Pophams (London Fields)

The evening pasta restaurant that made this address famous served its last plate on 30 October 2025, and the bakery it grew out of is still open every morning at half seven (Hot Dinners, Pophams).

Why go

Pophams started in Islington in 2017 with what the company calls a dream about viennoiserie, and opened this second site under the railway line at 197 Richmond Road in 2019 (Pophams, Hot Dinners). Two working London chefs name it unprompted in the same industry questionnaire: Thomas Stock of Burger & Beyond for the pastry, Sam Scott of Ozone Coffee for the coffee, which is worth something coming from a man who cooks for a coffee company. The house blend is roasted for them by Assembly. This kitchen is also where the biscuits for all three Pophams shops are baked, chocolate and smoked sea salt, caramel shortbread, peanut and cardamom. The pasta operation that ran here four evenings a week from 2019 closed at the end of October 2025, and the company was direct about why: costs, and the difficulty of running a consistent early-week service.

Order this / avoid

• Order: the bacon and maple swirl, which is the thing this branch was known for alongside the pasta, and a ham and cheese croissant, the item Hackney Citizen watched people queue for at 8am on a Saturday. Whatever chef collaboration is on the counter, since they run guest pastries with named cooks. Coffee on the Assembly-roasted house blend.
• Avoid: planning an evening. There is no dinner service here any more, and the shop closes at 4pm seven days a week.

What locals & experts say

• Thomas Stock, co-founder of Burger & Beyond, asked for his best bakery in London: "Best bakery: Pophams. I'll order like five or six pastries, each one of them blow my mind." ref
• Sam Scott, head chef at Ozone Coffee, asked for his best coffee spot: "Best coffee spot: let's go Pophams." Two independent industry picks, neither naming a branch. ref
• Lydia Fried, Hackney Citizen, February 2020, reviewing the evening restaurant that has since closed, on the bakery half that has not: "Pophams came onto my radar as a culty bakery in Islington. People would get there at 8am on a Saturday just to guarantee themselves a cheese and ham croissant, and you can see why. They know their bread. The sourdough is memorable." ref
• The company, announcing the closure, as reported by Hot Dinners: "The rising costs of produce, general bills, rent, and labour have placed enormous pressure on this side of the business, while the unpredictable nature of services in the early week has made it difficult to achieve the consistency needed to sustain the restaurant in the long term." ref

Good to know

• What changed: the evening pasta restaurant closed permanently on 30 October 2025. The bakery carries on.
• Timing: Monday to Friday 7.30am to 4pm, Saturday 8am to 4pm, Sunday 8.30am to 4pm.
• Which site: 197 Richmond Road E8 3NJ, with a second unit at 195. The other Pophams bakeries are 19 Prebend Street N1 8PF in Islington, where the Home and Pantry shop sits at number 21, and 110A Lauriston Road E9 7HA in Victoria Park. The master list carries Islington as its own row.
• Made here: the biscuits sold across all three shops are baked in this kitchen.
• Booking: walk-in.
• Hygiene: no FSA record could be found for this premises under the Pophams name on 30 July 2026, searching by name and by the E8 3NJ postcode. The Islington bakery rates 5 (18 November 2025) and Victoria Park rates 5 (29 January 2025); those attach to their own addresses and say nothing about this one.

Jeff's take (his words)

Jeff has no note on this row. His raw saved-places export lists it as "Pophams - London Fields" with an empty Note, which at least tells us he saved this branch and not the brand.

Verdict (Chef Jeff ladder)

should-visit — Two working London operators name Pophams unprompted when asked where they go, which is the strongest evidence we collect short of Jeff's own word. Thomas Stock of Burger & Beyond on the pastries: 'I'll order like five or six pastries, each one of them blow my mind.' Sam Scott, head chef at Ozone Coffee, gives it his best-coffee answer, and the house blend is roasted for them by Assembly. Neither man names a branch, so read those as votes for the bakery rather than for this door. What is specific to this door: it opened in June 2019, the biscuits for all three shops are baked in this kitchen, and the evening pasta restaurant that made it famous closed for good on 30 October 2025 under costs the company described in its own announcement. So come in the morning for viennoiserie and a flat white, take the bacon and maple swirl, and be out by four when the shutters come down. Anyone still planning dinner here is working from a stale listing.