Café Cecilia
Hackney, London
It may be holed up on a charmless side street off Broadway Market, but this neighbourhood hangout is manna for Hackney’s cool young crowd. It helps that chef/owner Max Rocha has a famous father (Hong Kong-born fashion designer John Rocha), an inspirational Irish mother and a culinary CV that includes big hitters St John Bread & Wine and the River Café. Friends and family count for a great deal here (the titular Cecilia is Max's grandmother), and the menu is stuffed with inviting platefuls for regulars and first-timers alike – sandwiches, kippers or boiled eggs with Guinness bread for breakfast, say. Later on, visitors can expect a roll call of rustic dishes with Anglo-Irish overtones and some European influences, from pork and apricot terrine or calçots with romesco to skate with spinach, brown butter and capers or mussels with 'nduja and wholegrain polenta. If you fancy something for afters, the deep-fried bread and butter pudding with 'cold custard' is exceedingly tempting. The setting is a small, square canteen-style room with plenty of light during the day, while service comes without frills or posturing – just as it should be.
Image: Maureen M. Evans
