The owner’s of The Bridge have really gone to town, there must be something like £300,000 worth of stuff here. There is way more than is actually necessary to create the desired effect but you certainly can’t fault them for that. Apparently it has been collected from all over the world. The owner Ricco has a real passion for this stuff, everything from the door handles to the copper coffee machines is handpicked, pretty admirable really. He drives a New York City cab which is usually parked outside then sits at the bar as if he was just another customer. I imagine he never tires of the “oh wow’s” when people walk in the front door for the first time. The Bridge is wildwest saloon meets Moulin Rouge and is not for those of you who hate the colour pink. It is truly spectacular, the pictures say it all. The cakes are in keeping with Eastern Europe, creamy and ridiculous covered in chocolate shavings and glacier cherries but intriguing all the same.
The Bridge, 15 Kingsland Road, London E2 8AA
Mon-Wed 12pm-1am Thu-Sat 12pm-2am Sun 12pm-12am
Unless you live there or have a particular fondness for pound shops or Argos then it’s unlikely you will find yourself on Walthamstow High Street. However if you do feel like a trip out east or you just wake up there then Rio Café and Ricco’s opposite are the places to go. A friend took me there, merely stating that she knew a place I might like but I wasn’t expecting this. Rio Café is an explosion of décor ranging across everything from 50s Americana to European Café to Moroccan hookah lounge with gaudy but comfortable Middle Eastern furniture and flags ranging from Brazil to Belgium. They have an extensive outdoor area decorated with equal care and enthusiasm where locals drink espressos and smoke cigarettes looking like characters from an Emir Kustarica film from some far flung corner of Eastern Europe.
Run by the same family is the equally impressive Ricco’s directly opposite. Sharing a ‘terrace’ for want of a better word (in reality, tables and chairs spreading out onto the street blocking the road) with Café Rio, both have outdoor plastic tables and umbrellas with no sense of irony which complete the look of a café in an Italian piazza, well sort of. Ricco’s is going for grand Parisian café meets colonial coffee merchants. They have a splendid gold and wooden bar with antique looking mirrors and barrels of coffee and sacks of tea, serving all kinds of eastern cakes and an extensive range of tea and coffee. It’s all locals here, although I’m not sure that’s a good thing.
Rio’s Cafe/ Ricco’s Cafe, 85 High Street, Walthamstow, London, E17 7DB
020 8503 7513
Related posts:
Website by 
Leave Your Response