Front Room Cafe

We have been going to this place for years now and always for breakfast. The place is always busy and it is sometimes hard to get a table inside as it can get a bit cramped. It’s too cold to sit outside so you have to wait a bit before being seated but it isn’t usually a long wait.
The atmosphere is a bit hectic but sometimes it’s a nice wake up call! The décor is all vintage and very cool, with lots of cute things to look at on the shelves.
It’s very family friendly, and there are people with small babies there all the time.
I have to say though the food is always really good and your average British menu that fills you up well, the service can sometimes be a bit slack. Last time we were there we waited over half an hour for scrambled eggs and then they forgot our drinks twice. I give it three stars as this is not the first time it has happened.
It’s a great restaurant to go for a quick bite or breakfast if you live in the area, but it isn’t particularly special and I wouldn’t trek there unless you were already around.

Popped in for a late Sunday brunch and was happy to find that they did an all day breakfast. Lots of seating which was great and the food was all pretty good. I had the New York breakfast because who doesn’t love pancakes and bacon? My friend got the burger which she enjoyed, but thought there the bun to patty ratio was a bit off (too much bread…)
Only complaint would be that the service was spotty — has to ask for water a couple of times before we actually got any and the food took a little longer than we had expected. Otherwise, this place is a decent little place to pop into for a bite to eat.

One of my favourite north London cafes. Great home made breakfasts & lunches. Does get busy at weekend peak times though as it is so popular.
Highlights from the menu include pancakes, quiche, chicken & mash, English breakfast. They serve All Press coffee too, so very tasty.

Good WiFi (you’ll have to ask); available plug sockets; sensibly priced; good atmosphere!

Great Coffee, great service and lovely rich, buttery holladaise on the delectable Salmon Royal.
I wish they’d bloody do a bloody mary!

Love this place. Great, friendly service and always busy but not so much that you struggle for a seat. I always bring friends who are visiting here and they all agree its a gem. Theres free wifi too. One of my favourite places for a coffee and they serve the best Eggs Benedict in London. Fact! All they need is to incorporate a Bloody Mary onto the menu and I have my hungover Sunday Brunch sorted ;)

Can’t go wrong for a weekend breakfast. Buzzy café, efficient service, and the best Full English in Finsbury Park. If you’re eating alone, there’s a small but great selection of Penguin classics by Steinbeck, Miller et al. Typically this will likely lead to chat with other regulars so you won’t be alone for long…

Breakfasts here are amazing! Dreamy poached eggs! The coffee is also very good if the right Barista is making it.

Nice little independent café with very friendly staff. I went at 4 on a Sunday and unfortunately they had run out of cake apart from a caramel slice which was very nice. Flat white was good not the best but far superior to a standard chain café effort. If your in the area, worth a visit.

This is a horrible, pretentious, overpriced café with obnoxious staff. We went in and I ordered a croque madame. First we had to wait five minutes whilst the staff ignored us and did not deign to give us a menu. When it arrived it was burnt underneath and the egg was like rubber. Staff repeatedly walked right past us and ignored us while we were trying to get their attention. Eventually the waitrose took it away without any apology. Twenty minutes later we got fed up and left. My girlfriend had a spinach and caramelised onion quiche which arrived containing no spinach, just onion. It was horribly bland. We didn’t want to send this back as well as our visit was becoming farcical. When we went up to pay they tried to charge us for the sandwich, it then became apparent that the waitress had just chucked it in the bin and never requested another! They also seemed to be trying to suggest it was our fault for not coming up and asking for it again. We only got a muttered reluctant apology. The staff were rude throughout, and what food we did get wasn’t worth the price tag. There are loads of ‘proper’ cheap, decent cafes around this area, AVOID!

I had a great great fry up here and the prices are really reasonable. One of the things I like about here is that it has the sort of big tables you end up sitting next to people in and having little chats, very cosy for sure. This strip of shops near Stroud Green Road really is something now, theres also a great clothes shop next door too.

I love this café! It is always busy and buzzing so sometimes hard to get a table, but the food is tasty and it is always worth the wait. An ideal spot for brunch and their smoothies are brilliant for curing a hazy head the morning after the night before!

When I walked in and saw all the cool junk everywhere and Radiohead on the stereo I thought the staff are going to be horrid cause that’s the general way of hipster café’s…
But they were great! So was the food ! Great varied menu and easy atmosphere. Sat in doing work for house ponsing the free wifi ! Worth the extra money for the fast connection.
A customer complained while I was there and he was dealt with very well. I’m impressed.
I will return !

This place is a cute little café that does a decent breakfast. Their Front Room Breakfast is huge and tasty, and served all day at the weekends (until 1pm I think during the week). The Eggs Benedict is great, as are the various salads etc. My New York friends were entertained by the fact that they New York Breakfast came with a whole two pancakes, but maybe that’s a fair adjustment to UK portion sizes…
Good tea. Lovely coffee. And there’s wine and beer on offer as well. I only wish they’d do a bloody mary, as surely every brunch place needs that?!
The service can be somewhat chaotic and slow, but that’s definitely part of the charm. The place feels like some cross between a café, a library and a second-​hand furniture ship — I always love a place where you can squeeze onto communal tables if the smaller tables are taken. People were playing scrabble, so I suspect there’s a stock of board games hidden somewhere around the room. It’s an ideal place for a lazy breakfast…

I discovered this place during one of my extensive dog-​walks through North London: it was a Saturday late-​morning and when I walked by the Front Room Café I saw the windows being fogged up and people waiting for a table to have brunch! This kind of scene automatically induces a reflex to grab my iPhone, open the Unilocal-​App and bookmark the place.
So, the following week I returned and I found the place to be definitely less empty (it was a Tuesday morning around 8am), but no less charming than I had hoped it would be: in fact, this is yet another example of a truly fantastic independent café in London!
The waiting staff is very nice and they didn’t even flinch their eyes when I ordered just a cup of coffee and then sat there for a good 1.5 hours… working away on my computer and enjoying their free wifi!
I yet have to try their brunch on a weekend, but I expect it to be not a disappointment at all…

Granted it’s a little pricey, but I can’t begrudge them doing something to try and free up a table or two. I love it to read the paper with a fry up or salad lunch. Cappucino disappointing though. Beautiul décor for sure.

Not a huge fan — overpriced, grubby and poor food don’t make for a hugely enjoyable experience. The two stars are for the space NOT being occupied by a fried chicken place,

I’ve been eating and drinking at The Front Room, since moving to Stroud Green, over three years ago, and I love it. The staff are superb, the clientele lovely, and the location for me, is superb.
They have a new chef, who has expanded their standard café menu, and he has proved to be a revelation.
The coffee is strong, the food is good, and the fact that they have free wi-​fi, means that as a home based worker, I can get out of my house and spend a bit of time in a nice environment, and get my lunch and coffee all at the same time.
It is also brilliant if you have kids. My daughter loves it, there are toys and books available, and they are more than happy to cook kids sized portions.
It get’s very busy at the weekends, but don’t let that put you off. If you’re in Stroud Green, give it a try.

I have entirely mixed feelings about this place and have explored to find what others say about it too. It seems on the whole I share my sentiments with plenty others. I first noticed it when I was cycling passed and made a mental note that I’d have to stop in a try it out. It has curb side appeal in other words. Stroud Green is one of those great corners of London that has such a mixture of cafes and restaurants to serve the great mixture of clientele. The Front Room is trying to appeal to the fashion conscious middle class 20 somethings who spill out of Crouch End. The quality of food is eractic, it has a tendency to be a little grubby, well– sticky tables at any rate and the prices seem a little steep. It promises to be so much more generous with books and toys for the kiddy winks and newspapers for the adults. But back I will go because determined I am that I will love this place.