Fred & Fran

The Aussie invasion of London’s café culture continues apace, witness this bushy-tailed outpost on a quiet residential road close to restaurant-heavy Stoke Newington Church Street. The young Antipodean owner has graduated from providing baked goodies for cafés & delis in the area to opening her own place, where the counter heaves with scrumptious offerings: brownies, Chelsea buns, cakes on stands & fat sausage rolls sprinkled with fennel seeds. A painstakingly restored tiled exterior leads through to an airy room where Stokey locals feed on reasonably priced breakfast & lunch offerings from a daily blackboard menu – perhaps chorizo with red pepper, sweet potato, mayo & chilled boiled egg piled on sourdough. Sparky young staff serve up a full roster of coffees, as well as pots of tea – complete with cosies.