Route Dalston in Hackney

Loved the food here! I had Eggs Benedict, and my friend had the Shakshouka, and both were delicious! I had a lovely mocha as a well, and really loved their mandarin and chocolate chip cake!

Got a lovely bowl of granola here and some tea, it was delicious and the atmosphere in the cafe is lovely and cosy, I loved it.

I ordered Shakshouka, which was super tasty and perfect variant for breakfast

Ridiculous being charged service on a coffee

Way overpriced with a ridiculous additional service charges. Decent food and coffee though.

This place is brilliant, I pop in here every day for a decafe latte. Some days, I have a sugar rush and need a slice of the tasty banana 🍌 caramel and hazelnut cake. I have tried the carrot 🥕cake, my best cake is the.🍌 The staff team is great, polite, and friendly. I have eaten lunch in here a few times. The potions are good.

Visited for brunch on Saturday and will be back for sure. Food was fantastic and the staff were very friendly and accommodating.

The place was really nice, the interior was aesthetically pleasing despite the building works outside. They did the best they could with the current exterior's building works!! The staff were relatively friendly too and the atmosphere was pretty relaxed. The coffee was okay, not great nor bad. Just okay. I gave 2 stars is not because the coffee was okay since I'm not *that* petty, but because somehow I got given the wrong order and caused an allergic reaction. This event occurred a couple of weeks ago. I had ordered a dairy alternative as I have lactose intolerancy. It could've been an easy mistake as two of us ordered the same drink, one was with dairy milk and one oat. Of course, I emailed the place letting them know of this mistake to warn them of future mistakes as someone could have a worse reaction than I did - but no one had replied to me, not even in acknowledgement. It is a little entitled of me to expect an acknowledgement reply, but considering how severe my allergy reaction was - I worry for future mistakes like these as future customers could have an even worse reaction than I. Anyhow, that's why I gave a 2 overall. I'd have given a 3 or even a 4 since it wasn't a bad place nor was the coffee awful - but I don't feel comfortable recommending a place when they can't even acknowledge their wrongdoings privately.

Just on route btw Hackney and Dalston. Good for quick coffee.

Mediterranean breakfast was nice. Americano was bad. They missed our orders and it was very delayed. For some reason the table was sticky which I didn’t like.

Very cool cafe near Dalston Junction station. Great choice including gluten free, vegetarian food and cakes as well. It got busy but we didn’t feel rushed and the seating was spacious and comfortable. Enjoyed it here. A bit out of the way for me but if I’m in the area, I would revisit.

Sizeable portions but Hash Brown looked reheated and was dry. Just an average meal. Service charge extortionate.

It ain’t no joke‼️ Apparently avocado loves mint 🥑🍃😍 🫢 Slurp 🤤 🥗🍔🧆It’s a finish-it-off challenge 😮😊 And a fantastic working spot 💻☕️🥐

Lovely food and great service as always 👌

Very pleasant space, coffee far better than those big chains, staff nicer too. Prices good

To be fair this is the shortest place to eat and get coffee machines were being used for multiple coffees without being cleaned and infested with flies in the kitchen I think they need to be reviewed and closed when it was brought to the manager we were kicked out for being rude

Have a coffee from here most days. Very friendly staff, soya and almond milk as dairy free options. Cafe/deli with small wine shop. Excellent coffee and good intolerance menu. Good amount of options for various dietary requirements. Always packed at the weekends, lovely staff - always a pleasure. Five years on and still just as good. Popped in today for a coffee as we happened to be walking past. They now have additional branches, one along the canal next to kingsland basin and one on Broadway market Always forget that they do safe food for intolerance and dietary requirements that's not a "fast food" with a good range of salads and cakes Wine sold by the bottle to take away as well as local bottled beers. Good for last minute alcohol gifts.

Delicious home cooked food. Pleasant coffee, limited outside seating but ample indoors.

Wow breakfast was amazing had the pancakes stacked and full of fresh fruit and flavour.

Love their water jugs haha so rustic. Delicious and freshly prepared breakfast. Good coffee. Service could be a bit friendlier

You’re en route to a delicious ride. From the presentation of the cafe to the presentation of food, the staff knows exactly what they’re doing. Ordered Beetroute Poached Eggs, and a mixed salad. The way the flavors work together perfectly that bursts into an explosion of foodgasm is what made me write this review while still being in the cafe. Kudos to the chef, and the waiting staff. P.S. the decor is amazing!

Breakfast was avo on bread, bacon and beans. Nicest iv had to date to be honest. And loads on the plate too. Tasty

Unfortunately I felt I really wasted my money on the vegan shakshouka- was just a sausage in a pot of kind of tasteless tomato sauce and was £14? The place was nice but just disappointing food, would try ordering something else next time

Amazing little brunch spot! The food was delicious, and despite being super busy, the place still felt cosy and intimate. 100% recommend! ⭐️

great location, friendly staff, good food. shame about the scaffolding outside as it makes the interior feel quite dark - hope that will move for their sake soon! would recommend regardless.

Great place to have delicious coffee and meals, beautiful interior and friendly smiley faces all around. Surely will come back. Thanks!

This is a hidden gem in Dalston, and I'm glad it is, because the wait time for a table on the weekend for breakfast/brunch was only around 10 mins! The food is wonderfully presented, and I enjoyed my Shakshouka and turmeric latte. The manager is very accommodating (took my little 3 month old with us).

Excellent, plentiful, authentic atmosphere, perfect

The best breakfast in dalston, you should try the Shakshuka with fries

Beauty place. Slightly hidden in current refurbishment of the surrounding buildings. Lovely people, great salads, and cozy place. Good coffee too. Value for money. Worth visiting, and I’ll be visiting again soon on my next Dalston visit. Well done guys.

Great restaurant with a variety of brunch options. Their pancakes were fantastic.

Amazing staff, delicious food deffo gonna come back again 🤩🤩

We have been coming here for 14 years. It’s just brilliant. Amazing food, lovely staff with a brilliant atmosphere. Keep it going guys. Xx

Great food, perfect poached eggs.

Nice relaxed place with good food and very friendly staff.

Lovely staff, atmosphere and coffee! Loved the flat white , best I’ve had in a very long time

We were recommended this place but whilst nice enough, it didn't live up to the hype. Vegan shakshouka and breakfast wraps were just ok, the shakshouka was waterier than it should have been and wrap was relatively flavourless. Perhaps we made wrong choices and should have gone for the salad bar as they looked epic up on the counter. Staff were hit and miss, but despite the venue looking fab, it just didn't hit the sweet spot to be memorable and compete with the sheer amount of fab little gems in nearby areas.

Best breakfast spot in dalston. Amazing staff her almost every morning.

We had the hangover and pulled lamb. The shakshuka sauce that came with the hangover was the best I've had. Not super tomato forward, light and with lots of flavor. The pulled lamb was good but not my favorite. I'd also recommend making your own juice mix...my orange and ginger juice was very refreshing.

Fantastic food, great location, dog friendly

Incredible brunch. Lovely staff, great service and top food. Heaps of vegetarian and allergen friendly dishes. Emily looked after us so well. We’ll definitely be back!

Peters was amazing! Appreciate the great service😁

The team and the food is amazing 💖

Great joint right by Dalston Junction station. Good vibes, great coffee and 'The Hangover' is to die for.

Used to have great coffee and great service. Today I asked for 3/4 full the barista ignored me and kept on pouring. When I said there was too much milk she just tipped some out rather than making it properly.

Great Mediterranean take on a brunch cafe. Friendly staff, quick service and great value food.

One of the best brunches I've ever had!

unforgettable experience. The cozy ambiance combined with the friendly staff made for a delightful dining atmosphere. I ordered both the Shakshouka and Mediterranean dishes, and I must say, the flavors were absolutely incredible! The Shakshouka had the perfect blend of spices, and the poached eggs added a delightful richness to the dish. The Mediterranean platter was a feast of flavors.

La comida está increíble y el trato es muy agradable.

My experience with Route Dalston was incredibly disappointing. The pancakes were excessively sweet, and the staff, particularly the manager, exhibited very rude behaviour, blaming me for not having the right "taste". Sad to see that the manager couldn't take feedback from their customers in a polite way.

I used to like this place, but I had a bad experience with the manager after noting that their pancakes were too sweet. He talked to us in a rude tone, questioning our taste instead of the dish preparation.

Excellent lunch and breakfast options sampled this weekend. Waitress was an amazing, beautiful woman...pulled lamb was delicious, pancakes were filling and wholesome

My boyfriend took me here Sunday morning, since we were both off. We got pancakes and the hangover, which is a shakshuka breakfast burrito kind of dish. I was very impressed with the service at this place. They had an eye out for each others sections and we never went lacking anything. The place had a very relaxed ambience and they are doing there best considering they are surrounded by scaffolding. We were very satisfied with the food, and finished it all. Howevwr i do have a few pointers regarding the food. The compôte stole the show on the pancakes, and made the dish WAY too sweet and had too much cinnamon. There was pistachios on top, but did absolutely nothing to the dish, because of the compôte. The hangover is good for a savory dish (we were not hungover though), but I would have liked the eggs a bit more flavour full. Well done on the cheese however! I would come back soon

The best ginger lemon tea! What can be better than freshly brewed tea. I can’t find it elsewhere. Very strong!

Great vibes and service. Plus the breakfast we had was perfect! Would recommend and will definitely go again

A fantastic place for breakfast with plenty of choices of style, sizes, combination of regions, and to meet most budgets. Also pretty understated - I like that a lot. Highly recommended!

We went quite late in the day (16:30ish) and a lot of the food was off the menu, incl cocktails. The salads alone are worth going here for, mains are good but not exceptional. Also a nice selection of wine. Staff are friendly

Always nice food and friendly service.

Breakfast was luke warm and mushrooms tasted really odd. Please serve hot food guys. I ate it because I was starving. My mistake.

Delicious diverse selection of small plates. We got 10 for 3 people and tried most of them.

Great breakfast spot. Delicious food, good atmosphere. Staff was somewhat terse and seemed somewhat annoyed but overall would highly recommend! The Turkish Eggs were very good.

food is pretty average and the service is slow, juices are served warm. Disappointing because i’ve been here in the past and it was good, not sure why it’s gone downhill☹️

Gem Mediterranean next to Dalston Junction station. The food tastes very light, but good. The shop interior is very pretty and clean and the staff are nice. Only thing is the portion sizes are quite small.

Great place to eat a healthy lunch thanks to the array of salads. I had the spinach and filo pie with two salads which was tasty and filling. The interiors are lovely. They have sits outside on a car free street. The staff are super friendly and helpful.

very tasty cappuccino with oat milk. A very comfy, chill and cool place to have a coffee and a pastry.

The Mediterranean breakfast is everything you could dream of and more

Really nice place for breakfast and lunch. Variety of vegetarian and vegan food!!

Nice place for brunch. Loved the food and the atmosphere. The Turkish eggs were amazing, and really good coffee.

Good and tasty food. Menu is for non vegan and vegan.

Absolutely delicious, worth the money and high quality healthy food. Lots of vegetarian and gluten free options, all is available for takeaway. Also very classy inside and the staff are super friendly!

Some of my favorite spots for brunch and just cafe chilling in east London! Great cafe with a big and colorful salad bar, loads of fresh juices, selection of teas, cakes and last but not least dishes and brunch options with a lovely Turkish/EasterEuropean twist. The shalshuka here is great! The recently opened a few more locations in the area so check them outs

A very nice and efficient Anatolian cafe for a Sunday brunch; was struggling to find a cafe in the area for something tasty and filling, they didn’t disappoint. First time trying a lovely cilbir, a dish consisting of poached eggs on simit (turkish bagel), with garlic yogurt underneath, chickpeas, and chili to garnish. Added my own Tabasco (lots of it - mind you) and it paired perfectly with an iced black Americano - cheers!

Delicious food and great menu choice

Excellent coffee, tasty food, and good ambiance! The fact that it's open till 10:30 makes it a great place to study!

A lovely little cafe/restaurant a couple of minutes walk from Dalston Junction Station - it's just behind it. Really great coffee. And nice to have a coffee/wine bars that's open later. The food I tried included the flatbread, houmous and padron peppers, these we're all delicious. For anyone with food allergies: They had clearly highlighted allergen ingredients on their menu, which was so helpful and much appreciated as my husband has a nut allergy. There is seating both inside and outside, staff were very friendly.

I took my daughters for breakfast to this place by recommendation, Absolutely disappointed by the service I received from the young lady, she see-through to the table we sat down and welcomed couples by giving glass of water, thought it may not be her table for service but no!!!! She brings wrong orders.... Water was not freshly charged and table was un cleaned, my double espresso arrived cold, breakfast was not that bad, i paid for bad experience Thank you but not going back

Truly one of the best brunches I’ve had. Menu has too many great options, multiple visits required. Nice one!

Delicious and flavourful mezze dishes with a great quality of ingredients. Relaxed and welcoming atmosphere and helpful service. Has a lot of vegetarian options and great for larger groups.

Service was friendly and coffee was excellent but food was underwhelming

Resonably priced, lots of options too

Rapid service and a very good vegetarian breakfast.

Used to be a way better food here. Coffee is still the same and good. But food is ... I can't recommend Shakshuka at all. Actually you cant call this food shakshuka really. It was more like extremely oily, chilly, liquidish mixed veggies. I even cant see eggs inside at all. And whats the point of bringing this food literally boiling. After almost 10 mins. It was still hot as mouth burning. I tried to eat it but couldn't eat it at all. Please pay attention on quality of ingredients you use too. Sucuk (Turkish sausage) that you use is the lowest quality sucuk you can find from any basic Turkish off licence. These prices should bring better quality food to your customers. Thank you

An enjoyable cafe. The food was good, and had an interesting range of food that made it difficult to choose what to have (in a good way!) We had some difficulty ordering a non-dairy option, and I perhaps wouldn't recommend this location if you have a specific dietary concern. There were meat & vegetarian options for food. Overall, I would visit the café again if I was in the area.

Always fantastic. Service and food.

Horrible food!! I don't recommend!!

Delicious food, mainly vegetarian but you can also choose vegan items. Will be back again!

Various tasty salads, and a kitchen is here for lasagna, burgers, and others good things. The food is very tasty and portion are very fair. I've also enjoy there a nice English breakfast. Possible to work here, in a nice atmosphere

I don't often give a negative review so I hope this is taken as constructive criticism. I went for lunch about 12:45, it wasn't busy but I was not acknowledged when I walked in. I had to get someone's attention behind the counter to ask for a table. Then I waited and waited for someone to bring a menu. I had to flag one of the wait staff to bring a menu and take my coffee order. My coffee came and I asked for one minute to place my lunch order. I then had to get his attention again to place my order. My lunch arrived but it was the wrong choice even though I had stated it clearly. Once I had my lunch it was delicious and the coffee was perfect. It was the service experience that discoloured my experience.

Lovely eve meal at Route with a few starter plates. Calamari was a bit soggy and flatbread was a bit stale (hummus and fries were good tho). Also shared the pork baklava and lamb shawarma, both were interesting and definitely came in massive plates! All in all about 100 for a good batch of shares starters and large plates, handful of wine glasses and a bunch of cocktails.

Good decor, great food and service, great place for relaxing lunch

The food here was amazing, the pancakes especially were really fluffy.

Great service and meals , friendly staff and good atmosphere. Definitely try “route beans” , it was perfect! Will visit soon again!

Always great. The original location. Superb value for money too

The vegan kofte was disgustingly overloaded with oil.

Nice staff. Could do with a kids menu

Edit.: I have to lower their rating since in couple of my latest visits, the main dishes have been incredible overloaded with oil and greasy. Previous review: Delicious food, huge portions. Everything is fresh and high quality ingredients. People are nice. Only minus is that the food has also sometimes, not always but too often, much more oil than is necessary. If they would use less oil, everything would be perfect!

Great hummus, but we didn't feel like the vegan jackfruit shawarma had that much flavour, and half of the dish is made up of plain rice, which was a bit boring. It was someone's birthday in our group, and it was nice to be offered a shot on the house. After splitting and paying our bill, we were about to leave when we were told we had underpaid by £25. Upon checking, the staff member realised their colleague hadn't added a bottle of wine to the bill, which we then paid for before leaving. It would have been better for them to double check the bill before accusing us of under paying.

Delicious food and great service

Great selection of fresh salads not the lettuce based kind ;) and great juices.

Service is always good. Menu is great. Vegan options are tasty. There is a really good salad selection for lunch. The avo + chocolate vegan cake bangs! Had the mushroom on toast for lunch, was really tasty and the tamarind sauce was delish but on the whole a little too salty