from you.

Let me know your top three things or, if you’re feeling really brave, write a guest post for this site!
photo credit: Julia T.

Have you ever wanted to order a takeaway but found you haven’t got a menu for your local pizza shop or Chinese takeaway handy? If you live in the Surrey Quays area, the solution is at hand.

Try visiting MenuLover. It’s a site I set up last year and lets you view menus from every takeaway I could find in the area. Some of the menus are getting a bit out of date, so the prices might have crept up a little, but I’m sure you can manage.

I hope it’s useful!
photo credit: Sister72

Tesco thanks customers for their patience.

No more getting lost amidst aisles of socks as you try to find your way to the vegetable section. Or not so much, anyway.

The extension works at Surrey Quays’ huge 24-hour Tesco Extra superstore are finally complete.

I popped in there today and I have to say I was quite impressed. I managed to pick up a good supply of stationery as well as my usual food-oriented shopping, so was quite happy. I was even more happy when I was offered (and accepted) some free help with packing my bags. Nice!

For a bit of fun, I thought I’d make a list of 10 of the things I like most about Surrey Quays. Here it is:

1. Greenland Dock – perfect for a peaceful Sunday afternoon stroll or evening jog.
2. Odeon Cinema – 9 screens showing all the latest blockbusters. Could be more adventurous at times with their film selection, but tremendously handy nonetheless.
3. The Parade of Shops on Lower Road – a more human alternative to their huge, modern neighbour. Check out Angelo’s for reliably good fish and chips and the cafe/grocery with the South African sign for a coffee and croissant.
4. Wibbly Wobbly pub – Surrey Quays’ own floating pub. Wonderfully eccentric. Not for everyone, but oozing character.
5. Ship and Whale pub – hidden away and worth tracking down for its roast dinners.
6. Southwark Park – take a trip here to play touch rugby or tennis, kick a football, take your kids to the playground or feed the ducks.
7. Surrey Quays Shopping Centre – it’s big, it’s rather soulless, but it’s also very convenient. From a giant Tesco’s to mobile phone shops and opticians. It’s all here. Come battle with the crowds and pay homage to consumerism.
8. Canada Water tube station/the Jubilee Line – what I would do without the Jubilee Line, I do not know. This is my lifeline to the rest of London. Generally reliable, but alas subject to much weekend engineering work, in the absence of the East London Line it’s Surrey Quays’ umbilical cord to the mother city.
9. The local buses – I’m a big fan of public transport. Sometimes there’s nothing better than hopping onto a London double-decker, picking a top-deck seat and admiring the view as your communal chauffeur lurches and hurtles you through the streets.
10. The River Thames – I don’t go and appreciate this enough, but to elevate the spirit, there’s nothing like heading down to the Thames for some fresh air and terrific views across to Canary Wharf.

That’s my top 10. What else is on yours?

photo credit: cliff1066

The Odeon cinema at Surrey Quays doesn’t hold back when it knows it’s got a blockbuster on its hands.

I’m off to see the new Bond movie over the weekend and vaguely thought it might be quite popular and hard to get tickets for.

Fear not!

Those smart managers at our favourite neighbourhood entertainment centre are on the ball as usual. They have an incredible 50 screenings of Quantum of Solace between Friday and Sunday, offering a choice of a whopping 19 film times on Saturday alone.

Ah, the joys of having Europe’s first all-digital, fully networked and DCI-compliant multiplex cinema on your doorstep!
photo credit: @ly$ in wonderland

One of the things I like best about Surrey Quays is being able to go jogging around Greenland Dock.

In London it’s not always easy to get away from the roads and find a bit of peace and quiet, but that’s just what you can find in Greenland Dock.

Running (embarrassingly slowly, as a rule) around its broad expanse of water helps me relax and unwind. It’s a little haven of calm.

If you haven’t been around Greenland Dock lately, take a stroll (or a run) there this weekend. I’m betting you’ll feel good for doing it.

Image is © Copyright Stephen Craven and
licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

When I moved to the area a little over a year ago, I made a couple of visits to the Lidl supermarket in Bestwood Street. I wasn’t impressed. But yesterday I decided to give it another chance.

Everything about Lidl yells ‘cheap and cheerful’. Unlike Tesco’s carefully-arranged and well-lit shelves, Lidl’s produce seems to be a little haphazard with fewer product lines, stacked higher. It’s budget brands galore as you wander along the aisles. Some bargain beans and sausages caught my eye, as well as some very cheap oriental microwave meals.

On reaching the check-out, I remembered one of the things that grated with me on my previous visits: plastic bags are not provided free. This time round though, I guess I’d been more heavily influenced by all the anti-plastic-bag campaigns as luckily enough I’d brought my own recycled bags with me.

The best thing about my trip, though, was the price of it all. A mere £20.33 for a full, as-much-as-I-can-stumble-down-the-road-with load. Not bad, Lidl.

Given that my trusty Shell petrol station Sainsbury’s is no more, and Tesco is annoying far for someone with no car and a penchant for heavy groceries, Lidl may just have won itself a customer.

photo credit: miikkahoo