Norman's Cafe

Norman's opened on Junction Road in November 2020, midway through a pandemic lockdown, founded by Elliot Kaye and Richie Hayes, later joined as co-owner by Alex, who between them had worked at Lyle's, the Clove Club, Crispin and Prufrock. The trio wanted a plain cafe rather than a fine-dining spin-off: the menu runs to bubble and squeak, cheese and beans on toast, a fried chicken escalope sandwich with garlic mayonnaise, and a full English breakfast served all day. Coffee is filter or espresso rather than anything more elaborate, and the room keeps its greasy-spoon Formica tables and laminated menus rather than a redesigned interior. Weekend mornings draw queues from the surrounding streets of Tufnell Park and Archway Road for the breakfast rolls in particular. The kitchen closes earlier on weekdays and stays open into the evening on Fridays and Saturdays for a short dinner menu. It remains a single site with no expansion plans stated by its owners.