Counter Cafe

You might think that there wasn’t much in Hackney Wick and that’s because there isn’t apart from a lot of unemployed people who call themselves artists. Anyway for months i’d been going to a fairly nasty cafe as there wasn’t anywhere else. Then a great little place opened up, eclectic and quirky, like sitting in a film students living room and serving great food and proper coffee too, sadly it had to close as the Irish gypsy’s, sorry “travellers” kept nicking their stuff. In light of this I was so pleased to discover the Counter Cafe as it’s a great cafe by all standards. Hidden away deep in Hackney Wick, next to the canal and surrounded by artist warehouses, it’s a bit like London’s answer to Greenpoint, Brooklyn. It’s still pretty industrial but ever so slowly on the rise as it’s right on the border of the Olympic zone. The cafe itself attracts all the locals from builders to artists but mainly artists. I generally refer to it as “the Posh cafe” due to the exposed brick walls, wooden counters, leather chairs and fancy menu serving everything from soup and salad to posh sandwiches and Eggs Benedict. The fact that it’s owned by artists, run by artists and caters to artists (although the prices don’t) will give you a good idea about the place*.