Maison D'etre - Islington

Looks lovely from the outside but isn't worth it. They charge far too much for a mediocre coffee. Service is slow. They have surge pricing on weekends...its a coffee shop not Uber. Better off going to Pret for faster service and a similar coffee. Cakes are very good though.

The staff are horrible!!! Two of us went in on Saturday afternoon (around 2pm) and even before we got to order our coffee, the waitress told us that we would have to 'stop using our laptops if more people come in later '. We weren 't exactly sure what this meant, so we asked her to clarify: basically, she was unhappy that we were only staying for a coffee (once again, this was before we ordered anything, so she couldn 't have known how long we were planning to stay), and decided to kick us out. Bear in mind, there were at least 3 other free tables in the area and all of the people around us seemed to have ordered a coffee. Attaching a photo to prove this. We were very disappointed by this...

I had been looking forward to visiting here as it seemed popular with locals and the menu looked great. The food was by far the most positive part of the experience. I had the avocado with poached egg and halloumi which was delicious. It was a decent portion, well-seasoned and really hit the spot. Unfortunately the service was so frustratingly poor that I can’t recommend this place. It took about 10-15 minutes for the coffee to arrive which was daft, as they were quiet and I was sat across from the coffee machine. I noticed I wasn’t the only one having this problem either: a couple returned their coffees for not being warm enough and mine wasn’t particularly good either. After my food and coffee had arrived, the service just stopped. They didn’t stop by to collect the plate for a long time or ask if I wanted anything else, probably because all the staff decided it was more important for them to chat to one of the waitress’ boyfriend who stopped by. This guy arrived a good while after I did, yet they were attentive and got food out quickly to his table. Funny that. I gave up on waiting for the bill and went to the counter to pay it. I had seen the staff take the bill at the table and it had all been table service up until that point, so I have to assume that was the case and they couldn’t be bothered to come over. They basically spent the whole time chatting behind the counter. As I’m not dating any of the staff, I’m not planning on going back. The food was very good but not enough to outweigh the service. Also it was so overpriced which is no shock in London but £16.78 for avocado on toast and a latte? You know that’s a joke.

Had been looking for a place to eat a scone without all the faff of afternoon tea and here I found it!! Delicious scone, lovely choice of Jams! Could have given a little more cream (but to be fair I didn’t ask so not sure if they would have). We shall be back to try the other cakes and drinks!

We came here based on positive reviews. But what a terrible disappointment. We ordered coffees and crumpets with avocado and salmon (at £9.50 a pop). We waited 20 mins for the coffee and then another 20 for the food. Whilst the coffees were fine, the food when it finally arrived was cold. I’m not sure if you’ve had a cold poached egg but it’s not an experience I’d want to repeat. When we complained, the manager offered a discount and invited us just to eat the avocado. She also offered to replace the dishes with new ones but having already waited so long we didn’t have time. The manager seemed very put out when we asked for a refund and dealt with us rather rudely. This is obviously a place where there are more covers than they really have the capacity to serve. I will not be visiting again.