Homeboy and I were wandering around the back streets of Stoke Newington when we came across a relaxed-looking eatery come coffee house called Esters Cafe (Ester’s). It’s located behind the popular Stoke Newington Church Street on Kynaston Road in N16. We popped in to sample their excellent brunch menu and were very pleasantly surprised at their delicious food and great tasting coffee. It’s just a small eatery but is well worth a visit if you are in the vicinity. If you’re searching for cafes in Stoke Newington, places to eat in Stoke Newington or brunch in North London do give Esters Cafe a try.
“Lovely neighbourhood eatery in Stoke Newington serving delicious brunch dishes with inventive flavour combinations and great coffee,” Homegirl London
Esters Cafe Menu
The menu is concise, but the food is tasty. They try to make as much of their food in-house and are always experimenting with flavours. If they can’t make it themselves, they use UK food producers. Many of the dishes feature sourdough bread, and they use organic eggs and seasonal veg plus fruit. Suppliers include Northiam Dairy, St John Bakery, Yeast Bakery, Rookery Farm and McKanna Meats.
Freekeh Salad
If you want a light bite, try the toasted St John sourdough with Lescure butter and plum jam or Seville orange marmalade. For a healthy start of the day try Bircher, house cultured yoghurt, rhubarb and apple compote with a sprinkle of hazelnuts. We tried the amazing French toast. The eggy sourdough bread is covered with roasted rhubarb, blood orange curd, sweet labneh and pieces of pistachio meringue. Yummy!
French Toast
If you want eggs, I can recommend the poached eggs with broccoli rabe, preserved lemon butter and Aleppo chilli on sourdough. I love their attention to detail with the preserved lemon butter. We also tied the shiitake and enoki mushrooms on toast (first picture in this article). Again, they are inventive with the pairing of whipped feta and chicory. You can also add a fried egg if you wanted. You can order additional sides of black pudding and grilled chorizo which you can add to any dish.
Poached Eggs
If you fancy a grilled sandwich, you’ll love their offering. When we visited, it was Westcombe cheddar with cavolo Nero and rhubarb relish. This was very satisfying on a cold day, and the flavour combinations spot on. We sampled the salad along with our grilled sandwich, which was amazing and something I’d love to recreate at home. It was freekeh with fennel, pieces of blood red-orange, rocket, Manchego, pistachios and herb oil. You could also add a soft boiled egg. They also had a roast onion soup served with nigella seed toast and cream cheese.
Grilled Cheese Sandwich
They will also have a good selection of baked goods, including cakes and cookies. Expect some exciting offerings like squash, pecan and cranberry loaf cake, little pistachio and orange blossom cakes plus brown butter and pecan blondies. Drinks-wise it’s Has Bean Coffee, Postcard Teas, Hill Farm Hampshire Apple Juices and house-made sodas and drinking vinegar.
Esters Cafe Interiors
This eatery is on a quiet residential road behind Stoke Newington Church Street. There isn’t any signage up so make a note of the address. The cafe has a big window in front so you’ll spot people sitting inside. It’s quite small inside with seating for about twenty. There seemed to be a lot of loyal customers there who were a mixed crowd; mums with babies and creative types with an average age of thirty. The decor is contemporary minimal; white walls with a display of photographs. They have seating in front of the entrance windows and towards the back. There is also a high counter table with stools. It’s calm and relaxed with a friendly vibe. Unfortunately, I couldn’t take a picture because it is always filled with customers.
Esters Cafe Information
Cafe Exterior
Cuisine: Seasonal ingredients and mix of influences
Price: French toast £8, grilled sandwich £7, poached eggs on toast £8 and salad £7.50
Website: Esters N16
Address: 55 Kynaston Road, London N16 OEB
Near: Stoke Newington Church Street
Open: Check the website for up to date opening times
Wi-Fi: Yes
Decor: Contemporary
Seating: 20 inside
Toilets: Yes
Reservations: No
Author: Homegirl London. Photographs: Homegirl London. Thanks: Homeboy for accompanying me.
