The premises were once occupied by a bar called CR0 photo, and then by another bar called Taberner's Bar photo. It was a British/African cafe by July 2012, though at that point it was called Queens Cafe photo of board outside; a month later it had changed its name to Victoria Island photo, though fairly clearly under the same management.

As of October 2012, there were signs in the window advertising both British food such as fish & chips and full English breakfast, and African food such as eba, pounded yam, and amala. Photos: 1, 2, 3. They also did a buffet at lunchtimes, with half a dozen dishes varying daily. As of November 2012 this wasn't an all-you-can-eat buffet; prices depended on the size of plate you wanted.

See also:

• Croydon Advertiser article on Victoria Island
• Photo of buffet plate from Victoria Island in November 2012
• Photo of Victoria Island flyer from April 2013

The last time we definitely saw Victoria Island open was in October 2013. As of March 2014 we hadn't seen it open for a while, despite walking past fairly often, and by June 2014 the frontage signs had been removed photo and the windows newspapered over photo. However, the outside was also freshly painted.

By July 2014 the newspaper had been replaced by decorative decals photo.

See also:

• Photo of Alchemy menu from September 2014
• Photo of Alchemy flyer from September 2014