After a rather disappointing walk in Weavers Fields (see separate review), we continued our walk from Bethnal Green to Hackney, an area I know reasonably well. However, I spotted that one route would take us past Hackney City Farm, somewhere I’d never been to. Google maps also showed an Italian café which sounded promising.
Despite reservations, dogs were allowed within the initial part of the farm, but not through a gate where surrounding a yard were various stables, one with a litter of baby pigs. This then led onto a field where we found two huge pigs, gambolling lambs, ducks, geese, goats and donkeys.
However, dogs were allowed in the garden with its lovely informal path meandering through it.
A ‘Get Loose’ shop sold various products, both dried and liquid, all without packaging and there were nearby lockers for a veg box scheme.
Opposite the shop was the entrance to the wonderfully named Frizzante, with its lovely ramshackle garden with different styles of seating and varying degrees of natural shade and a surprisingly large interior. It was table service only and the ‘farm to fork’ offering was more elaborate than I anticipated and had separate menus for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast was served up until 2pm and so we both opted for something light: avocado on organic sourdough toast and scrambled eggs along with coffee. The lunch menu had lots of sandwiches, salads, tarts and bowls of pasta which all sounded delicious as well as pizza slices, with the dinner menu having the addition of a vegetarian cauliflower steak, a seabass fillet or oven baked rabbit.
We loved sitting in such pleasant peaceful surroundings, and it was hard to imagine that not only were we in Hackney, but situated next to a farm.
