Cafe Z Bar in Hackney

Cosy vibes, wholesome food, lovely staff, love the books and the fact you can leave a book and take a book sort of thing, lovely!

Long establishment excellent local cafe. Great coffee and food

Best place in stokey coffe and food are incredible

I've been coming to this cozy café almost every week since I moved to the neighborhood two years ago, and I absolutely love it! The menu offers a fantastic variety, and my favorites are the goat cheese wrap and the halloumi bun. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming, and the staff is lovely—especially Marley, who is always smiling and up for a quick chat. Highly recommend this spot to anyone looking for great food and a friendly vibes

Great cinnamon buns! Always buying them from here, can’t get enough. Only downside is z’s don’t do syrups for coffees, if they did I would definitely go here for coffee more often.

Great food and coffee every day!

I really enjoy coming here! The staff is incredibly friendly and the food is delicious. The atmosphere is calm and cozy. Perfect for relaxing or getting some work done.

Amazing coffee and amazing staff ! Will be coming back for another breakfast.

My favourite brunch place!! Friendly staff, great choices, really fast service, even when busy!

Great little spot for brunch, best in london. Incredible food and service

Love this cafe so much, the coffee is great, pastries and sandwiches amazing. The staff are gorgeous and delightful, friendly service especially from Justyna ❤️ - one of my fave places to go !!

The food, service and vibe were amazing, with great value for money. We were served by Justyna who was very charming and attentive. We will definitely be coming back! 10/10

A nice place to have breakfast. The menu is very wide, it is very good to have vegan and vegetarian options. Moreover, you can try many delicious Turkish dishes. The coffee is also very delicious and the staff is always nice and helpful. I definitely recommend it!!

Delicious food, great quality products, everything fresh. Very large portions! I recommend

delicious turkish style food, fantastic coffee, yummy fresh juices!! Such a lovely place with great music ! :)

Good food, reasonable prices, relaxed vibe, and an OG neighbourhood fixture in N16.

it’s a bit of a weird one. the coffee is really good. really good. and reasonably priced. I’ve never eaten here so can’t vouch for that. there’s a nice place to sit outside. chain smoke and people watch. but the staff… they’re slightly strange. sometimes it’s the lovely girl who laughs. other times it’s like interacting with people who’ve never spoken to a person before. they’re the kind of typical gen-z that suffer social anxiety, so won’t even say - are you using this? as they whip the sugar off your table. they try and do table service but you have to wait ten years to order and pay, and then they get mardy like it’s your fault. order at the bar. pay when you order and sit and wait - that’s the hack. think the staff could do with some additional training, including how to talk to customers. I’m not asking for American style service but a simple ‘hello’ or ‘thanks’ rather than grunts would be appreciated. I’ll still come back though - good, reasonably priced coffee is hard to find in Stoke Newington.

On the late Monday morning of the 30th of September I met two friends here for coffee. One local to Stoke Newington and one visiting. While we were having our coffee a local artist by the name of Alex Saunderson came over to try and sell us some postcards which I thought was very invasive. As a professional artist myself I know how difficult a career this is so I treated him with kindness and had a look at his postcards. I liked them so I bought three for £20 cash giving him an extra £5. As we were leavin I noticed my sunglasses by Oliver Peoples were missing so I went back inside to check the table. They were gone. I asked the barista to no avail. Alex was at another table peddling his wares. I asked him did he take my sunglasses, he pulled them out of his pocket and handed them back. When he covered them with his wares he had lifted them, naturally I was disgusted at this after I had just given him £20 for three postcards. The three gormless barristas on duty saw and heard everything yet did nothing. I had just been robbed of €400 sunglasses and was lucky to get them back. Visibly shaken I went out for a cigarette. My friend who is local left his details with them if they wanted to get in touch about this incident but they have not. Not one of the barristas asked was I ok or if I wanted to make a police report. I tried to get in contact with the owner but to no avail. I hope this establishment is as embarrassed as it should be reading this. If the owner is reading this check your cameras from 11-12 on that morning. I'm wearing a tan jacket. Table in the larger room just inside the gap between the two rooms. One a positive note the macchiato was good but it shouldn't cost me €400 now should it.

Came here for a drink and a cake while doing some WFH. Really not impressed. The cake was very dry (and then some). Juice was warm but tasty. My biggest peeve of this place is the volume of the music (too loud). It’s downright suffocating. You can’t relax in here let alone work. And then every five minutes you’ve got the loud whir of the juice machinery. Felt like I was genuinely being ear tortured. Feeling lucky to have made it out with both ear drums intact. It’s a shame because I’d often walked past this place and thought it looks quite nice. Will not be returning.

I love these little places, they are real gems and stand out from the crowd. I entered by chance, on a rainy Monday while I was waiting for my motorbike to be serviced. The place is large, welcoming and the background music creates an atmosphere from another era. A working Monday morning but excellent, I think even on the weekend, I was tempted by a delicious turmeric latte accompanied by a ham and cheese croissant. The service is friendly, without frenzy. It reminds me of a university café in Bologna Italy. I recommend it.

The cafe itself isn’t bad but the service is truly terrible you can be the only person to enter the place and wait 30 minutes to be served then go to the counter to serve yourself and sit back down and they just ignore you. Not only that but the staff are sullen and rude, very strange atmosphere for what should just be a chilled cafe

Love this place. Great atmosphere for both studying, working, and chatting, and the food is perfect. The flat white is my favourite drink here, the staff are friendly and attentive. Very positive environment, 10/10

Delicious food and coffee! Really reasonably priced as well ☺️

Great place. Loved the wide ranging menu. Busy London location but lots of interesting people around. Staff ok perhaps a bit too laid back. Food brilliant.

Super - took me back to my time in Turkey with amazingly authentic flavours. Lovely buzzy atmosphere too.

Love the food but the service these days is an actual joke. Multiple times I have sat for up to 30 minutes on a quiet morning waiting for my order to be taken. Then the waitresses get orders wrong every time. They are often rude and sulky, acting with zero professionalism and just gossiping behind the coffee counter. Quite unpleasant and slightly racist profiling I think. Will have to find a new breakfast spot but fortunately there’s plenty more options nearby!

The staff were really friendly and attentive, there was a large selection of food and it was very tasty. I particularly enjoyed the homemade lemonade!

Love this cafe, great brunch, really good menu, lovely coffee, nice people and has interesting books, notably one about massage techniques with funny illustrations.

The service is rubbish. The server was looking around as I ordered and I asked if he had heard me. He said yes then surprise surprise, the order was SO wrong. I'm sick of it there and this time I am doing what I promised myself I'd do and am writing this review and will NEVER go back.

I popped in for a coffee while my bike was being mot'd at LR Scooters on Victoria Grove. The breakfast rolls looked so enticing, that I bought one, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Very good ingredients. Also had a slice of egg custard tart (because why not have desert at breakfast time?), it was delicious. Coffee was great too. The staff were friendly, and the service was quick. Will definitely visit again

Fairly basic and poor cafe it used to be amazing now it’s just full of bad staff and dirty tables I would recommended you skip this cafe and save your money

Absolutely disgusting, walked in to get coffee but one off the young lady having bad day or something, l order my coffee and she was about take order she turned around say we only take card which l always payed with cash in there even to her. I said to them l have payed cash here before and she said no only card which made me look like a liar and no manners at all towards the customer You can’t be swearing to any customers at all . There’s plenty off people looking for job my advice will be get someone who more respectful

Amazing food! Service was a bit of a disaster (mistaken order) but I blame my dining companions. 100% best place for brunch in Stoke Newington.

This used to be a lovely neighbourhood coffee/breakfast/brunch place. Unsure if it will survive its current staff though. Mixed up reservations, inattentive staff, burned pancakes for the kid. All of this on a fairly quiet day.

Food was excellent. Service was very good and the staff were very friendly. I had the breakfast and it was delicious. I have been here twice and will definitely go again. Highly recommended.

We have coming here for many years & have always loved the food & service until today. We ordered 2 breakfasts, one arrived & the other was nowhere to be seen. We asked 3 different waiting staff over the next half hour, each time to be snappily told “it’s coming”. It finally arrived when my partner was almost finished. We said we were not happy to be eating at separate times & complained that nobody we had spoken to had even apologised. Still no apology & we were asked snappily “has it ever happened before? “ We said we did not think we should pay for the very late breakfast, only to be told “I can give you a discount”. They took £3.50 off the bill & it was a thoroughly unpleasant experience. After many years of loyal custom we did not feel valued in the slightest. Really poor customer service today. We won’t be hurrying back sadly. Shame because it all could have been avoided by a simple apology & taking the very slow breakfast off the bill.

This place does serious coffee & a very tasty breakfast sausage & egg roll. Consistent, keeps good hours. Can't fault it.

Love this place. Feels like a community hub with the diverse relaxed crowd that you'd expect. Can work in here peacefully for ages and food is really tasty and great value.

Good place to work, lots of space! Coffee and pastry all good 👍🏻

Used to be amazing but now tables are sticky, service is erratic and where are the condiments…..?? The atmosphere often feels a bit office like. 2 computers for 1person?!

Great cafe, tasty food, great portions, very attentive staff. Toilets a little unkept

Best menemen in London for sure and the portions are decent.

When in the morning you want to have a coffee with croissant, you are not expecting old hard pastry. Was really tempted to get up and walk away. I ordered another savoury pastry, but instead of spinach and feta cheese there is pretty much tomato and tons of onion. Never ever again

Lovely, buzzy, modern cafe with great People making great & beautiful coffees. Amazing carrot cake and scrambled eggs with toast when those clean breakfasts are needed! Their salads boxes are a brilliant lunch option. Recommend!

Had a middle eastern scrambled egg with spinach and feta and gluten free bread. It was absolutely delicious! Generous portions and had a pause to read some of the books available to browse as I was getting full but didn’t want to leave anything uneaten! Cafe was fairly full but not at all noisy so a nice environment to sit and enjoy a moment. Staff friendly and the lovely waitress who served me was very helpful accommodating to my gluten free needs. Would definitely recommend this place.

Party food; outstanding I would give it 10 out of 5 if I coud

This restaurant has pulled its socks up and now is as good as it used to be. It went through a patch where the food and service was poor, but my recent visit blew me away. Please keep it up.

The picture should say it all! Love this place and the breakfast options ❤️

Love this place, the vibe is so chilled. Food is different but great. Sitting in the corner can be a bit of a nightmare if you want to get out to go to the bathroom for instance as you have to disturb someone

Have been coming here every so often for years - food always delicious, always either a nice busy atmosphere or quiet and cosy, both are equally pleasant. Lots of the dishes also v reasonably priced for what you get, great portion sizes too. Never have any complaints!

Dirty tables and bad costumer service, I had a quarter pounder with chips the food was almost burned and tasted like a wood 👎

I love and frequent this cafe but today's visit was not memorable. (4th Jan) It was around 09:30 and not at all busy. I was sat on a dirty table where there was still a half drunk juice from previous customer. There were clearly mark stains and food crumbs left over. The empty table in front of me was even worse with visible sticky liquid all over it. A couple walked in to sit on it and hastily turned round to find another table. My coffee took about 20 minutes and came well after the food. The young lady did apologise. When you see a party leave, please, clear it and give the table a wipe. My breakfast was good but spoilt by the dirty table.

Cafe looked lovely but bought a custard donut for takeaway and the custard had curdled/was off. Outside was not bad but overall not ideal :(

Good strong coffee. Love the setup and a great place to work (music too loud for calls).

I used to come here regularly when I lived on Stoke Newington Road, the pancakes were my hangover cure but the service is terrible here especially considering how bloody expensive it is. You wait ages to receive a menu and then forever to have your order placed. If there's anything ever wrong with your food, they won't do anything to rectify it. I certainly wouldn't go out of my way to return here.

No issues with service (as others have noted previously): friendly, prompt and buttermilk pancakes were excellent. Would choose again.

I love this place. Nice atmosphere. Everyone who works there is so nice

Food was nice but only one star because I can't put zero stars due to the fact it's cashless.

A great spot for coffee and people watching

the food is great, they know their job, the ambiance is great :)

One of my favourite cafe lovely food.

Must have poor management in place. No effort made to update hours online when they aren’t open? Second time this has happened since I moved to the area and the poor boy on the door has to say “sorry we’re closed, yes i’ve told management about it, really sorry” every single time? Would have definitely considered frequenting, but have had nothing but encounters like this every time i’ve approached the cafe. What a welcome.

I feel I need to come here again. Waited ages to get served with no apologies and the flat white was average. Atmosphere inside seems ok and the interior os pretty cool.

Good food, good coffee, good atmosphere. Work there often but also go for a read or some food.

I'm so glad this cafe survived Covid as it is my favourite breakfast place on this High Street. The staff are great too and the food is of very good quality. See you soon.

Frankly, I come here a lot. Prices went up so it pushed a few away for a bit but all in all everyone keeps saying they love cafe Z. But today, today is about this pleasing coke glass I was served. Because its something so simple that many places forget how much of a difference it makes when your glass, your ice and your straw are ideal. So thank you man. The menemen, as always, great.

Good service, good quality of breakfast without being overpriced.

Great Location in Stoke Newington, easy to access, parking might be difficult. Great food and amazing quality coffee. The service is always appreciated as the staff is professional and polite. Very recommended

Nice place, good food for a very good price according to London standard !

I come to this place every week. I like the environment and it's a nice place to work. Today around 10 I arrived to this place and sat down outside. After waiting for 20 minutes I came inside around 10.20 and asked if they have service for outside or if they wanted me to order inside. A young lady said to me to wait outside that she would bring the menu outside. At around 10.35 I am still waiting so I come inside again and I talked to a man with beard and he says they will come outside. At 10.37 after almost 40 minutes waiting I managed to order a coffee and I explained to him that by partner was on his way that once he was there we would order the food. Once my boyfriend arrived we waited for a while and again no one comes to take his order or the food order so we decided to go somewhere else without eating.

Nice drinks, and OK coffee. Food is fresh but doesn't really deliver on depth of flavour. Reasonably priced with friendly service.

Lovely atmosphere and there are options for everyone here. Good vegan and vegetarian selections and something a bit different to the traditional ful English breakfast. Coffee is delicious too, we make sure to visit every time we are in the area.

Has taken a steep downturn and we got absolutely fleeced here. wait staff are whack here. we tried to customise a veggie breakfast and was told it would be as cheap as the price on the menu but it turned out to be £21 for a customised veggie breakfast. close to no flexibility on ordering and we were lied to. queried this unfortunately after paying and just got a repeated "I'm really sorry." won't be going back which is a shame as the food is good. also the table in the corner overlit part of the cafe is very very obtrusively loud with hand dryer from down stairs. not pleasant overall.

Hands down the best place to have brunch (or coffee/burger/juices/anything) in Hackney. Super friendly staff, delicious and wholesome food, great vibe, eclectic yet unpretentious low-key music and an outside space from which to keep a beady eye on Stokey Newington police station - what's not to love?! Will keep on returning and very grateful that an authentic and welcoming space like this exists amongst all the usual hipster hangs.

Lovely relaxed space. Went to catch up with friends and had a lovely veggie brunch. My friends had egg dishes and said they were tasty. Coffee is delicious and the staff were friendly too

We ordered food and drinks, waited 35 minutes but nothing came. Turns out there was no record of us ever ordering. The lady who took our order ended her shift never passed on our orders. What a waste of time.

Great place nice books for children and so friendly staff well done great job

I like the atmosphere and friendly service. However, charging 3.5 pounds for 4 leaves of mint hot water in a mug (not even a tea pot!) is close to daylight robbery. At least suggest honey or lemon to the poor sods who opt for this.

Just ok. The setting is lovely and clean and most of the staff were friendly. One of the staff members was not as friendly (seemed irritated) and took ages to get the bill when asked for. I have been twice and on both occasions my latte was only warm but my daughter loves the cheese toastie. It has a great book selection for children.

One of my favourites when I used to live in London 🧡

Love this place! The staff are adorable, the coffees are good, there’s a lot of space to work on the laptop. I think I tried almost everything on their menu, my fav are the Huevos al Benny, the vegetarian breakfast and their chicken burgers

Thank you for your delicious foods and your hospitality.

very disappointing, left without ordering after waiting 15/20 minutes to be served. It wasn't even particularly busy! would have continued waiting if the servers acknowledged my existence, but they kept walking past and ignored me. If you don't have enough staff for table service, don't offer it! Also, not the cafes fault but this is the type of cafe where middle class stoke newington types bring their feral children...

Lovely menu, large variety and friendly staff. My only issue is that its often very crowded and the tables are so close to each other that gives you no privacy;or some times I have to share a large table with someone else. I know this happens often in London but because of the vibe in this place I'd rather visit during the week when you can sit by the window and read your book peacefully.

This latte was to die for. I don’t remember the name but such a unique light and wholesome taste with the perfect amount of froth. Service was amazing. Just not 5* as my mug was chipped.

Loved this place, really reasonable prices and great food

Great food. Good food for value. Perfect service. Our favourite brunch destination in town.

맛잇고 친절하며 심지어 양도 많음 조금은 짜지만 영국음식이 원래 짬 영국음식중 아주추천할만함

Been going here years and years. Always delicious, fab service and good prices. Friendly staff and relaxed vibe with books. Glad to see they expanded recently. Long live Cafe Z Bar!

I been waiting for over 25 minutes for someone to come our table and over to 25 minutes with my order, several people has been served before us. So I left the place. Rude staff!

Great brunch vibes, not too expensive. Nice outdoor seating, not really set up for groups.

Have been here a few times. Nice vibe and good food.

Nice food, friendly staff but slow service.

I previously always brought the vegetarian breakfast on around 8 occasions as a takeaway, I had noticed on the last two occasions a slight difference in the presentation of my breakfast and mainly the eggs,ordering Huevos AL Benny but yet I didn’t expect to be given my food this way this time. I had chosen a different option which was the poached eggs with a hollandaise sauce. I live next to the police station opposite Cafe Z and so I was horrified to see receive this…! Not recommend. I was offered a full refund after calling to let them know and sending them the photo within two minutes of getting home but yet I could not delay my day any further.

Food was good but the tables and floor was very sticky👎 Tables were very old too, it was hard to eat with a wobbly table.

Visited at the end of the day so maybe not the best time. But my friend and I went for coffee and cake. My cake was stale.

Amazing food and a good vibe to the place. Friendly service

Great food but sadly experience let down by bad service. Visited here twice now and both times I was ignored by the staff when I was waiting to be served. It’s like they don’t even want to work there

good spot for brekky - Turkish kitchen so always great fresh food. nice place to work from as well

It was OK. Service was fine and the decor was cute but the food was all rather bland and samey.