Due to its origin as a small community, most of the interesting places in Nunhead are centred round the green. If you ever find yourself trapped in Nunhead with a burning hunger, your best bet is one of the following listed below.

Of course, you could always travel further into Peckham, where there exist many other options (such as the delightful McDonalds). It's a good 15-minute walk though, and Nunhead can provide a great array of eclectic delights.

One point that should be made clear beforehand - on no account should you actually travel to Nunhead solely in order to try the eateries, unless you happen to be driving through.

The Crossways Cafe

A lovely 'greasy-spoon' caf, situated not more than 2 minutes from the green (eastwards, towards the station). Here you will find a very good selection of anything fried and greasy, and for a good price. Service is quick but not always perfect. Another good point is that it will still serve you breakfast till about 2:30pm.

Their "Sausage, Egg, Chips and Beans" combo is a good one. The bacon could be better.

Also, don't let them persuade you into getting more food than you actually want.

The Astar fish bar

Whether it's pronounced 'astar' or A*, no-one knows. You can find it along the virtual boulevard that is Evelina Road, near "Spices".

Here you can get a good fish 'n' chips, kebab, etc. It's fairly cheap, and of course you can eat it while being outside (perhaps while enjoying the wonderful flora that is Nunhead Green.

The Great Wall

Right next to the green is a top-notch Chinese take-away. Service is a little slow compared to the other eateries, and you can easily expect to pay over £5 a meal. However, the quality of the food more than makes up for this. And, they have the common decency to provide something to read while you wait (although this is usually The Sun).

Recommended meals include the "Lemon Chicken", "Sweet and Sour Chicken Balls", or anything with black-bean sauce. Don't forget the egg-fried rice (a must).

Garden Pizza

Near the Great Wall, is this a small take-away. Apart from the usual pizza selection (which seems to be identical to every other independent pizza outlet in the south London area), they also do some other food such as chips, chicken nuggets, etc - none of which is exactly great.

The pizzas are OK, but not up to Pizza Hut standard. There isn't much point ordering over the phone as you could just order from the Pizza Hut empire for the same cost and level of service.

The one thing this does have going for it, is the Special Offers. If you are willing to collect (and seeing as you are in Nunhead, you presumably are), you can get great bargains such as buy-one-get-one-free. Excellent.

Oh yes, and it stays open after midnight.

Spices

Located near the Astar Fish Bar, this wonderful Indian take away has quite a large selection, all of which is outrageously nice. As long as you don't order anything too hot (Vindaloo, Fahl, etc), you'll be fine.

You do have to wait a while before you get your food, but it is worth it. And, you get to watch TV or read a newspaper while you wait.

It is very expensive though, and it's very easy to come away with far too much food. It's better share a meal between two people (or one fat person).

JF Ayre

The bakery. Just off the green.

No-one's ever been seen actually buying an actual loaf of bread here, as most people just treat it as a cakery/sandwichery.

The sandwiches here initially seem very good, but aren't. Don't let that stop you however, give it a try (at least twice).

The "Chicken-mayo" sandwich is one to watch out for, but, like an exit in Ikea, is notably scarce. Get there early. Also, the sausage rolls.

Spar

The Spar is located right on the corner, by the green. The casual shopper may be surprised to find out that it isn't actually a Spar, but merely has a Spar sign above it.

But anyway, if you get really really desperate, you can get food here. The sandwiches are moderately bad, but some people swear by them. (Although most people swear at them.)

A better bet would be something like a Pot Noodle, or a Twix.

The one great thing you can get here, is the 99p Frozen Pizza. This is actually quite good, and at 99p is officially a Bargain.

Pubs

Last on our list, the local pubs. Great for beer obviously, but what else?

Well, none of them do particularly great food. The Pyrotechnists Arms has an amazingly dreary choice, but at least you get a free traditional Irish insult with it.

The Nun's Head has a better range, as well as a superbly ugly dog (presumably to match the patrons).