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 and the boys who ran it basically got bored of having to go to work everyday (they didn’t think of that when they opened it). In light of this I was so pleased to discover the Counter Cafe as it’s a great cafe by all standards. Run by Kiwi’s (and you know what they say about kiwis, they’re like people from Brooklyn, you’ll never meet one you don’t like). 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 and is known in that area 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. There is also a mezzanine level with a stunning view of the Olympic park, they really nailed the location on that one.
This is the view from the mezzanine, pretty good don’t you think!
http://www.thecountercafe.co.uk
4 Roach Road, London E3 2PA
07952 696 388
Monday – Friday 7.30am – 5pm (Thursday 11pm serving Tapas)
Saturday 8.30am – 5pm Sunday 9.30am – 5pm
Now it’s worth mentioning the Container Cafe (so named because it’s made out of container units) because it’s owned by the same people as the Counter cafe. They got themselves a sweet deal as being located just on the edge of the Olympic park they are the sole place for the Olympic tours to stop for coffee or lunch (although I don’t think this was a coincidence) . The Container Cafe is as cute as the Counter Cafe with a more limited menu but equally delicious. However it is overrun with old retirees in giant hiking trainers, kids on a school trip who couldn’t give a shit about the Olympics and fat tourists. There is a nice little outdoor seating area which looks like a kids play park but is infact a ‘sculpture park’ with the most pointless ‘sculptures’ that look like budget flower boxes covered in signs telling people ‘not to touch’ I don’t knw what that’s all about.
Container Cafe, View Tube, The Greenway, London E15 2PJ
07530 274 160
Monday – Sunday 9.00am – 5.00pm
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