Knees Up - Review - Hackney - London - The Infatuation

"Knees Up refers to exercise and movement and not, as you might initially think from the name, all-out chaos and fun. This cafe has a chic, gallery-like sports shop on one side, and counters lined with tasty Brunswick East bakes and sandwiches on the other. Think: clubhouse for people who care about how they look in running pictures. The design is sleek. The clientele are likely on Strava in a big way. And the coffee-drinkers who congregate here stake their allegiance to run clubs through the power of grabby merch. It’s poserish. But sometimes you want to pose. photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch Pause Unmute It’s also a great spot to get some work done. Pitch up in front of the big bi-fold doors with a laptop for a couple of hours. Just don’t linger—the wifi is good but there aren’t any plug sockets. Food Rundown Whole Chicken Salad The sandwich menu is designed for ‘pre + post movement’. Which presumably means… all the time? Regardless, they are much better than this quite scary mantra suggests. The white bread is thick and fluffy, and we like this chicken one stuffed with juicy meat and crisp, refreshing lettuce. photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch Runner’s Smoothie It turns out runners require bananas, peanut butter (lots of it), and berries. This is a decent smoothie but it’s much too thick." - Sinéad Cranna