Eat 17

Walthamstow’s former waffle house has undergone a dramatic transformation into a trendy café-bar-restaurant. Tom Dixon lamps, crushed velvet pouffes, marble tables & wall-mounted antlers now hold sway. It’s like a little bit of Sketch in E17. Eat 17 may have pretensions to West End glamour, but it knows what its East End locals want. Food is served all day: from brunch standards of granola, kippers & fry-ups to casual lunches & smart, well-priced dinners. In such an operation, the kitchen needs to be a hard worker, capable of producing decent pulled pork sandwiches & burgers as well as more classy plates of duck with gratin dauphinoise, baked honey cream or its signature ‘titbits’ (English tapas) such as scallops with pea cream, or mini shepherd’s pie with HP sauce. Where things fall flat is front of house. Grubby menus & surly staff jar with the venue’s aspirations.