Belle Epoque

One of my favorite cafes in London! I come as often as I can and the small staff remembers my order. Such a homey feeling and their Americano is delicious! Amazing French pastries, croissants, pain au chocolat and the macarons are my favorite. Great for lunch– recommend their chicken salad with avocado or a crêpe. Nothing but praise for this café. If you’re a writer I recommend it, beautiful sunny bay window overlooking newington green is inspiring :)

This place does beautifully crafted, authentic, elegant French desserts! We got the fromboise cheesecake and it was absolute heaven. It’s not like those dense New York cheesecakes and it’s got the balance between the cheese and the jam perfectly. Highly recommend to go for tea or surprise a birthday foodie.

Belle Epoque flirts with all the french vibe it has, but don’t be blinded by the charme. It is a very nice cosy place, but the real star is clearly the patisserie — the fancy pear-​caramel desert I tried was perfect. The quiches could be more salty and spicey for me, the salad that comes with it is almost more interesting, which is a bit odd for a bakery. The coffee won’t make your heart beat faster — it’s merely ok. I’d rather go for tea next time, which is a pity for I love good french coffee.
They’re also a Deli with a range of products from corsican cheese to saucisson, cookies and chocolate, etc. etc. It all seems a bit pricey to me, but as it is the only french bakery in the vicinity I’ll probably stick with it for the moment.
The staff is friendly and the two rooms are nice. A place in the neighbourhood you’d take your mum to for a perfect little desert à la francaise.

I just had the best almond croissant of my life here. Buttery, flaky bliss.

This is a lovely café, but personally I find it to be a bit over-​rated as a bakery. While the pastries and desserts look nice, they just don’t have the quality you would hope for from a truly great French patisserie.
The best thing I had was probably the croissant — crispy and buttery. The piece of layer cakes I had was sub-​par, and almost more like something from a package than I would expect freshly made. The coffee was so-​so, nothing special.
If you’re lucky enough to live in the neighborhood, I could see this as a great place to stop by for a quick sweet. But if you’re just visiting, I wouldn’t say it’s worth a trip.

I absolutely love this place. It is under consideration as a venue for my as-​yet-​fictional Gallic Gastronomy Jamz 2014 (patent pending.)
My usual routine brings me to Belle Epoque for one of their Chicken & Avocado baguettes. It is a thing of beauty — the bread is so fresh and the mustard gives it a little kick.
In the time it takes to knock up my usual hangover cure, I peruse the great array of French foodie products the café has to offer. Magnifique.
They are well on their way to becoming a Newington Green institution.

If you like french gateaux, you must go there.
I like how they use fruits and chocolate.

This place has the best croissants, pastries and french tarts ever, but it is on the pricey side.
In terms of the bread dare i say the French stick from Tescos is much better value and just as good.
Coffees were average. Better to head to Tina We Salute You…

My first patisserie macaron hunt stop in London started at this little cute café. I only tried the macarons here, so I can’t rate this place for anything but that. Their macarons are OK; the shells were a little too soft on the inside and the flavors were meh, also way too sweet for my taste. They were also 17 pound for a box of 16 macarons, which is on the pricey side.

Oh Ms Almond Croissant! Where have you been all my life? Actually, it’s probably better that my love of almost croissants is a recent discovery otherwise I’d defiintely resemble them — thin head and feet with a massive round belly!
For those that know me, I’m now a full on South Londoner and it takes a lot to get me up above Angel let alone all the way to Stoke Newington. It takes even more for me to be up and about at 9am but sometimes you just have to do it for a friend. Especially when she knows your weakness for new places and tasty pastries.
So that’s why I entered this little bit of Paris. Needless to say, the almond croissant was delicious with a sweet filling, flaky buttery pastry, and a generous shower of powdered sugar. And it was massive. I don’t mean «oh this is a good mouthful to nibble on with my tea». I mean «wow…this is the bully of all pastries that took everyone’s lunch money and had a feast». It’s enough for a meal but with the selection Belle Epoque has on offer I did what any sane foodie (oxymoronic that phrase may be) would do and got my croissant and another pastry which I still can’t identify. The mystery pastry was of a twisted (in shape not intention… although it could have been) design and stuffed to the gills with chocolate. On the top was what I first assumed was rock salt (it works on pretzels!) but was actually rock sugar to add to the sweetness. Luckily the chocolate was of the darker variety but my blood sugar was still going through the roof. As a verdict on how good they were, I ate both in one sitting despite having had breakfast a little bit earlier and knowing I had a veggie buffet to go to a couple of hours later.
I loved the feel of the place, and the food was amazing. I’m knocking off a star because I had to chase down my coffee order twice from forgetful baristas. Not cool to deprive me of an espresso for so long that early in the morning.
Also, just a note. They accept credit cards but with a £10 minimum. So bring cash or grab a quiche for lunch!

This little Patisserie is in one of the best people watching spots of all time, which is probably 80% of the reason I like it so much. The coffee’s ok, the cakes and pastries do their job pretty well and the seats aren’t jammers with kids ordering babycinos (gross)… But I don’t even care, look at that crazy man with car washing gloves on both hands!
On a serious note, it’s a nice café that doesn’t rush you out of your seat when you’re indulging in a good cross examination of the people of N16.

I’m in love with Belle Epoque’s macarons.
Amazing flavours. Great variety. Reasonable price. And better than Laduree any day.

The perfect measure of butter in the crossaint and the right amout of crumbs left after eat one, the certified french flour for the breads, the chairs disposal in the front of the place (facing the street and not the table) and some unpleasant atmosphere make of this place an almost genuine french café in the middle of Newington Green.
Excellent pastries, specially the plain crossaint, pain au chocolat and the pain aux raisins.
Good for a Saturday breakfast.

This is the cutest café that is just down the road from my new house now. On my way to the bus stop the other day I popped in for a coffee. Firstly I was pleasantly surprised to see that they would serve me a filter coffee and secondly I was almost knocked to the floor with the creamy looking cakes on display. WOW!!!
Seriously I think that I could feel my arteries clogging just looking at them, pastries, breads, cakes, puffs and more waved at me from behind the the beautiful glass counter. It was like being a kiddie over again. Now with these fabulous feasts why would I not grade it higher? Well let me tell you, Alan J is right, the coffee is weak as my grandmas knees. Not bad in my mind as I don’t like it too strong but if you are looking for a «hit» then this might not be for you. What is strange about this place is that it’s French, even with French (snooty I might add) staff, so you’d think they would know a thing or two about coffee — apparently not.
Great cake though — oh did I say that already?

I do like this lovely café. it’s got a lovely location, and does do GREAT pastries. The one thing that I have a problem with is the coffee. I LOVE coffee. Particularly strong, tasty coffee. When I am at home, I almost mainline the stuff. On my last visit about 3 weeks ago, I went with one of my best girlfriends, and I ordered coffee. I should have seen a problem coming when they asked if I wanted regular or strong. I opted for strong. This was a mistake. The coffee was weak, thin, and had no flavour to speak of at all. We didn’t eat, and this might have been a silly thing not to have done, but I wasn’t hungry. I’m told they do make amazing cakes, and that on Saturdays they appear to be a bit like DFS, with discounts on their prices.
But sorry. In honesty, I would probably go to Starbucks (and this is me being seriously honest about the respect I hold coffee in). Or, of course, I would stay at home, and drink my Monsooned Malabar… Ah, bliss!!!
Alan

Provides respite to Newington Green yum-​mums (and the Stokey ones who can’t be arsed to walk to The Spence), no doubt drawn to the very twee décor.
There is a Le Chat Noir poster by the till — this is surely a close second to having blokes with blue/​white striped jerseys and black berets going hor-​hee-​hor-​hee-​hor on one of the pavement tables as being a sign of authentic frenchy-​ness.
That said, the meals, savouries, sandwiches, coffee and staff are very good.
But they’re slightly let down by the cakes which are arranged into everyday and fancy.
Everyday (your brioche, pain aux raisins, etc) are great except the almond croissant (an overly sweet gloopy mess) and the almond and chocolate croissant (see above + chocolate).
Whereas the fancy just flatter to deceive, the first bite with the eye being superior to all subsequent bites with the gob

When we moved in to the area we were thrilled with the fact we had a local French patisserie around the corner. It is right on Newington Green which makes it picturesque (for the area).
They make great pastries (I prefer the croissant aux amandes) and nice tartes/​cakes. Many a time I’ve popped in there to grab dessert for a dinner party.
The two things that bother me about Belle Epoque is their lattes/​coffees. I find them too bitter and frankly not that satisfying as a result. Secondly, one day we were in there and we overheard the owner (in French) talking to his French friends about how easy it was to make money off the English and being rather disrespectful of his customers. He should be wary that some English can understand French and frankly should never insult the people who pay the bills.
So, if I’ve given it a 3star but I don’t think I’ll be in a hurry to return now that there are new cafes in the area.

This Sunday I walked out of Belle Epoque swinging my bags by side and holding my chest up high. So proud was I with my purchases that I almost skipped my way home to accept my ‘Best Girlfriend Ever’ award for the French feast I was about to prepare. Warm baguette, quiche Lorraine, salmon and spinach tarts, fiddly French passion fruit cream thingy– a taste sensation guaranteed!
Or not.
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the vast majority of Belle Epoque takeaway, it was good enough, but what it had promised to the eye it didn’t quite deliver to the mouth. The baguette and the tart were both top notch but the quiche and dessert tasted oddly similar. By that I mean, the quiche was weirdly sweet and the pudding not sweet enough– had the quiche been topped with passion fruit seeds I would have been none the wiser as to which was which! And let me tell you about the texture of said quiche– not the light, fluffy filling I was hoping for but grossly resemblant of pannacotta. Bacony pannacotta– eurgh!
This said, Belle Epoque is still a lovely patisserie. The café side is a great place to hang out of a quiet afternoon with the papers and a coffee and the delicatessen side has a really beautiful selection of French goodies for your larder. Whilst after quiche-​gate I’ll be a little more careful with my purchases I’d still pop in to Belle Epoque for a quick caffeine fix or for some stinky (really stinky) French cheese. Not a favourite but a definite stand by.

Belle Epoque Patisserie in Newington Green is a local delight. I often pop down on weekends to pick up an array of croissants, cakes, or breads. The varieties of croissants are always a bit warm, flaky and delicious, just as croissants should be. My favourite is the almond croissant which is dusted in with powdered sugar and perfect with coffee. To avoid disappointment on the weekend, skip sleeping in or you’ll miss out, the almond croissants always seem to sell out the fastest.
Belle is a proper French café because in addition to having a variety of breads and croissants, they serve a diverse menu. If you are in a rush you can quickly grad a sandwich, mini pizza or salad for take away. If time permits, you can sit at one of the indoor or outdoor tables and take in a full meal. The café is full of dark hard wood floors and tables giving a warm feel. In addition the shelves are filled with numerous items for purchase. The goat cheese and spinach quiche, if eaten in, is served with a non-​traditional salad. The salad I enjoyed had cubed beets, tomato, cucumber, snow peas and pear coleslaw. The salad was light, delicious and fresh! In my processed world, a fresh salad is a welcome joy. The quiche was equally wonderful. The blend of flavours made me saviour each bit and the perfectly golden crust added just the right contrast in texture.
I love coming to Belle Epoque! It’s perfect for the morning if you just want a fresh croissant and fresh squeezed orange juice and equally perfect for the afternoon for a cappuccino and pastry or lunch.

Belle Epoque is a lovely French Café looking out on the expanse of Newington Green. The delicatessen and café make mouth watering cakes, quiches and tarts, and the bakery supplies to a number of local restaurants in Islington. On my last visit, I had a mushroom quiche which was perfectly made — soft and creamy with a crusty pie shell — and served with a variety of five salads. You can also get that to go, without the salads, for less than three quid.
The sandwiches are all made on fresh home-​made bread, and the salad ingredients are also freshly sourced. As you might expect, this careful attention to the food and atmosphere makes for a finely refined café, which does get rather busy on the weekend. The walls are stocked with delicatessen products, from Balsamic Vinegar to homemade jam.
The café has free WiFi, which makes it a pleasant place to have an afternoon coffee accompanied by a mouth watering pastry. And you can pick up the hot selling croissants or an apple pie (which also comes in a smaller tart version) to go!