London’s first magic cafe has arrived in Stoke Newington and a rowdy team of young londonists went along to check the place out.
With an unassuming exterior, Twisted Fork provides much needed respite from the rustle and bustle of Stoke Newington High Street. Very much like Alice through the looking glass once inside you may lose yourself for a few hours in magic, toasties, hot chocolate and cake.
At the time of writing – it is February – and we had the first signs of snow yesterday which has melted and left dirty slush in its wake. It is wet, grey and dreary and if you have babies or toddlers it is the type of weather that can lead to cabin fever after a few hours spent indoors. Fortunately we now have another useful addition for our list of child friendly cafes (with a twist!).
The owner has gone out of his way to accommodate four ladies accompanying babies in slings and toddlers in prams. We are here to celebrate – one of the toddlers is turning two next week and although Twisted Fork doesn’t serve alcohol the owner has been very kind in letting us bring our own booze and he even served it to us – cheers to that!
Now that mummas are happy, it’s time to entertain the bubbas. Hey presto and the owner has transformed into our own magician and he performs tricks for the kids and jokes for the adults at our table – the babies love the balloon animals and the slight of hand, whilst the adults enjoy a good card trick. The favourite has to be the business cards that turn into £20 notes – if only I could do that trick in my spare time!
After our own private magic show has ended it is time for the food. Between us we have sampled the Houdini (pancakes with bacon and maple syrup), the Illusionist (pictured above), the Dark Lord (avocado on toasted sourdough with salmon) and the Master Magician (avocado on sourdough with feta, red onion and roasted pepper). No complaints here. There is also a kiddies menu so the little ones can munch on healthy treats, toasties and humus. Tots and mummies are pleased.
A little more magic for the kids (who have been running around the joint, colouring things in and generally being messy, noisy toddlers) and then it is almost time to go.
But not before coffee! To a parent coffee is the ultimate beverage (even if it has to be decaf!)
Whilst sipping on our post dinner lattes we are informed that the provenance of the coffee is very much known as Twisted Fork works directly with the coffee farmers, cutting out the middleman to ensure they are paid fair wages. Sounds fair enough to us.
We are pleased to say that we shall be returning to the Twisted Fork in the near future – and if you want a birthday party for the kids with their own private magician – look no further!
Twisted Fork also host a variety of magical workshops for various ages, they sell magic paraphernalia and should you be able to convince someone to babysit your kids – they also do adults only evenings. Magic!
Twisted Fork 155 Stoke Newington High Street, N16 0NY.
Opening hours: 8am-6pm (Monday to Friday), 9am-6pm (weekends).
More information and events and workshops on their website.