Our vegan cafe on the corner of Clarence Road has been a beloved institution in Hackney for over 25 years. It first started life as a vegetarian cafe called Pumpkins, and then in 2004 as Pogo Cafe, run by a vegan voluntary workers’ cooperative, known for being an active part of the punk and animal rights scenes in London. In 2014 it became Black Cat Cafe, still run as a cooperative and was celebrated for its radical politics and commitment to community.
At the start of this year, the long standing members of the cooperative sadly had to step away from the cafe. The team poured their heart into building the cafe back up to it’s pre-pandemic success, but with the rise in the cost of living, a volunteer-led cafe was becoming more and more difficult to run. After trying to fundraise and failing to recruit new members to the cooperative, the Black Cat was faced with the possibility of closing its doors forever and Hackney was at risk of losing its much loved vegan community focussed cafe.
As a family, we’ve loved this place for five years. It’s the space where we could get together and catch up over chickpea pancakes and seitan sandwiches. We couldn’t bear to see it go.
After working closely with the old team to save the cafe, we spent a month refurbishing the space with help from friends and family. The Black Cat reopened 5th September and we were met with a warm embrace from Black Cat customers old and new.
Re-opening the cafe has been a joy and a massive learning curve for us. Over the past 10 months we’ve poured our hearts into making sure we continue the Black Cat’s long standing vision of good vegan food and even greater community. As a team we are Ollie (Head Chef), Charlie (Operations), Mags (Head Baker), Holly (Front of House).
Our menu is London cafe meets the world, as we turn international classics into tasty vegan magic, including loaded chips, housemade soy burgers, the classic Black Cat salad bowl, and a hangover curing full english.
Our bakery selection is pure indulgence without the guilt of animal cruelty. Alongside our sausage rolls and empanadas, our delicious cakes are all made in house featuring homely favourites and a fun experiment of flavours.
We serve a range of hot drinks with beans from Mission Coffee, and cold drinks including heavenly milkshakes and London brewed beer. We also do a cuppa tea for only £1.50 so anyone can pop in if they need a warm friendly space to sit.