When does a café become a bar?

At about 20:00 on Tuesdays when the live jazz starts.

The Cable Café is a relaxed little South London establishment which serves coffee, homemade cakes and sandwiches by day and stiff cocktails and beer by night.

The cosy space is decked out with wooden awnings, atmospheric framed pictures of cows, faded wooden barometers, fairy lights, neon signs and all kinds of different liquor bottle-cum-candleholders. 

I visit most Tuesday afternoons and there are two spots that I love to snag: the table by the window or the sewing machine table at the back.

The window table affords laptop warriors like myself the chance to take a break and watch the people of the Brixton Road go by. While the sewing machine table at the back is located next to the house piano, which is often played by some of the café’s patrons.

During the evening, the cappuccino orders dry up, bottles of beer and crimson negronis start to appear and the atmosphere really heats up – especially so on live music Tuesdays.