L’Hirondelle (160 Hoe St) needs little marketing, it’s an incredibly popular coffee shop that easily manages on word of mouth. When I moved to Walthamstow, two friends told me to become an early riser and get down to L’Hirondelle for freshly baked croissants. My sleep habits haven’t changed dramatically, but thankfully L’Hirondelle must be baking more these days because there are still pastries on offer when I saunter in mid-morning.
Best of all is the smell, like walking into a Parisian patisserie, it warms your lungs when you breathe in. And L’Hirondelle behaves like a patisserie: families queue up to take a selection box of cakes home for tea.
They’re great for breakfast, lunch and coffee and cake anytime. Everything is made fresh on the premises, breakfast pastries, cream cakes, fruit tarts, little biscuits and occasion cakes made to order. If you sit there on a weekend, it’s fun to watch people picking up personalised cakes for their special occasions, and to see them smile.
Their coffee is delicious and made using two large brass coffee urns on the bar. It’s strong coffee, but has a smoother taste than coffee brewed at Ricco's. Sadly, they don’t offer soya milk. But when coffee and a croissant costs £2.20 and they happily leave you to sit with your book, it’s impossible to complain!
Newcomers to the Stow underestimate L’Hirondelle. From the outside, it doesn’t look incredibly special but when you enter the guys serving are energetic, friendly and jokey and make you feel welcome. The counter is mirrored and helps create an illusion of more space, and there are three high shelves full of North African tagine pots. It can get incredibly busy, but I’ve always found a table. On Sundays, there is often a congregation of North African or East European men setting the world to rights. It’s open 8am – 6pm.
Accessibility... there’s a small step at the door and it’s too narrow to be accessible to wheelchair users, though buggies are manageable. Seating is on two levels – 4 or 5 tables by the counter, two steps down to 4 more large tables and toilets. From my perspective, it’s worth noting that they have tall backed chairs which are very comfortable for my poorly back!
Popular with... families out for a treat, groups of friends catching up over lunch or a coffee and lone coffee drinkers with a book.
The Deli’s main virtue is its location. It’s is a pretty typical, easy going cafe with nice food and average coffee, and it’s also the only casual eatery on Orford Road. Eat17 doesn’t really accommodate casual coffee drinkers anymore, and the Bakery has sparse seating, so The Deli is an easy choice when visiting the heart of the Village.
The Deli always has friendly and welcoming staff, they’re polite and helpful, and let you sit and drink in your own time. They have a good selection of their own books, including a meaty poetry selection, and there’s always local art on the walls.
They offer hot drinks, cake and sandwiches with mix and match furniture, indoors and out.
It’s a nice, but honestly, I feel pretty ambivalent about it. It’s an easy and quick walk for me, but it wouldn't be my top choice in E17 because there are other places in Walthamstow with more character, personality and passion for their product. Lately, their cake seems to have been more shop bought than homemade, and their coffee is passable. I’ve visited twice in the last two weeks, it was first burnt and bitter, and second weak. Though it’s well-priced at £1.90 for a soya latte and they do have lovely, chunky, warm-your-hands mugs!
The paninis however, are great, their best feature. I visit especially for their goat’s cheese panini which is generously packed with cheese, sun dried tomatoes, pesto and rocket. It is delicious. They serve a few hot dishes on most days, such as lasagne or cottage pie.
Ultimately, it’s all about the location. Orford Road is where Hackney residents come to contemplate moving to the Stow. On both recent visits, I was able to ear-wig on conversations about house deals and the relative merits of different parts of E17.
There isn’t masses of space and there’s no customer toilet but it is buggy and baby friendly, again down to its relaxed attitude and locale. They’d be very foolish to turn away all the local mummies – which previous management regimes learned to their cost!
Accessibility... I have to admit, I didn’t pay close attention to the entrance, but I think it's level. Once inside however, there isn’t enough space for a turning circle for a wheelchair user. There is outside seating, in good and sometimes not-so-good weather, and table service. There is enough space to manoeuvre buggies inside the cafe and tuck them out of the way.
Popular with... home buyers surveying the area, Village residents, relaxed readers.
L’Hirondelle (160 Hoe St) needs little marketing, it’s an incredibly popular coffee shop that easily manages on word of mouth. When I moved to Walthamstow, two friends told me to become an early riser and get down to L’Hirondelle for freshly baked croissants. My sleep habits haven’t changed dramatically, but thankfully L’Hirondelle must be baking more these days because there are still pastries on offer when I saunter in mid-morning.
