Hackney
Hoxtons

Hoxtons

311 Old St, EC1V 9LA, Hackney, United Kingdom

Diners • Coffee • Breakfast • Chocolate


"A lovely spot to sit down to lunch or nurse some coffees in the afternoon and watch the world go by.  There are only 5 or 6 tables arranged along floor length wrap around picture windows overlooking the intersection of hipster central at Old Street and Charlotte Road/Rufus Street.  We arrived at late at 14:00 when there were plenty of tables.  I imagine it could be busy here with office workers between 12:00 and 13:00. Hoxton's is a basic independent sandwich shop and breakfast bar, that also offers a couple of cantine style warm meals at lunchtime.  Today there was chilli con carne with rice, shepherd's pie, and a couple of pasta dishes.  The two daily sandwich specials were steak, onion and rocket as well as chorizo, grilled veg and rocket.  I requested a toasted ciabatta with prosciutto, grilled vegetables and mozzarella.  My companion ordered the chilli. The ingredients going into my sandwich were all of good quality.  However, the amount of filing used was quite modest.  A single layer of ham, a thin layer of mozarella, a scatter of good grilled veg consisting of mostly paprika and courgette and a bit of rocket.  it was tasty enough though.  My companion complained that his chilli was boring due to lack of spice.  There was no cumin and virtually no chilli powder.  It did taste predominantly of meat and beans. That said, lunch was cheap and I would be happy to return.  I'll stick to strongly flavored compound sandwich fillings given the modest amount used.  The daily sandwich specials did sound attractive."

Super Ocakbasi

Super Ocakbasi

107 Stoke Newington Road, N16 8BX, Hackney, United Kingdom

Pizza • Kebab • Sushi • Chicken


"I have to start by saying that the food here is really nice however the service was poor. We had to wait over 45 minutes for our food, during this time 2 families arrived, ordered, ate and left and yet our order still had not arrived. I questioned the waiter 3 times during this time, each time he stated that it is on its way and that we have to be patient if we expect good food. Eventually after a 45 minutes I went to the front to see what was taking them so long, to be told to wait once again. The waiter finally let us know that our order was dropped on the floor and was missed by the chef. Our food finally arrived with a sarcastic comment by the waiter to which I responded by politely stating that we expect to be compensated due to the wait, he ensured that a discount will be given. When it came to paying the bill, the cashier was extremely rude and was not willing to reduce our bill he stated that our drinks had been deducted (two cans of Zup). He than deducted a further £2, we were not impressed. In the end the waiter asked the cashier to meet us halfway and our total bill was reduced by £8 the cashier was not happy by this, he snatched our payment and rudely said that we will be charged double on our next visit; His sarcastic comments and attitude was not appreciated. Considering there are many other turkish restaurants in this area, I would recommend you to go elsewhere where there is a better level of customer service; such as Aziziye however it is popular and therefore reservations are needed to avoid disappointment."

Shutterbug

Shutterbug

1 Rivington Place, Hackney, United Kingdom, EC2A 3AY

Bbq • Coffee • Cheese • Breakfast


"A friend of mine had booked a table here for Pancake Day, for 5 of us. When she called that morning to check the booking, she was promptly told that a booking shouldn 't have been made as they weren 't taking bookings for Pancake Day. However, the staff member acknowledged that my friend had not been told this and so the booking would be honoured. When we arrived at 7pm, we were told that this conversation had not taken place and that we would have to get in the (30 people deep) queue. We asked to see their reservations book, as that would show that the booking was indeed made under my friend 's name. We were then passed from staff member to staff member as no one knew who was supposed to have dealt with this, all the while we were kept waiting. It eventually took half an hour and some very stern talking to get a table for us, even after they had acknowledged that we did indeed book a table and this booking was to be honoured. The bar was far too crowded, and the additional seating they had provided was a few picnic tables in a temporary marquee round the back. Once we were seated, it took a further 10 minutes for someone to tell us that we had to go back to the bar and get in the (still 30 people deep) queue to order. By this time we had been messed around for 45 minutes and so decided to leave and take our custom elsewhere. I have never experienced such a shocking display of customer service: being told repeatedly that the customer is wrong, and then when the manager acknowledges that we had made a booking (by mistake of one of *their* staff members), it still took 45 minutes for us to get anywhere. Abysmal. DO NOT VISIT."

Foxlow Stoke Newington

Foxlow Stoke Newington

71-73 Stoke Newington Church Street, Hackney, United Kingdom

Kebab • Pizza • Steak • Seafood


"Looking for a higher quality meal on Friday night and having heard good things we decided to reserve a table at Foxlow. We were surprised that we had no trouble even though booking only about an hour before we wanted to go. It became apparent why once we arrived to a completely empty restaurant with a few people having drinks outside. A few more tables did appear before we left but this place was very empty for a busy Friday night in Stoke Newington when all the other restaurants are buzzing this should give you a clue about what to expect.To give credit for the only thing that was not dire at this place was a couple of the staff and their attitude which was excellent: friendly, professional and very welcoming. Unfortunately our main waitress was unfriendly and we got the feeling was looking down on us for everything we ordered. The wine list while extensive really needs to offer a larger number of lower priced options. Suffice it to say we didn't feel we had value for money on the mediocre wine we had for £29 which was the 6th cheapest on a menu of over 30 reds!The food was the biggest let down. The starter we shared of burrata with heritage tomatoes and avocado was pathetic. A single thin slice of the burrata on the plate with two tiny orange cherry tomatoes cut in half and one regular tomato slice and some pureed green stuff that might once have been something like avocado. It was tiny for £7.50 and a long way from the quality we were expecting. The mains were delivered the moment we finished the starter but despite that were both cold. The fried chicken sandwich being cold was far too soft to give confidence that it had been cooked properly. But far worse was the ribeye steak which was small and thin, insipid and grey and wholly unappetising. As we were both hungry we ate what we could but were disgusted that for the price the quality could be so bad. The restaurant claims to use produce from the Ginger Pig but either this claim is untrue or they are treating it incredibly badly. All we could assume is that our main order was cooked at the same time as the starter was delivered and sat under a less than warm heat lamp but even hot the quality was far lower than the price requires and led us not to bother sending it back.Given the empty state of the place the locals have obviously figured out that you need to avoid this place and this was obvious as we saw every other restaurant full. The makings of a good place are there with a nice venue and some well trained staff but with such appalling cooking and lack of quantity and quality with respect to the prices this is a place I would strongly advise people to pass!"