The Holly Trail Cafe — Restaurant in London

We ventured to The Holly Trail Café for lunch after an enjoyable walk around Epping Forest in the sunshine. The fine weather meant that we could sit outside which was useful as internally the café is pretty compact. Although it does offer toilets which you could probably use even if you're not making a purchase.

On arrival there's a decent menu written on the wall which covers everything from sandwiches and baguettes to a full English breakfast. There are also a selection of homemade cakes available which do look rather tempting.

Still we decided to try a range of sandwiches and an omelette. Because we were sitting outside we were unfortunately downgraded to wooden cutlery (maybe the youths that we saw performing community service nearby are prone to stealing them otherwise?).

Anyway there we sat with our food buzzer and cups of tea waiting for our lunch. In fact we waited long enough to wonder if our buzzer was broken! Still our order did arrive in the fullness of time and really we could live with the delay because the food was clearly freshly made from scratch and that makes all of the difference.

The sandwiches themselves were notably good in using quality ingredients and arriving with both salad and some crisps. So they were more than acceptable while my omelette was piping hot and pleasingly cheesy. So The Holly Trail Café hit the mark and I doubt that you'll be disappointed if...

Until last week we were regulars when walking our dogs in the area. The food was always very good - clean and precise - and the coffee likewise. Unfortunately when we rocked up last week, with our two small dogs in tow, as usual, the waitress decided we couldn’t sit at a particular table in the so-called dog-friendly part of the cafe as it was too close to the food- preparation area, even though the dogs themselves were on leads and one is so small she usually sits on our laps. Strange this, because we have sat there on previous occasions, without an issue. Perhaps there has been a change in policy. We were told to sit at a smaller table adjacent to the toilets, which was unsuitable for our needs. So, best check which parts of the dog-friendly cafe are actually dog-friendly before you take your seat. We shan’t be patronising them again as we ourselves prefer not to be patronised. It’s a great pity because their offerings are far better than Butler’s, and we could always order a portion of chicken and bacon for our...

Pleasant cafe on the edge of walking trails at Epping Forest . .a welcome oasis near to Chingford station. Affordable drinks, snacks and cooked breakfasts. We passed by on a Saturday afternoon to meet with friends for a walk. There's a generous amount of comfortable wooden picnic benches outside that double up as a meeting point. NB this is your last chance to eat or buy food before you hit any of the walking trails never mind use a toilet.

And l have to say these are clean toilets. My apologies that all of my photos are of them and not the drinks or food any of us bought. I was too engrossed in conversation to remember to take any !

Wondering why it's called ' Holly' reference to trail is obvious. Are there some Holly Bushes nearby ? They need to put some greenery in the outdoor space to integrate it more with its surroundings then ld add...