Latest reviews for Cafes & Coffee Shops in Stoke Newington, London, United Kingdom

The Blue Legune - by beccywiseman

beccywiseman — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:30:08 +0000

Review by beccywiseman

Rating: 5.00

Phone: 020 7923 1303

Tags: cosy, good brew, quiet & relaxed

This is one of my favourite places in Stokey, although it is pretty cut throat at the weekends when it comes to getting a seat and wedging your buggy in. The food is great and I love the atmosphere... everyone busy "relaxing".This is one of my favourite places in Stokey, although it is pretty cut throat at the weekends when it comes to getting a seat and wedging your buggy in. The food is great and I love the atmosphere... everyone busy "relaxing".

The Bagel House - by diabolo

diabolo — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 13:35:22 +0000

Review by diabolo

Rating: 1.00

Phone: 020 7249 3908

Tags: quick bite, takeaway, patisserie

Unfortunately the shop is also infested with mice (I lived in a flat above for a short period..it was vile) so I would avoid at all costs.Unfortunately the shop is also infested with mice (I lived in a flat above for a short period..it was vile) so I would avoid at all costs.

The Parlour - Fulfilled. Full. Filled. by andybrown

andybrown — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:15:22 +0000

Review by andybrown

Rating: 5.00

Phone: 020 7923 0654

Tags: cultured, quick bite, quiet & relaxed

Silver linings and all that, there is a definite upside to waking upon Monday morning to a power cut, no food or coffee in the house and a stomach that's rumbling so hard there are reports of falling roof tiles.

However, the circumstances are limited as they have to fulfill the following criteria:

a) you live in or within easy travelling distance of Stoke Newington Church Street
b) it's an achingly glorious day in early spring
c) you have no pressing appointments for, let's say, the rest of the day.

Bearing all this in mind, I got down to Church Street to get some breakfast and do some work. Now Church Street is a busy place with all the mothers and babies and kids, so it's well stocked with cafes of all descriptions.

I've been in most of them, but my favourites were full when I got there, and I had this whimsical idea of sitting at a bare wood table, drinking tea and grapefruit juice, staring out a little garden in the sunshine, reading the Guardian, eating an artichoke and mozzarella sandwich, listening to jazz, in other words being monstrously middle class and lefty and generally making the rest of the world jealous.

I managed it as well. Lucky sod that I am.

Apparently the Parlour's been open about 9 months, but I didn't notice, because there all the other choices around and it was winter and whatever. Secretly I don't believe them. I think it dropped, fully formed and perfect, into a vacant plot five seconds before I turned up, sent by my own personal god to make me happy.

So really there's no point me writing this review at all, because I want to keep it to myself, because it's too good to imagine I'm not dreaming, and because I suspect that as soon as I leave it will disappear with a *pop*.

Just in case, eh?Silver linings and all that, there is a definite upside to waking upon Monday morning to a power cut, no food or coffee in the house and a stomach that's rumbling so hard there are reports of falling roof tiles.

However, the circumstances are limited as they have to fulfill the following criteria:

a) you live in or within easy travelling distance of Stoke Newington Church Street
b) it's an achingly glorious day in early spring
c) you have no pressing appointments for, let's say, the rest of the day.

Bearing all this in mind, I got down to Church Street to get some breakfast and do some work. Now Church Street is a busy place with all the mothers and babies and kids, so it's well stocked with cafes of all descriptions.

I've been in most of them, but my favourites were full when I got there, and I had this whimsical idea of sitting at a bare wood table, drinking tea and grapefruit juice, staring out a little garden in the sunshine, reading the Guardian, eating an artichoke and mozzarella sandwich, listening to jazz, in other words being monstrously middle class and lefty and generally making the rest of the world jealous.

I managed it as well. Lucky sod that I am.

Apparently the Parlour's been open about 9 months, but I didn't notice, because there all the other choices around and it was winter and whatever. Secretly I don't believe them. I think it dropped, fully formed and perfect, into a vacant plot five seconds before I turned up, sent by my own personal god to make me happy.

So really there's no point me writing this review at all, because I want to keep it to myself, because it's too good to imagine I'm not dreaming, and because I suspect that as soon as I leave it will disappear with a *pop*.

Just in case, eh?

The Tea Rooms - Better than Ronseal by andybrown

andybrown — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:41:05 +0000

Review by andybrown

Rating: 4.00

Phone: 020 7923 1870

Tags: quick bite, quiet & relaxed, amazing brew

Not as widely travelled as I'd like, even within London, I am sure there are better places than Stoke Newington Church Street to take tea in the afternoon, I just don't know any of them, and they aren't on my doorstep.

So when I read from a helpful chap called Tim Eout (is that a French name?) that there's a new place opened and it demands my presence for a spot of chai and cakey, I can hardly get on my bike fast enough - besides, it was a quiet afternoon, I was sick of annotating chapter six hundred and god-only-knows-what of some interminable history book, and I wanted cake.
I expected a certain degree of competence because there are plenty of decent cafes on Church Street and none but a fool would open a new one without something going for it.
With a name like The Tea Rooms, it wasn't too much to hope for a decent brew, somewhere to sit, bla bla bla.
What I got, rather marvellously, was the full bloody monty. Loose-leaf, and extra water on the side, and tablecloths, and a slightly crazy staring woman in the corner, and students reading on couches, and a slice of surprisingly subtle chocolate and almond cake.

I suppose in a more innocent or perhaps more particular age you'd expect proper tea and cakes and a solicitous sales assistant and a generally benign air of quietude, but this is not that age, so to experience all of those things, in an almost archetypal, unpretentious, relaxed tea room was, while not a revelation, certainly a delight.
Not as widely travelled as I'd like, even within London, I am sure there are better places than Stoke Newington Church Street to take tea in the afternoon, I just don't know any of them, and they aren't on my doorstep.

So when I read from a helpful chap called Tim Eout (is that a French name?) that there's a new place opened and it demands my presence for a spot of chai and cakey, I can hardly get on my bike fast enough - besides, it was a quiet afternoon, I was sick of annotating chapter six hundred and god-only-knows-what of some interminable history book, and I wanted cake.
I expected a certain degree of competence because there are plenty of decent cafes on Church Street and none but a fool would open a new one without something going for it.
With a name like The Tea Rooms, it wasn't too much to hope for a decent brew, somewhere to sit, bla bla bla.
What I got, rather marvellously, was the full bloody monty. Loose-leaf, and extra water on the side, and tablecloths, and a slightly crazy staring woman in the corner, and students reading on couches, and a slice of surprisingly subtle chocolate and almond cake.

I suppose in a more innocent or perhaps more particular age you'd expect proper tea and cakes and a solicitous sales assistant and a generally benign air of quietude, but this is not that age, so to experience all of those things, in an almost archetypal, unpretentious, relaxed tea room was, while not a revelation, certainly a delight.

Clissold Park Cafe - you'll still come here. and you should. by andybrown

andybrown — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:20:56 +0000

Review by andybrown

Rating: 3.00

Phone: 020 7923 9797

Tags: quick bite, takeaway, crowded

Is there a proverb relating to the idea that you can offer people rubbish as long as its surrounded with good things and they'll still buy it? Something like the converse of lipstick on a pig. Clissold Park Cafe is the epitome of okayishness in the epicentre of amazingitude.

Take the south-facing lawn and portico of a 200 year old Grade II listed mansion, facing a stretch of the (400 year old) New River, in the middle of a park frequented by the entire fecund, bicycling Guardian-reading cafe-frequenting population of Stoke Newington. In March, turn on the sun, and wait for the crowds. A child could run this place and turn a profit. It's a captive audience.

Look at it. Look at the photo. You already want to be there don't you? Of course you do, it's gorgeous.

So the food isn't great, so what? You're in a lovely park, get over it.

So you have to wait ages for it - sit in the lovely park, you ungrateful dolt.

This is the sort of establishment that really would need something specially bad, something unavoidably cack, to rob it of custom. And it doesn't have that, so it's always packed, because in this part of London, it's got the best surroundings imaginable - grass and trees and no cars and a lovely big grassy terrace and no competition.

Well, good luck to them. It's not often you can find somewhere that doesn't even need to try. I say that, there's a recession on, I half expect it to be closed by June.

But if it is, yours truly is going after that lease...Is there a proverb relating to the idea that you can offer people rubbish as long as its surrounded with good things and they'll still buy it? Something like the converse of lipstick on a pig. Clissold Park Cafe is the epitome of okayishness in the epicentre of amazingitude.

Take the south-facing lawn and portico of a 200 year old Grade II listed mansion, facing a stretch of the (400 year old) New River, in the middle of a park frequented by the entire fecund, bicycling Guardian-reading cafe-frequenting population of Stoke Newington. In March, turn on the sun, and wait for the crowds. A child could run this place and turn a profit. It's a captive audience.

Look at it. Look at the photo. You already want to be there don't you? Of course you do, it's gorgeous.

So the food isn't great, so what? You're in a lovely park, get over it.

So you have to wait ages for it - sit in the lovely park, you ungrateful dolt.

This is the sort of establishment that really would need something specially bad, something unavoidably cack, to rob it of custom. And it doesn't have that, so it's always packed, because in this part of London, it's got the best surroundings imaginable - grass and trees and no cars and a lovely big grassy terrace and no competition.

Well, good luck to them. It's not often you can find somewhere that doesn't even need to try. I say that, there's a recession on, I half expect it to be closed by June.

But if it is, yours truly is going after that lease...

Dem Cafe Bar - a trully amazing experience! by numenor26

numenor26 — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:11:40 +0000

Review by numenor26

Rating: 5.00

Phone: 020 7254 6364

Tags: cosy, cultured, lively

i just discovered this cafe / bar and i am so happy that i did! i already visited it twice in the last three days (for breakfast and dinner). they have a huge selection of breakfasts; i tried menemen (a turkish egg special). it came with their own baked bread - it was absolutely delicious! i even bought few breads for the following morning :-) i tried one of their smoothies (bananalicious), i just loved it! they do illy coffee, which is another bonus for coffee lovers (my girl friend is really fussy about her coffee, she was pleased so they must be good at coffee front too). they get absolutely packed on weekends, so waiting times is a little longer than average. however regardless how busy they are, their waitresses always have time to ask few friendly questions and share smiles with you. they have this crazy deal for groups - you get a free house wine if you have 2 course meal (your starters work out to be for free!!!).i just discovered this cafe / bar and i am so happy that i did! i already visited it twice in the last three days (for breakfast and dinner). they have a huge selection of breakfasts; i tried menemen (a turkish egg special). it came with their own baked bread - it was absolutely delicious! i even bought few breads for the following morning :-) i tried one of their smoothies (bananalicious), i just loved it! they do illy coffee, which is another bonus for coffee lovers (my girl friend is really fussy about her coffee, she was pleased so they must be good at coffee front too). they get absolutely packed on weekends, so waiting times is a little longer than average. however regardless how busy they are, their waitresses always have time to ask few friendly questions and share smiles with you. they have this crazy deal for groups - you get a free house wine if you have 2 course meal (your starters work out to be for free!!!).

Relish - CLOSED - by andybrown

andybrown — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 23:46:28 +0000

Review by andybrown

Rating: 1.00

Website: www.relishdeli.net/

it's closed down. i feel guilty.it's closed down. i feel guilty.

Bodrum Cafe - Lovely cafe! by dryremedy

dryremedy — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 23:59:35 +0000

Review by dryremedy

Rating: 5.00

Phone: 020 7254 6464

Tags: top food, cosy, cultured

I have no idea why, but when I first heard about Bodums, I thought it was a team shop! Instead it is a Turkish cafÃ©. I think they made the right choice! The service here is really good on the whole, however when they are busy it can be a little slow, although that is understandable. They have a great choice of drinks and an even better selection of quick bites. I have been here a few times and have tried many of the types of food on offer and I can honestly say the food is absolutely delicious. I also really love their coffee, they serve some of the best in London!I have no idea why, but when I first heard about Bodums, I thought it was a team shop! Instead it is a Turkish cafÃ©. I think they made the right choice! The service here is really good on the whole, however when they are busy it can be a little slow, although that is understandable. They have a great choice of drinks and an even better selection of quick bites. I have been here a few times and have tried many of the types of food on offer and I can honestly say the food is absolutely delicious. I also really love their coffee, they serve some of the best in London!

The Spence - go before you die by andybrown

andybrown — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 23:32:33 +0000

Review by andybrown

Rating: 5.00

Phone: 020 7254 9753

Tags: coffee, bakery, bread

if only for the chocolate brioche. and the unfeasibly sexy staff.if only for the chocolate brioche. and the unfeasibly sexy staff.

Metolino - Breakfast for gluttons by andybrown

andybrown — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 21:30:16 +0000

Review by andybrown

Rating: 4.00

Phone: 020 7923 9200

Tags: quick bite, takeaway, quiet & relaxed

Living near Stoke Newington High Street, where cafes and Turkish restaurants are legion and being spoiled for choice seems more of a right than a privilege, it is all too easy to develop a precise, not to say fussy idea of what constitutes good breakfast. Metolino is the only place I have found that meets the most exacting requirements, and sets a standard few can dare to emulate. And there are only two things it needs in order to achieve this.

Coffee. Really really really really good coffee. And as it's for breakfast, this coffee must be an ejector seat for the soul, an explosive rocket-fuel grade stimulant, yet rich, smooth and able to cope with about 4 sugars.

Food. Metolino have the usual options of course, and they are well made, cheap and quick. But where they exceed is in preparing the epicurean delights of the Med Breakfast. In essence, this is a simple dish.

Take one huge plate, pile high with eggs (scrambled, fried or boiled), halloumi, grilled garlic sausage, olives, salad, toast, butter, jam, honey and marmalade, price it at a fiver including the afore-mentioned vein-busting coffee, and dare anyone to finish it.

The sandwiches are excellent, the mains aren't bad, the staff are friendly, the service is quick, the decor is warm, bla bla bla it's generally a nice place. And the bus stop is right outside, which is very convenient because after a breakfast that size you won't be walking anywhere for at least an hour.Living near Stoke Newington High Street, where cafes and Turkish restaurants are legion and being spoiled for choice seems more of a right than a privilege, it is all too easy to develop a precise, not to say fussy idea of what constitutes good breakfast. Metolino is the only place I have found that meets the most exacting requirements, and sets a standard few can dare to emulate. And there are only two things it needs in order to achieve this.

Coffee. Really really really really good coffee. And as it's for breakfast, this coffee must be an ejector seat for the soul, an explosive rocket-fuel grade stimulant, yet rich, smooth and able to cope with about 4 sugars.

Food. Metolino have the usual options of course, and they are well made, cheap and quick. But where they exceed is in preparing the epicurean delights of the Med Breakfast. In essence, this is a simple dish.

Take one huge plate, pile high with eggs (scrambled, fried or boiled), halloumi, grilled garlic sausage, olives, salad, toast, butter, jam, honey and marmalade, price it at a fiver including the afore-mentioned vein-busting coffee, and dare anyone to finish it.

The sandwiches are excellent, the mains aren't bad, the staff are friendly, the service is quick, the decor is warm, bla bla bla it's generally a nice place. And the bus stop is right outside, which is very convenient because after a breakfast that size you won't be walking anywhere for at least an hour.

Cafe Surf - Not really a cafe, more of dingy coffee stall/internet cafe. by ChrisAdams

ChrisAdams — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 16:01:18 +0000

Review by ChrisAdams

Rating: 1.00

Phone: 020 8880 1818

Tags: quick bite, avoid, takeaway

I had agreed to meet an acquaintance at Cafe Surf, expecting a coffee shop in the vein of Breakfast Club, or even one of the chains like Caffe Nero, or Starbucks, or possibly one of the many coffeeshops along Tottenham High Road.

What I found was a dirty, badly maintained little internet cafe, with a sideline in sandwiches and baked goods.

We ordered a cup of black tea, and a cappuccino - both were passable, and at least were cheap. Neither of us tried the sandwiches or pastries, but the range on offer was pretty run of the mill, train station fare.

The furniture we sat at was plain dangerous however; nearly all the tables we tried were too wobbly to risk putting hot drinks on, and when we did find a table, that was stable, one of the chair had a leg collapse on us, and another had the seat come off the structure where the legs were attached.

It's cheap, and there is wifi, but I can't recommend going there at all, unless you absolutely HAVE to access the internet, or you want a takeaway beverage.I had agreed to meet an acquaintance at Cafe Surf, expecting a coffee shop in the vein of Breakfast Club, or even one of the chains like Caffe Nero, or Starbucks, or possibly one of the many coffeeshops along Tottenham High Road.

What I found was a dirty, badly maintained little internet cafe, with a sideline in sandwiches and baked goods.

We ordered a cup of black tea, and a cappuccino - both were passable, and at least were cheap. Neither of us tried the sandwiches or pastries, but the range on offer was pretty run of the mill, train station fare.

The furniture we sat at was plain dangerous however; nearly all the tables we tried were too wobbly to risk putting hot drinks on, and when we did find a table, that was stable, one of the chair had a leg collapse on us, and another had the seat come off the structure where the legs were attached.

It's cheap, and there is wifi, but I can't recommend going there at all, unless you absolutely HAVE to access the internet, or you want a takeaway beverage.