The Montage

Art Gallery & Dealer at 33 Dartmouth Road

8 / 10 from 1 review

Address
33 Dartmouth Road
Forest Hill
London
SE23 3HN

Map

History

Telephone
020 7207 9890

Region
Forest Hill

Nearest Station
Forest Hill
0.17 miles

Category
Art Galleries & Dealers

Opening Times

Monday	Open 10:00 - Closes 18:00
Tuesday	Closed
Wednesday	Open 10:00 - Closes 18:00
Thursday	Open 10:00 - Closes 18:00
Friday	Open 10:00 - Closes 18:00
Saturday	Open 10:00 - Closes 18:00
Sunday	Closed

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All In London Review

Part cafe, part vintage shop; the Montage is a charming place to go drink coffee

One of the great things about London is that you find some of the best places when you least expect it. Take Forest Hill’s ‘high street’ for example. Who would have thought that this up-and-coming South East London neighbourhood would have a café of the ilk of The Montage hiding on it? One visit to this café-cum-gallery-cum-shop and you’ll be a convert. Not only is the coffee top notch and the cake as good as I’ve tried (and I was once a regular at Violet on Wilton Way) but everything you see, touch, sit at or sit on is for sale. Antiques and coffee make this café something special.

Separated across two floors, The Montage uses all its available space. There is a first floor gallery that shows contemporary, professional art shows with pieces available for sale. On the ground floor, a large main room houses the coffee bar before joining onto an array of smaller intimate rooms, which eventually lead out into a garden. Prolonged periods of peace and quiet are hard to come by because although I might have stumbled on this café by mistake, the local parent/baby duos know all about it. Whether this is a problem for you will depend on how much peace and quiet you want with your coffee…

The shop side of the business is simple. Everything has a price, literally. You’ll find it on the small tags that are attached to items as diverse as old milk bottles, enamel lamps, china dolls and Formica tables. Being surrounded by so much ‘stuff’ gives a visit to The Montage café another dimension. The only problem being that so much of the vintage ephemera is covetable that you might end up buying more than cake and coffee.

Reviewed by T.A.O
Published on Nov 6, 2014