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What is 'following'?Café: British
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Time Out says 8 Users say Rate it
Head down Dace Road and take a left on Bream Street to Fish Island's Roach Road and you'll discover the wonderful Counter Café. The enormous two-floored establishment is attached to the Stour Space and perched on the banks of the Regent's Canal, with views to the Olympic Stadium.
Young and middle-aged couples, dads and kids, groups of friends, as well as singletons with laptops, take up every chair, sofa and theatre-seat. There's free Wi-Fi, newspapers, a decent soundtrack and huge windows and skylights offering great weather- and people-watching opportunities until the dishes arrive.
The food - breakfasts, brunches, cakes and own-made pies - is excellent. In spite of the café's popularity, service remains efficient. A perfect flat white coffee and an enormous vegetarian breakfast (own-made potato cake and 'baked' butter beans, wilted spinach, two eggs, fried tomatoes, mushrooms, and two slices of Bürgen toast) made it up to the second floor with no perceptible loss of temperature.
By lunchtime, there was a queue. Come the evening, from Thursday to Sunday, the café turns into a bar and serves tapas. A winner.
Counter Café details
Follow Counter Café to receive updates on special offers here.
What is 'following'?07 834 275920 mobile
Open 7.30am-5pm Mon-Wed, Fri; 7.30am-11pm Thur-Sun
Main courses £3.50-£8
Credit cards AmEx, MC, V
Facilities
Tables outdoors ( 4, pavement ), Babies and children admitted, Bookings not accepted, Available for hire, Disabled ( toilet ), Takeaway serviceCounter Café map
Comments & ratings 3/5 (Average of 8 ratings)
After a few visits I now give up, what a terrible place. The staff are either hungover, generally clueless or unenthusiastic in general, I am not sure which. The ordering and payment system is interminably slow, the wait for drinks equally so. The posh baked beans are a mystery, the tomato relish dreadful and the toilets equally so. I think this is another example of hipster territory where it's more important to be there with your Macbook Air than it is to actually have good food. It's a pretentious rip off.
I really miss coming to the counter. I used to work in Hackney Wick and it was such a great place to go to for lunch. The prices are reasonable and the bacon and avocado baguettes are DIVINE.
Really nice staff, always friendly and smiley.
Nice location. Decent coffee.
Probably the most incompetent, couldn't-be-arsed service in Britain.
a takeaway latte was £2.50 and it was crap. they weren't even serving anyone else at that point. was hoping to go for breakfast at some point but also saw that seats and table had crumbs everywhere and is not very clean. there is absolutely no reason to go to that area either, wouldn't waste time going there.
Wen't to this hidden gem for an amazing night of small plates and tapas. The wine list is small but precise and the staff seem to love what they are doing.
The coffee was nice, loved the decor, but .... Friday night's debris including wine bottles still littering the balcony Saturday lunchtime. No soap in the toilets for 2 consecutive days. Didn't fancy eating in such a grubby environment, Cleaning up seems to be off the menu at Counter Cafe.
OK, so it's a week later from my last comment. Another Saturday morning, and run followed by compensatory overeating. And... Another incredible veggie breakfast. This little Australian run enclave really know how to make great tasting veggie food.
The fresh orange juice is a treat. The arty conversation of local Wickers is intriguing.
See this week's breakfast portrait on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/uncleheman/5022746520
Veggie breakfast The Counter Cafe Hackney Wick
This was the best veg breakfast of my life thus far. Inspired balsamic in the mushrooms, homemade beans were spicier and tastier than the Pavillion in Victoria Park. The poached eggs were done in a poaching pan, but were perfect otherwise. You get a portion of tomato jam / salsa / homemade tomato ketchup, not sure what it was but it was sweet and tangy.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/uncleheman/5000379607/
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