Pop Up: All You Read Is Love, E17 4RT

Credit: @allyoureadislove

A new pop up bookshop-cafe is occupying Central Parade on Hoe Street, and it’s well worth diverting out of your way to visit. 

I’ve visited a few different pop ups in this council-owned space and no others have managed so effectively to occupy the whole space, and make it look less like a bright white box. All You Read Is Love is actually cosy, which should have been impossible opposite the huge Cleveland Place building site and on a busy road.

If the council’s goal is to find a permanent tenant for this space, All You Read Is Love would be a perfect accompaniment to the new-build cinema and restaurants. I sat in the window one evening this week, with a delicious cup of Camomile and Lavender tea (£1), with the rain coming down but the traffic noise shut out, listening to an 80s folk singer. My tea-drinking companion knew the singer from her childhood, though I now can’t remember his name. We had found a little nostalgic oasis.

The Danish brother and sister team have purposefully combined books and cafe, with the aim of building a more sustainable business model, than books or coffee alone. This plan seems to resonate strongly with the Walthamstow community. Since opening on Wednesday, they have had steady trade and ongoing chatter on social media, which must surely have led to inclusion in this week’s Evening Standard article on the delights of Awesomestow. E17 is now most certainly London’s Next Big Thing (which we’ve all known for sometime, haven’t we?). 

Tea in beautiful blue china (credit: @billtix), flat white and cake (credit: @allyoureadislove).

Well, how does the coffee offering stand up? The coffee had good body and depth – though I couldn’t discern distinct flavours. This may be because I was so distracted by the taste of milk - as a lover of soya, it’s been a long time since I had a coffee with cow’s milk. I had forgotten how creamy it can be and I’m used to the nuttiness of soya now. At the moment, they only have full fat milk (which you can forgive when they have limited space and temporary premises). It’s well priced, £2 for a flat white. They also offer beer, cider, juice, sandwiches, and of course, cake! We were given the treat of tasty crispy biscuits on our first visit, vanilla rings and chocolate chip cookies. All homemade – when do this pair sleep?

Most beguiling however, is the absolute wonder of an independent bookshop in the centre of Walthamstow. I have been introduced to writers I would never have otherwise found (Per Peterson, Junot Diaz) and could buy locally written and printed poetry (from Paekakariki Press). I hope this test of their business has given them enough evidence for the bank manager, and enough confidence that the community will be loyal patrons, to open in local permanent premises.

All You Read is Love will be popping up until 9 February, opening 10am – 10pm Tuesday –Saturday, 10am - 8pm on Sunday, closed Mondays. They have several events before then – music, poetry reading, creative writing - check their Facebook page for listings.

Accessibility... large step at the entrance, so buggies can manage but wheelchair users will struggle. A unisex toilet is available at the back of the shop.

Popular with... the whole, diverse population of e17, it seems, but particularly book-loving people in pairs, wifi hunters with laptops and the local creative writing crowd.

The Hornbeam Cafe, E17 9AH

Soya hot chocolate

I love the Hornbeam Cafe for being different. I have lived in Walthamstow for nearly five years but only set foot inside the Hornbeam (458 Hoe Street) six months ago. It was always slightly out of the way, but my partner knew I had a hit list of coffee shops and took me for a surprise lunch on my birthday. We were very late and there was no food left, but the lovely ladies in the kitchen said they’d cobble together a lunch and it was delicious – a bit of everything. Though the most evocative memory of that meal is the world’s best soya hot chocolate. I have yet to try Cafe Bonito’s hot choc but it has competition!

Since then, I’ve purposefully made time to go for a coffee or a meal. Even when it’s full of customers, it’s a respectfully quiet place with no blaring radio. Last weekend I sat and read a good 100 pages of my book (Room by Emma Donoghue) without being disturbed. It has 6-8 mixed sized tables and I love the window table with wicker chairs for watching the relatively busy street – it’s near the Hoe Street/Bakers Avenue junction.

The Hornbeam is a vegetarian, mostly organic, cafe which offers home-cooked hearty meals, making use of whatever seasonal food they can acquire. Though a mainstay on the menu is the vegan brunch (£5.80) which is an incredibly satisfying and spicy breakfast.

Brunch: vegan sausages, tofu scramble, beans, potato cake,
mushrooms, salad and toast (homemade bread).

They also have an extensive drinks menu (including alcoholic) and when you order they automatically ask ‘dairy or soya milk’ – brilliant! Their coffee has a rich flavour, not too strong or too bitter (a latte was £1.90). Their hot chocolate is deliciously creamy. Water is freely available, on a side table. It feels very homely.

Soya latte £1.90

As a Community Cafe and Environment Centre, they have all sorts of information about local projects and green schemes, so there is reading material available if you didn’t bring your own. They sell locally created wood crafts and have regular events such as open mic nights and supper club. Open 11am – 4pm Monday to Friday, 10.30am – 5pm Saturday. Sadly not open Sundays - I wish they would, but volunteers make the Hornbeam special, so it's probably difficult to open all weekend. 

I have yet to try any other cafes in this part of Walthamstow/Leyton, so if anyone has any suggestions, let me know in the comments below. 

Accessibility... Ramp at the door and good space once you’re inside. Accessible toilet. Two high chairs available for little ones. If you’re parking in the area, you can get a visitors parking voucher from the shop next door.

Popular with... vegetarians (quelle surprise) and eco-lifestyle-advocates, tends to attract a slightly older crowd rather than hipsters or parents.

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.