Counter Cafe

Specialties

Brunch all day every day! We want to be the most exciting coffee roasters in UK. We never hesitate to completely abandon traditional roasting and espresso making techniques in pursuit of what we collectively think tastes exciting and awesome. The same applies when it comes to our packaging. In our roastery every bag is treated as a piece of art — on the inside and the outside.

As with everything in Counter Roastery, taste is at the heart of all the products we source, cook and roast. The coffees we use are carefully sourced from major speciality coffee growing regions across the globe, favoured for their high altitudes, impeccable processing and attention to detail when it comes to picking the ripest cherries. Our selection constantly varies throughout the year in order to accommodate for beans having specific harvesting seasons. We cup as a team — no coffee gets dropped into the roaster without first being cupped, re-​cupped and cupped again by head roaster, Nile and passionate Counter baristas. Only the coffee that everyone believes is incredible hits the shelves, the hoppers and our coffee cups.

History

Established in 2009.

Brother and sister duo, Tom and Jess Seaton, launched The Counter Café in 2009. Starting out as a small local eatery for the once quiet neighbourhood of Fish Island in Hackney Wick, however, with The Counter fast developing a dedicated following, the award-​winning café quickly outgrew its original location and relocated two doors down into the local gallery Stour Space in 2011.

Located just 100 metres from the Olympic Park, The Counter offers unparalleled views of the park with indoor seating and a large outdoor terrace on the River Lea.

With Tom and Jess originally born in New Zealand, The Counter has a distinct antipodean feel, with a focus on quality coffee and fresh homemade food, including the café’s renowned pies.

Humble to its roots The Counter remains geared toward the local. Where possible all produce is sourced locally and the majority of the staff is also from the area, helping The Counter to retain its neighbourhood feel.

Meet the Business Owner

Tom and Jess S.

Business Owner

My brother Tom and I opened the Counter together in 2009.

We’re from New Zealand, but our parents are originally from the UK. Both Tom and I wanted to travel, and for different reasons we found ourselves in England in 2002. We then just happened to end up in the same place at the same time, which is how The Counter first came about.

Tom comes from a marketing background and I from retail and people management, so this coupled with our long established love of food was a good mix for the café business. And together with our very talented mum who helped develop the original menu and our famous secret relish recipe we brought The Counter to life.