St J's in Waltham Forest

We visited during a pop up evening by Gather and were treated to a truely West -End quality 4 course taster menu. Fantastic Quality and service. A great selection of interesting wine. I don't recognise the earlier comments on this site and can only guess that the new manager has turned this cafe into a great destination.

The coffee and chai lattes here are fantastic. Great workspace too for working, and a small selection deli of some really nice things, especially the bread

I do think, having read some of the weaker reviews on here that St J’s have made a concerted effort to improve - all round. We went to sit near the window - someone came up and said ‘let me clean the surface for you’ - so nice to have the offer. Although, at the time, the gluten-free bread was unavailable, the young gentleman was extremely apologetic and we were recompensed in full and then some - no issues whatsoever. Yes, it’s shi shi, hipstery & relatively pricey but you need to counterbalance this with the fact there is a range of great wines, organic products and Wood street coffees available plus a lovely deli selection. We bought some products from their ‘home’ section and they gift-wrapped it beautifully-really pleased. Thank you for a lovely lunchtime experience - wish you well in the future

The food, service and general vibe here were all just thoroughly underwhelming. From outside, it seems rather inviting, but inside - there's just something rather sterile about the whole ambience.

Love this place, been several times and never disappoints. Noticed some reviews complain about gentrification but for gluten free it makes a big difference to going out. Greasy sooons are lovely but very limited choices for me. So TJ hank you St Js

The owners are rude and argumentative and the food is pretty awful and very over priced for what it is, ordered tea for two and got one cup of tea and a cup of water, bacon sandwich for breakfast was, umm, just weird and not very nice even with the weird taken away, tasted more like a kebab to be honest with cold soggy bread... has the potential to be a cool cafe in the S. James area but not with these idiot owners who couldn't care less and just grab your money, over over priced goods on sale too, i feel sorry for the staff, my second visit and i just won't go back there...

St J's appears to be the epitome of a local, contemporary lifestyle cafe. It's a light and airy space with a laid back vibe with seating for food and drinks. They also sell a small selection of groceries, alcohol, lovely but pricey interior products and gifting. A much needed addition to Walthamstow's St Jame's street. Sadly, it does not meet up to expectations. Staff aren't very welcoming and food prices are not reflective of the quality. There are also discrepencies between what the menu states and what you'll recieve. My partner and I have visited St J's for breakfast twice now. On our first visit, we were told that the only bread that was available was sourdough..which was absolutely fine as I'd ordered sourdough toast and he'd ordered a sausage baquette. The sausage baquette arrived first..although not a baquette and not sourdough either but a bun. My toast didn't arrive until after my partner had finished his bun and when it did arrive, it was cold, untoasted and not sourdough so I asked for it to be changed. Again, I waited quite a while but was then given the same again but a warm version..still not sourdough and more like warm bread than toast. Regardless, I ate it anyway as time was ticking by. Today, we visited and ordered the bacon sandwich and toast. Once again, the bacon sandwich arrived first...very toasted, even though it wasn't advertised as toasted. My toast arrived a lot later and again, was not sourdough and was not toasted...warm bread. It's quite baffling to understand how anyone can get toast wrong? Prior to this, we asked for one of our coffee's to be remade as there were lumps of cream and fat globules floating on the top. We were told this was due to the milk not being shaken. It was replaced and the 2nd coffee was perfect. After raising the issue with the coffee, I didn't want to mention the toast again. I resigned to the fact that St J's is definitley not the place to go for toast. We took advantage of the Dine out to Help Out as we desperately want to support local, especially new small businesses but sadly we don't think we'll be returning. Staff also do not appear to be very happy and even the plants seem sad. There appears to be a lack of hospitality and attention to detail that could make this place perfect.

i live nearby and just love this place! it's great for a cup of tea/ coffee, glass of wine or breakfast/ brunch. The place is very spacious and i often go there to study, work or just read a book. They also sell some high quality products, like organic foods and cosmetics. The staff is extremely friendly (Carmine is always there to advise you on the best tea), and the place just makes you want to come back again and again!

This unit had been empty for many years after the previous occupants (a Turkish restaurant) closed down. I was overjoyed to see this open. It is a step change for the area and would not feel out of place in the hippest corners of Shoreditch. Light and airy space, very child friendly, friendly service, the only disappointment for us was the food. This is expensive, £7-£9 for *small* plates. I will pay this price for quality but the food was utterly forgettable. Poorly seasoned, flavourless and forgettable. And tiny! Hopefully it was an off day, but very disappointing. We actually walked to Lighthaus for a proper brunch afterwards!