Le Delice, E17 4QR

Le Delice (114 Hoe Street) manages to be all things to all people: a cafe, restaurant, coffee and cake shop. It has a generous and well executed menu and flexible space which caters for everyone. For me, it stands out as one of the few places in E17 with a large space to allow singles to dwell with a coffee whilst simultaneously serving breakfast, lunch or dinner. 

If you like people watching find a table by the window, which wraps around the corner of Hoe Street and Jewel Road. You have a choice of dining tables, sofas and low tables, and a back room that is used as a meeting space. Their Facebook page advertises a recent Mehndi evening and I know of two business networks and a church group that uses the back room. It’s a popular place! If you want to find out what’s going on elsewhere in the Stow, they have plenty of local activities and groups advertised on the noticeboard by the till.

It’s worth noting (now that winter is upon us) that they either have amazing central heating (and a huge bill) or a kick-ass kitchen pushing out the heat, because it’s always toasty warm.

However, back to my priority, the coffee . With such a large menu I wasn’t expecting perfection in all things, but their coffee is surprisingly good. I may have found a new favourite-within-walking-distance-of-home (because I can’t have one out-and-out favourite). I chose a large soya latte (£1.70 plus 20p for soya), which was strong but mellow and smooth. It had the strength of a cappuccino, so those who like milky coffee could probably have used a little more, but I was very happy. Their coffee menu features three different piccolo selections – so it strikes me that they expect coffee drinkers to pull up a chair and linger for awhile, keeping our caffeine high going.

And linger you can, because they’re open until midnight – a rarity in E17. When the ‘The Scene at Cleveland Place’ opens at the end of 2014, I hope we’ll get more evening openings.

So what else is on the menu? Well everything. Sandwiches, paninis, baguettes. There are lunch specials every day, which they post on Twitter and Facebook if you want to choose before you go. 

Breakfast tagine (£6.25),
really filling brunch with lots of flavour.

They have Movenpick ice cream by the door which is still popular even though winter has practically arrived. I was sheltering inside from a downpour and a family of 3 was getting double cones!

They also make cakes to order. I watched a young man perform the delicate balancing act of getting a 15” square decorated cake into a 14” box, I have no idea how the woman carried it home.

Chicken pesto baguette (£2.50),
deliciously creamy,
easy to taste the parmesan in the pesto.

My one minor gripe is that they could clean up the menus behind the counter, on the wall, they’re a bit scruffy and it affects customers’ perception of cleanliness – which isn’t a problem at all.

Ultimately peoples, you can’t argue with a huge coffee that costs less than £2. Every major chain will charge you more. And if the coffee doesn’t keep you, the friendly efficient staff and free wifi will.


Accessibility... Level access at the entrance and plenty of space inside to move around and they’ll happily shift tables to make a bit of space if needed. A very slight ramp to the male and female toilets at the back. The ladies is accessible with space for transferring (though the passageway looked a little tight to me) and a baby changing table. There are a few steps at the rear of the cafe, to go down to the seating area at the back.

Popular with... everybody.

L'Hirondelle, E17 4QH

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 Cafe, E17 9NJ

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.

Ricco’s, E17 7LD

Ricco's coffee shop is one of my favourite places in Walthamstow. They have great strong coffee and the decor is a fantastically bonkers mix of Viennese coffee house with North African accents, plus a modern East End/East European vibe.

Located near the bottom of the High Street, I use this coffee shop as an excuse to barrel my way through the market on a Saturday. You won’t find it on Google Maps but head for the ‘SAM 99p’ shop and it’s almost next door. 

Their coffee is strong, like an after dinner coffee which coats your mouth with a smokey flavour. Soya milk was available on my most recent visit, and it was £2 for a soya latte. Bargain. They have a selection of croissants and cakes - carrot cake and chocolate chip muffins were on offer but sadly, not homemade.

Ricco’s has wooden decor throughout – a long bar with grape vines in the paneling  mirrors behind the bar and gold coffee urn– though not actually used for brewing. However, the old fashioned cash register is still used and makes a noisy ring when they cash up your bill. Mock Louis XV chairs, with luminous yellow, pink and green reupholstering dominate the front of the coffee shop, with sofas in the back. 

With all that wood paneling it could be dark and dingy, but the mirrors bring in the light from the floor to ceiling windows at the entrance. Moroccan lamps hang in the windows and in the back. Ricco’s isn't open in the evenings, but I wish it was, so I could see the room lit with spangly coloured glass.

It’s a cheery place, but easy to sit and read a book too. They usually have music on the radio, one person making coffee, and one offering table service.

They have 3 high chairs available, stacked in the back, a few toys and children’s books to keep little ones entertained whilst their parents watch the market traffic outside.

Opening hours seem to be a little haphazard. I usually trot down there on Saturday or Sunday, but they’re not consistently open on Sundays.

Accessibility... level entrance, enough space for wheelchair user to sit at a table inside but probably not enough for a turning circle. Toilet available, but not accessible.

Popular with... Saturday market-goers, parents with children, groups of men who chat freely with the staff, people watchers.