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.