Buckhurst Hill, Sandwiches, Cakes, Etc Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: “Sambar curry is super, and a great way to start the day!” at this brunch favourite – a quaint-looking, domed café by the water in Victoria Park, where Sri Lankan options feature alongside full English and vegan breakfasts; there’s offshoots in Colombia Road and Broadway Market.

“Down a classic dodgy Dalston alleyway, this beautiful place awaits!” (there’s also an offshoot in Green Lanes, Haringey). “I love the good old Dusty Knuckle”, which inspires affection not just for its “absolutely top bread, pastries and sarnies” plus “excellent coffee”; but also for its social enterprise role supporting at-risk young East Londoners.

2021 Review: ‘Pickled’ author Freddie Janssen launched a Kickstarter campaign for this new, August 2019 venture in hip Dalston – an all-day café sitting alongside a co-working space and urban farm, and delivering a funky-sounding menu which reads like a ‘pick ’n’ mix’ of global inspiration.

2022 Review: “A lovely local coffee shop” in Highbury – this four-year-old majors on “tasty fresh bread/pastries and delicious coffee” and “also sells a nice range of deli bits/wines etc”. The same team have opened a second site on nearby Gillespie Road.

2021 Review: Max Halley’s cult Stroud Green café has won renown as an “outstanding, cheap ’n’ cheerful” gourmet option, thanks to its wild, wacky and wickedly enjoyable selection of sarnies, each of which amounts to what’s effectively a meal between slices of bread (be prepared to get your hands dirty).

A “spectacular breakfast” – “the options are hard to choose from, but none are a poor choice” – is the top culinary feature at these Kiwi haunts, whose zeitgeisty vibe and in-house roasting (omg the smell in Shoreditch!) makes them a magnet for a “top notch coffee” at any time of day.

2022 Review: It’s a bit less nook-like than it looks, if you head to the larger basement of this summer 2020 Highbury newcomer: a deli by day and neighbourhood café in the evenings. With a vague connection to Linden Stores (RIP), which it replaced in 2020, there’s a Turkish twist to the contemporary European small dishes and sharing plates. Limited early feedback, but very positive all-round.

“The original and the best”, agree fans of this legendary East End Jewish deli, which is “well worth a detour any time, day or night” (thanks to its 24/7 opening) for its “fantastic” beigels (stubbornly spelt in the traditional European manner), stuffed with classic fillings including salt beef, lox and pickled herring. “Amazing value” too – it feels like they’ve forgotten to change the prices for the last 20 years.

2022 Review: This aptly-named, all-day café in Barnsbury is the local hot-spot for weekend brunch – “if you can get in before the queues”. “Courgette fritters, pancakes, banana bread” all get a shout-out, along with a “seriously good Virgin Mary”. It’s less frenetic during the week, when they take bookings.

2021 Review: “Perfect coffee every time” keeps caffeine fiends crawling back to this small and serious chain. “Baking from Fortitude Bakehouse is a good complement”.

2021 Review: “Perfect coffee every time” keeps caffeine fiends crawling back to this small and serious chain. “Baking from Fortitude Bakehouse is a good complement”.

Caffeine aficionados beat a path to the Leather Lane premises of “one of the early champions of speciality coffee”, where they imbibe information from the “friendly and knowledgeable staff” along with their brews. It’s a “comfortable refurbished space”, and there are “great pastries” and breakfast/brunch options to munch on.

2021 Review: “Could this be the best coffee in London?” – this speciality chain has grown from this Leather Lane site to 15 around the capital in 10 years, and is, by all accounts, “exceptional” – “definitely worth going out of the way for a brew”. “Staff are friendly”, and sandwiches, salads and cakes are prepared fresh every day at a central in-house kitchen and bakery.

2021 Review: “Good coffee… and the food’s OK too” – this Borough Market café remains one of the top caffeine hits in SE1. “It’s great for breakfast” too.

“Decent croissants and the best brews”, delivered by “unfailingly lovely service, however long the queues”, still win legions of fans for London’s original cool coffee shop group, even if it has real competition these days from more Antipodean-style challengers. “They’ve been my top choice for over 35 years, but I can no longer cope with the uncomfortable seating at the OG Covent Garden outlet, so SE1 it is”, which is “perfect to combine with a Borough Market visit”. There’s also a third branch at Bermondsey’s Spa Terminus.

2022 Review: “You will literally not get a better toasted cheese and onion sandwich in this world!” – so say fans of Bill Oglethorpe’s market stall, which is a mainstay of Borough Market. On Saturday mornings and lunchtime, you can also eat-in at their dairy in nearby Bermondsey.

2021 Review: “A wonderful location off Bermondsey Street” – a “quirky”, ancient, tiny shelter originally built for watchmen guarding the graves of nearby St Mary Magdalene Church – helps win fans for this small coffee house (which has since spawned a couple of spin-offs at Tower Bridge and Fetter Lane). It wins many nominations for its “top coffee” too (supplied by Shoreditch roasters, Ozone) and “delicious food”. One quibble: service can be “so laid back, it’s almost horizontal”.

“Viennese in style” – this “elegantly understated” sibling to The Wolseley sits on the easterly fringe of the West End, and is “very much a power location”: “the ambience is perfect for business meals – bustling but not too noisy – with well-spaced tables and comfortable seating”; and “obliging” service that’s “efficient and warm”. Its “Mittel European brasserie menu with schnitzel/goulash/wurst etc” is “nothing special, but it is consistent and very acceptable” and “with something amongst the selection of dishes that anyone and everyone can eat”. “Despite the loss of founders Corbin and King, it is mercifully unaltered under its new ownership” with ratings practically identical to last year’s. Top Tip – “fabulous for breakfast”, whether you are dealmaking or not.

Loyal locals endure the (sometimes lengthy) queue for this favourite Hampstead hang-out, thanks to its “very good coffee” and “top breakfast” (shakshuka something of a speciality).

“Decent croissants and the best brews”, delivered by “unfailingly lovely service, however long the queues”, still win legions of fans for London’s original cool coffee shop group, even if it has real competition these days from more Antipodean-style challengers. “They’ve been my top choice for over 35 years, but I can no longer cope with the uncomfortable seating at the OG Covent Garden outlet, so SE1 it is”, which is “perfect to combine with a Borough Market visit”. There’s also a third branch at Bermondsey’s Spa Terminus.