StringRay Café

The food was OK but was a little disappointed as I had been assured it would be delicious. I thought it was average at best. The service was not great either, although the staff were friendly and it looked like they were doing their best on a busy evening

My favourite place for pizza. Really lovely and friendly staff who look after children very well. lively atmosphere and very reasonably priced wine.

Perhaps I came on an off day but the service here was really poor — we were ignored for ages, and then the person serving didn’t ask how our food was, if we wanted any sauces, and forgot to get our water when we asked for it. She barely uttered a word to us the entire time and didn’t smile once.
I ordered a salmon/​scrambled egg dish for brunch, and it was not a smidge on the local Highbury Arts Club, despite the prices being comparable.
I completely get that this place is steered towards families who want a quick fix, but I won’t be coming back unless forced to!

5-​star because of the menu choice, and the great GREAT pricing compared to most London spots. The gluten free option is great because most of London is not as aware of Celiac or Gluten allergies, and the restaurant provides options at great prices.
The restaurant was cozy, but the service was a little bit awkward (however I would never not go here just because of the service).
String Ray also has great happy hour dinner deals, so it would be worth going to after work :)

This restaurant has excellent, inexpensive thin-​crust pizzas that are large enough that you can almost eat them for two meals.
They are very quick to fill your order, and the atmosphere is comfortable.

It’s a good little place for a quick pizza or plate of pasta! A solid 4 stars for consistent quality, friendly service, and very low prices. The pizzas are wood fired and taste of charred dough and good sauce. I’m glad it’s a local and only a 3 minute walk-​we go ofter!

Saturday night, walking past Stingray Café on a warm evening, a blackboard outside on the pavement featured a £6.95 pizza + beer menu after 9pm, every day. Sounds pretty good, right?
We ventured in and the waitress standing near the back immediately signaled over to us with a quick gesture of her hand pointing us to an appropriately sized an empty table. The other tables were full of small groups chowing down and chatting, with the appearance that they were local regulars here.
Menus were promptly provided. A menu of classic pizzas, pastas and salads with some sides. We ordered pizza + beer special.
Cold bottled beers arrived seconds later and just a short time after our pizzas. Huge pizzas, good toppings and light, fluffy and thin crust which must have been blasted in a super hot oven — great. Mine was a fiorentina with tomato, spinach, mozzarella and egg with plenty of garlic kick.
Pizzas were very good and huge in size and together with a beer for just £6.95, it’s a great bargain.
Beer was cold
Service was prompt and efficient.
So overall it’s a high rating for me for great pizza and excellent value. That’s a combination that hits the spot.

First and foremost the pizza is good, not amazing but still very good. However, it’s the small and ‘cosy’ restaurant and great atmosphere, coupled with the genuinely amazing prices and super friendly service which means this is always my default local restaurant!

Alright — well it’s been a while since i’ve written a review, but now that London has gotten the hang of Unilocaling, I thought it was about time I posted something of note. The Stringray Café… what can I say, this place is a FANTASTIC local haunt. I’ve lived in the area for two years and I must admit that my first experience at the Stringray was only a few months ago. However, since then I’ve been a regular. The food is amazingly good value and is extremely delishious. For £7 you can get a plate of scrumptious pasta piled very high (think American portions) or a calzone pizza the size of a new born baby. They also do a wide selection of delectible mains like Lasagne, fresh fish and dinner salads. And if you’re gluten-free…fear not, they even cater to your needs with a wide range of gluten free entrees. The ambiance is quirky but lovely and the waitstaff are very friendly and attentive. Their beer and wine selection is really nice and they do offer quite a few varieties of wine by the glass which is always favorable. They also do an amazing happy hour (2 courses for £10 before 7) and a fantastic brunch… Eggs Benedict, Omelettes and all of the glorious post 10am breakfast foods.
Again…the amount of food you get for the price is INSANE! I can’t go on about it enough. The only reason why I hadn’t visitied this place before is because the exterior décor is a little bit suspect. It kind of looks like a Kids fast food restaurant mixed with a mob front. Very very strange but I am so glad that I put my predjudices aside one evening and gave it a try. Get past the funky shop front and you’re in for a treat! i’ll be visiting The Stringray for many years to come!

I love this place. Have been for lunch or dinner many times. You just can’t beat the pizza (especially for the price) and the atmosphere is great.

You know when you’re having a few drinks with some friends at theirs, watching a film or some suchlike and it comes to feeding time and someone suggests Domino’s? In the past, I kind of felt a little bad at trying my utmost hardest to persuade my friends to go for an alternative, thus avoiding a route which inevitably leads to feelings of self-​loathing, a wallet £10 lighter, a grease coma (and not good grease), and a three-​lane pileup in my small intestine. Unfortunately, Twofer-​Tuesday has often prevailed in such situations, leaving my inner foodie crying, stricken, ringing a bell, and proclaiming that the end is nigh.
However, StringRay’s changed all that. Yes, it’s not quite as ubiquitous as Domino’s (the Islington branch is in a bit of a random place… the Shoreditch one is a little more accessible. Domino’s, on the other hand, just surrounds you like mustard gas or zombies during an apocalypse). Never again will I be able to forgive myself for submitting to pro-Domino’s peer pressure.
The interior is cosy and warm, which I was incredibly grateful for in mid-​December. Good start. Then I saw the menu. Just shy of £5 for a margherita, and others (such as my personal favourite Fiorentina) £5.50−7. I was feeling a little sceptical that pizza at such price point can be decent, but I was assured that everything would be fine. They were not wrong. The pizzas… they are thin, they are crispy, they are nice! Using my eye-​ruler, I guess they’re around 12″ and despite the thinness, they’re pretty filling. My Fiorentina was tasty with a generous helping of garlic; chilli oil is also provided (thankfully, garlic and herb dip is not). Regardless, I spent that night without my stomach gurgling like the fires of Mount Doom.
Never again shall I be subjugated by the Domino’s reign of terror. StringRay’s is taking the power back, biznatches.

Food is good and well priced, service a bit touch and go– depends on who is serving.

Borderline 5-​star, just for the value alone!
Most pizzas are under £6 or £7, and as others have said, they are huge! If you think about it, you get a pizza that is bigger than a pizza express pizza, and for less money (though perhaps not with pizza express’s nearly constant 2 for 1 vouchers, but pretty darn close… and still BIGGER!).
Nice, salty, Continental style pizza. Due to the location, there are kind of a lot of families, but not an overwhelming number. I went on a Sunday night, and it was decently busy, but not so busy that we (a party of 3) couldn’t be seated right away.
The big deal here, at least for my friend, is that they have really nice GLUTEN FREE pizza (and gluten free pastas as well). I was skeptical, but I tasted her gluten free pie, and though the crust was a bit crisper and a slightly different texture, it was still equally as good to my wheat-​ful pizza. They do charge £2 extra for gluten free, however.
In short, great bang for your buck (quality for your quid?), and a tasty one at that. I am sure I’ll be back before too long.

I am facing the same dilemma as Eamon in the above review, but seeing as I did takeaways in most cases ordering pizza with Stingray I’ll base my review on the food alone: GREAT value for money compared with the vast majority of other pizza companies in the area; fresh ingredients, great crust and some original variations on the menu. The smoked salmon pizza is definitely worth a try!

StringRays Highbury is one of those places you go to for one reason, and that’s the pizza and the price (a.k.a. incredible value). The pizza is ‘continental’ style, so think more so Pizza Express than Pizza Hut.
The pizza’s are HUGE! And not just big, but good tasting and good quality.
The décor is nothing fancy and a bit dark, but becomes cozy enough with a candle and a beer/​wine or two.
The service is about average, not bad. But if you get a bottle of wine and their big pizza’s, you won’t really need the waitress more than once. I would recommend avoiding the house wine and kicking up to bottle at least another price up, if not two.
I would sum up as a down-​home, hearty, no frills eatery… definitely worth a try!

Most people recognise the Stingray brand from its popular Globe branch on Columbia Road. Although I do love the Globe it always too busy for me and I’ve never found the staff very polite. This smaller café in Highbury offers the same high standard of cooking that you get at the other branches but without the long wait for a table or the grumpy attitude from the waitresses. I love it here!
The pizza’s at Stringray are enormous and very generously topped. My favourite is the Quatro Stagioni with artichokes, mushrooms, parma ham and pepperoni– delicious! During the day these sell for £6 with a drink included although at night the prices increase ever so slightly to around £6.50. I have never yet managed to finish one of these mammoth pizza’s but that’s not stopped me from trying! My boyfriend on the other hand sees it as a sign of weakness not to eat every scrap and will be quite willing for us to hang around for a couple of hours until he’s managed to force in the last few mouthfuls, H-​O-​T!
Stringray also has a great wine list and plenty of other drinks to keep everyone happy. I’ve noticed that this branch also offers a kids menu as well which I’m sure will make children everywhere very happy. A must visit if you’re ever in the area!