Karya Bistro — Restaurant in London

Highams Park needed somewhere like this. It is in a prime location and serves Perky Blenders coffee (popular East London coffee brand). There are cold drinks including trendy beer in the fridge they serve a good range of pastries with sandwiches, baguettes and filled croissants at the counter. The prices are right for the quality - not cheap and not eye wateringly pricey. Sourdough loaves, bottles of wine and bags of coffee are also sold.

It is a really good space with a relaxed ambience. The tiled counter looks good; some of the decor is a bit naff like the flame-effect wall lights and there being so many pendants but it is a nice place to be. There are some parts that need to be finished like the bathroom. The coffee was excellent and served in a really nice cup that kept it warm for a long time.

Staff are friendly but some are maybe a bit inexperienced which is fair enough as they’ve not been open long at time of writing. I asked for a sandwich to be toasted and it was served untoasted and lukewarm. Another member of staff spotted this and offered to correct it. It would also benefit from having a jug of water and glasses available.

This will be a very popular place with locals. Good luck to them. I’ll definitely go back

Update: went back several times. Unfortunately several issues not fixed and it’s been open for some time now. There’s now a sign on the toilets that says “Customers only” which is pretty mean considering its prime location and lack of public loos in the area. There are also exposed heating/hot water pipes in the children’s play area where a child could...

My family absolutely loves Karya Wood Street — the service, food, and atmosphere are always excellent, so we were excited to try the Highams Park branch. Unfortunately, the experience was very disappointing in comparison.

When we ordered breakfast, the bacon (for both myself and my sister) came out rock solid and the sausages were overcooked (see pictures). When we politely asked if it could be changed, the waitress made us feel as though we were doing something wrong. My sister also asked to swap baked beans for sausage and was told no, as it wasn’t the same price — which we didn’t mind paying the difference for, only to notice on the receipt that we weren’t charged for the difference but for the full amount.

For my niece’s meal, we requested scrambled egg instead of baked beans but we were charged for scrambled eggs when that shouldn’t have been a charge but a simple replacement. On top of that, we were charged £3.50 for a single pancake that was not enjoyable at all.

The overall service felt unfriendly and unaccommodating, and the food was poor — we honestly left feeling like we hadn’t even eaten. Such a huge contrast from the Wood Street branch, which has always been warm and welcoming. Sadly, I won’t be returning to the Highams...

I and two friends came at 1pm on a Thursday. There was one man taking orders and serving. I placed our order, two cold drinks, one with coconut milk and a cappuccino. Plus three sandwiches with all different fillings. We waited over 25 minutes for the drinks. The one with coconut milk was actually made with oat milk and the cappuccino was luke warm. The sandwiches came another 30 minutes later and in fact had to remind him If the third one as it didn’t arrive. I counted 20 people in the cafe. The poor man was run off his feet and he actually apologised saying he was on his own. Eventually a woman arrived through the back door with a child of about five years old. I don’t know if he had called her but she was not dressed appropriately. However she commenced serving the...