Cafe 338 - London

338 Bethnal Green Road
London
E2 0AG

Opening hours
Monday to Saturday - 6.00am till 5.00pm
Sunday - 6.00am till 4.00pm

Breakfast served all day

Nearest tube - Bethnal Green

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Cafe 338 is very popular, customers queue outside waiting for an available table.

There is non-stop action in the kitchen at the rear to feed the hungry diners.

 Traditional gingham table cloth, sugar pourer and a squeezy tomato on every table.

Possibly the biggest breakfast menu I had ever seen!

Many combinations are possible, one day I may well return to build my dream breakfast.

Frothy coffee or tea comes with all breakfasts.

Stunning presentation but an economy sausage isn't a pretty sight.

Delicious and juicy tomato slices. 

Plenty of mushrooms and bacon.

A beautifully fried egg lay on a slice of fried bread, the sausage can be replaced with a decent one if you pay extra, I wish I had spotted this earlier!

The slab of bubble and squeak was good stuff!

The breakfast was so filling the toast didn't get a look in, it looked nice enough though!

The big veggie breakfast comes with onion rings (an odd choice) and is also impressively presented.

We were going to see our friends band play in London and had booked a night at Liverpool Street Travelodge, the perfect excuse for another fry up inspection! Cafe 338 seemed a popular choice and was only three shops away from the legendary E. Pellicci. With a bit of a hangover from the night before we entered feeling relieved at the sight of an empty table in the corner..

Upon entering - Quite a lot of tables have been fitted into this not particularly big cafe, thankfully there is enough space between the tables to ensure you can sit comfortably. The cafe is well lit with classic lighting, squeezy tomato sauce bottles and gingham table cloths keep things nice and traditional. Find a table and grab it quickly as this place is really popular, shortly after we had arrived people started queueing outside waiting for a free table to appear. It took us sometime to work out if you had to order at the counter or whether your order is taken at the table, it turned out you just sit and wait till somebody comes over to take your order. Everything you need for your breakfast experience will arrive at or already be on the table. The menu has a seriously impressive breakfast section so spend some time planning the ultimate breakfast and avoid the economy sausage, I wish I had! There is a great vibe inside the cafe, we got a window seat which was nice until the queue started to form outside and I felt a bit on display! 7/10

Service - My wife went to order the food at the counter as nobody came over at first, she was told to wait and somebody would be over to take the order. There were plenty of staff, all very busy and fairly friendly too. We didn't wait too long for anything to arrive and was asked if everything was ok during the breakfast. 7/10

Contents  - 1 jumbo economy sausage, 2 slices of bacon, 2 slices of black pudding, 2 large slices of tomato, 1 large slab of bubble and squeak, a whole slice of fried bread, plenty of sliced mushrooms, 1 fried egg, 2 slices of buttered toast and a hot drink. 9/10

Presentation - Certainly an impressive layout with a whole uncut slice of fried bread laying underneath an almost perfect fried egg, perched above this though wasn't a pretty sight, a jumbo economy sausage.. Better things were happening in the east though with a well positioned display of circular delight in the shape of tomato and black pudding. To the west of the plate a large slab of bubble and squeak sat proudly above a heap of sliced mushrooms. The south of the plate was all about bacon, plenty of it and nicely browned. 9/10

The food - I am not a fan of economy sausages but thankfully this was not the worse one I have encountered and although not hugely enjoyable to eat I did go on to finish it. The bacon was much better and cooked nicely on the griddle. The black pudding was standard but piping hot and went nicely with the large slices of juicy and flavoursome tomatoes. The mushrooms were delicious as was the homemade bubble and squeak. The fried bread was pretty good, the toast was nice and the fried egg almost perfect with a nice runny yolk. 7/10

Value for money - I paid just £5.80 for the mega breakfast which also included buttered toast and a nice frothy coffee. It was more food than I could finish and a real bargain! 9/10

Veggie option - Yes, 6 set breakfasts or build your own.


Overall - A very popular cafe with the biggest breakfast selection I have ever seen! It's possible to build your ideal breakfast here and if I ever return I shall do that as none of the set breakfasts contain everything I require on a breakfast. In hindsight I wish I had swapped the economy sausage for a decent one and added some beans. Definitely worth a look and excellent value for money but I personally preferred the mighty E. Pellicci 3 doors away. 8/10