East London Food & Culture

At last, a review of Deeney’s, Leyton

OK, it's less review, more rave, but put it this way: Miranda Eason is a fan
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Light and welcoming, with white walls, painted floors, and a simple counter. Photo: Facebook

The recent resurgence in popularity of the toasted sandwich, not to mention the turnaround in the perception of Scottish food, is at least partly down to Deeney’s, the London street market fave serving dishes with a Scottish flavour.

Started by Carol Deeney and her boyfriend Paddy back in 2012, the duo brought the world – well, alright then, London – the Macbeth toastie, consisting of haggis, cheddar, caramelized onions and rocket, sandwiched between two crisp slices of granary. It has magical hangover-curing properties, but is just as good even if you haven’t spent the best part of the night before at one of east London’s finest drinking establishments.

Last October, having grown their business to regular weekly spots at London’s biggest markets, not to mention pub pop-ups and festival appearances, the couple opened a bricks and mortar café on Leyton High Road, which has fast become a popular local hangout that gets so busy on weekends it’s not unusual to see people queuing for tables.

The Macbeth toastie is on the menu, along with the Lady Macbeth, its veggie counterpart, and the Hamish, an equally yummy sandwich of ham, cheddar, spinach and spicy tomato chutney, plus a couple of other options, all costing £5. My ideal scenario is to go with someone who’s happy to go half and half on a Macbeth and a Hamish so I don’t have to choose between the two. (For smaller café-goers who are highly suspicious of anything green there are simple cheese and cheese and ham toasties too.)

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Macbeth. Share it. Photo: ME
Get two flavours and share them. Photo: ME

In addition the menu includes toast and jam or avocado (which you can pimp with bacon jam, goat’s cheese, halloumi and harissa or smoked salmon) plus granola, yoghurt and berries. There’s also a selection of cakes and pastries, which depending on the day, can include croissants, muffins and millionaire’s shortbread. Nostalgic Scottish old school treats are in evidence too, such as Tunnock’s teacakes, caramel wafers and dentist-bothering Highland toffee and Irn Bru to wash them down. Obviously.

The interior? Well, it’s light and welcoming, with white walls, painted floors, and a simple counter at the back. Seating is at three sharing tables on retro chairs in varying shades of blue, white and black, plus there’s a couple of high chairs if your group includes littles, and a cosy nook at the back if sharing’s not your thing.

Deeney’s may be all about Scottish flavours but there’s a strong east London thing going on too. Coffee is by Allpress, natural tea blends by Bow’s Zig Zag teas, you can pick up loaves of organic sourdough from Seven Seeded Bakery to take home, and the walls are decorated with pieces by local artist Tiff Howick (also available to buy).

Carol and Paddy aren’t stopping at food, so there are gifts, candles, greeting cards too. If you haven’t been yet (why not?), put a trip to Deeney’s on your must do list for March.

Find Deeney’s Café at 330 Leyton High Road, London E10 5PW. Open Tuesday – Friday 8am – 5pm, Saturday & Sunday 9am – 5pm. More info here or on @deeneys

6 thoughts on “At last, a review of Deeney’s, Leyton”

  1. Thanks Emma. So sorry you weren’t happy with the staff. We always try to make our customers feel welcomed and apologies we weren’t on form for you that day. Hope to see you back in the cafe soon 🙂

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6 thoughts on “At last, a review of Deeney’s, Leyton”

  1. Thanks Emma. So sorry you weren’t happy with the staff. We always try to make our customers feel welcomed and apologies we weren’t on form for you that day. Hope to see you back in the cafe soon 🙂

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