By Marie-Claire McGlade
Yummy Yummy in My Tummy is quickly establishing itself as a real social hub for families in Stoke Newington—and with good reason.
The family-owned kids’ café opened in April last year in the very capable hands of local mum-of-two Leyla Ozyurt.
Yummy Yummy is an offshoot of the well-established and buzzy Café Z on Stoke Newington High Street. Café Z is renowned for its excellent and generous-sized Turkish breakfasts and brunches. When the adjacent premises became vacant last year, Leyla and her husband, Bektas, jumped at the chance to create a welcoming space for kids in Hackney. As well as amazing food and drinks, there is a fantastic range of pre-school, after-school and holiday classes ranging from Mini Mozart baby classical music to art and ballet. Leyla often runs kids’ cookery classes on Friday afternoons.
The ground floor hosts the bright and airy café and a play area with a lovely selection of books, toys and rocking horses. There are ample highchairs and buggy parking space. Downstairs, where most of the classes run, there is a soft play area with ball pit and a cute little play kitchen and dressing up area. In addition to the full Café Z menu, there is a good-value, healthy kids’ menu, including freshly made fruit and vegetable purées for tiny tots, fresh juices and excellent tea and coffee. The café is also fully licensed and has free WiFi.
On my most recent visit with my two-year-old son, we enjoyed a puppet show and stayed for brunch. I had delicious halloumi and spinach on toast with poached eggs and Turkish sausage. My son devoured his kids’ pancakes with fruit.
The warm and friendly staff are well used to catering to the exacting demands of little people and are completely unfazed by spills and tantrums.
Leyla and her team are keen to support high-quality local suppliers. Soft drinks in the café come from Dalston Cola. The renowned Stokey patisserie La Belle Epoque supplies irresistible cakes. The excellent coffee is courtesy of Shoreditch’s Nude Coffee Roasters, and local craft beers are available if this is more your tipple!
The café is available for birthday parties and other functions. We recently held my son’s 6th birthday party there in conjunction with Kids With Brains Science Workshops and it was a great success. Many parents and children commented on how much they enjoyed the food and it made a pleasant change from the usual “chips with everything” served at kids’ parties.
Yummy Yummy has it all for families—an excellent breakfast and lunch menu so you can still enjoy trendy avocado-on-toast brunches in (relative!) peace, a great kids’ menu that is sure to appeal to even the fussiest eater and a busy timetable of events catering to kids of all ages.
Yummy Yummy in My Tummy Kids’ Café is on 56 Stoke Newington High Street, N16 7PB, and open daily from 9am to 5pm. For more info, visit Yummy Yummy’s Facebook page.
