Reilly Rocket Cafe, 507 Kingsland road (A must for Coffee lovers)

Despite living a stones throw from this cafe, today is the first time I have actually checked it out. The outdoor seating is normally busy with a mixture of coffee guzzling hipster and bikers decked out in full leathers, an odd combination of clientele one might think, until you consider that this cafe is located right behind a Suzuki showroom and is on Kingsland road.

It was opened about a year ago by the showroom owner and has a partly motorcycle theme, with stacks of Easy Rider magazines from the 70's with half naked chicks on front and other biking nic nacs dotted about the place, but it also has the air of a Seattle coffee house. The interior is American retro in style and definitely gives off a masculine vibe, without lacking attention to detail. To elaborate on that rather vague statement, for example, there are a number of cacti plants about the place and the walls are decorated with action movie posters, taxidermied animals, graffiti and sporting plaques. But there are also a number of softer touches, such as water jugs with fresh mint laid out on a side serving table along with a range of jams and preserves for your toast, with exciting flavours such as green fig, morello cherry and vintage Oxford marmalade on offer. I bagsed a seat on a comfy beanbag and took advantage of the great people watching to be had from the large window looking onto Kingsland road.

The food is fairly simple, but high quality, they use good breads, more unusual cheeses (gruyere, haloumi etc) and have Neal’s muesli for customers in the mood for something less starchy than bagels and toasties for brekkie. I treated myself to a whole grain bagel with haloumi, chutney, lettuce, coriander, tomato and grilled peppers for lunch, which was very tasty and a new combination to me.

The real reason to go here however is the unbelievable coffee. If you love coffee, do yourself a favour and pop into Reilly Rocket. The Manager is a highly trained Barista and self proclaimed coffee geek. He has a rather fancy weighing contraption to ensure your bevergae is the perfect mixture of coffee to cream, and he artfully serves each cup topped with a concentric heart shape. It is truly wonderful coffee, easily the best I have had in this part of town.

For the good quality basic eats, fantastic coffee, interesting style, chilled out vibe and good music, I  would definitely recommend checking this place out.