The Surprising New Cross in South East London
New Cross Gate maybe a culture shock for someone like me coming from Los Angeles to attend Goldsmith University of London, but I’ve come to appreciate the diverse culture and university community since arriving. Unfortunately my first introduction coming off the underground was the scent of dried urine while ascending a path toward the exit, surrounded by tube posters for teeth whitening and online hairloss consultation, and a man sitting on the ground looked rough from either drugs or homelessness asking for money with a white polystyrene cup. I tripped onto the street as litter, a discarded shopping bag caught onto my shoe, noisy cars, trucks, busses and ambulances with sirens whizzed by kicking up dust. Crowds of bustling people rushed toward their destination and the flow of traffic was fast. To the west of the train station I noticed a Sainsbury market with petrol station and on my way east walking towards school on New Cross Road I passed Iceland Foods market, giving the area a convenience for shopping alongside a variety of ethnic Afro and Middle Eastern corner shops.
That day the town appeared depressingly grey, the sidewalks, the overcast sky and the buildings were quite a contrast to bright and sunny LA, but after settling here I no longer see ‘greyness’ but a colorful atmosphere filled with diversity and artistic interests, given that Goldsmiths University of London is renown for a prolific Fine Arts department.
Here are a few places that I’ve come to enjoy:
Early morning latte at my second home, Café Crema near the university, they also serve organic dishes and morphs into a small theatre in the evenings. Next-door are fashion storefronts, one being the Vintage Emporium Pop Up Shop selling eccentric edgy vintage-wear, a few collectable pieces are reappropriated and altered there on the premises. Their window displays are the most intriguing and other-worldly. Directly across the street from the university is Goldsmiths Café for the cheapest traditional English breakfast. A little gem restaurant is Thailand, also across the street from the university with a lovely traditional Thai and Laos cuisine and a reasonable happy hour dinner for only £3.99, the meals are quality fresh and earned rave reviews from Time Out magazine. In the evenings there’s live music venues peppered throughout town that are packed with mostly students and the ‘under 30’ crowd. Also alive are various traditional English pubs with The Hobgoblin across the street from New Cross Train Station, being my favorite with a large back patio and a perfect place to bash with friends on warm summer nights.
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