HONESTLY’S VERDICT

In a word:  Reliable

Food:  Beautiful salads, pastries and good breakfasts

Service:  Warm welcome but table service is a bit hit and miss

Presentation:  Lovely window and deli counter display. Salvage-chic interiors!

Ambience:  Pretty chilled, verging on quiet for an early breakfast

Location:  Crouch End High Street, North London

Value for money:  A little further from central London = reasonable price tag

Worth a visit?:  The salads and English Breakfast are worth the trip ‘up north’

We were drawn to Sable D’or by the window display of freshly baked pastries and rather gorgeous looking salads, and it became one of our go-to places for breakfast when we wanted to get out of the big smoke and head north…on the 91 bus!

Ok, it’s not exactly getting out of the city, but it allowed us to explore a little further afield than our own pocket of London that was Barnsbury between Kings Cross and Islington.  I think this little cafe is worth a trip out of your comfort zone for delicious and reasonably priced breakfast or brunch.

Food

We make the trip up to Sable D’or for breakfast on about a monthly basis, when we know that the rest of London will be tucked up in bed, we hop on the 91 bus to make the 30 minute trip ‘up the road’.  We know we’ll always get a table as it won’t be too busy, unlike our fave breakfast cafe, Sunday, which gets ridiculously busy and super loud inside.

When I’m feeling in need of a hearty and warming breakfast, this has to be my go to; the English Breakfast with homemade veggie sausage (a sausage shaped veggie patty) together with a filing plateful of eggs on toast with baked beans ( a rare treat for me), mushrooms, salad, rosemary potatoes (another rare treat!) and roasted tomato.  All I can say is ‘yum’…and take me there right now!

I’m reliably informed that the Cinnamon French Toast is good, although not as good as Sunday’s or Ottolenghi’s.

The Smoked Salmon and scrambled eggs is a classic, nothing to write home about on this one, tasty and filing with respectable portion of smoked salmon.

Definitely one of my fave ways to a healthier breakfast is to go for salads, I think a plate of greens and colours is a great way to start the day, add in a mini quiche for a delicious protein boost and i’m done for the day!

The salads at Sable D’or are really, really tasty, they remind me of Ottolenghi salads, just without the price tag.  You can chose from the selection at the deli counter, which usually includes roasted aubergine, beetroot, or butternut squash, a quinoa option and lightly steamed greens.  You have the option of a plate of three or four salads, or two or three salads plus one of the mains: mini quiche, salmon, chicken, beef or tuna.

Service

I’ve found the service to be a bit hit and miss at Sable d’Or; most of the time it’s been attentive, smiley with a no problem approach, on other occasions it’s been disinterested and sloppy.

Presentation

I love the produce displays in the window and at the front counter; piles of pastries and baked goodies, beautiful salads and other savouries.

I also like the rustic, mismatch look of the dining area which is along the side of the kitchen and opens up at the back; the original floor tiles, brick walls, vintage metal light shades, bare rendered walls, exposed aircon, old sewing machine tables, and boxes of fresh produce stacked up next to the open kitchen.

Value for money

Sable d’Or offers great value; the Sable D’or English breakfast is £7.95, Smoked Salmon and scrambled eggs £7.50, pastries around £2.50.

From the lunch menu, which we’ve also had for breakfast, it’s £11.50 for two salads and a main.

Cheaper than Ottolenghi but just as tasty.

Location

43 The Broadway, Crouch End, London N8 8DT

Tel: +44 20 8341 7789

Sable D’or don’t seem to do social media, or the web, or Facebook in fact, so finding contact info for the cafe has proved difficult.

Opening hours (according to Google):

Monday to Friday: 07.30 – 18.00

Saturday and Sunday: 07.30 – 18.30