Category Archives: Sandwiches

Coffee Spots serving sandwiches and similar options

Brewsters N7

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A fine piccolo with excellent latte art, made by head Barista, Sonny, at Brewsters N7.There’s not a great deal to Brewsters N7. It’s the sort of place you could accidentally walk past without noticing, save for the large, unsubtle A-board on the pavement outside, promising coffee. However, step inside and you will be richly rewarded by one of London’s newest coffee shops.

On the northern edge of Islington, halfway between Highbury & Islington and Holloway Road tube stations, Brewsters is one of the smaller Coffee Spots I’ve been too. Not quite as small New York’s I Am Coffee, it’s like a longer, thinner version of Manchester’s Caffeine & Co. Or, for another reference point, it’s about half the size of Bristol’s Small St Espresso.

It’s not so small that there’s nowhere to sit, but the lack of space creates an interesting dynamic since you really can’t avoid interacting with the barista. It’s just as well that Sonny, who was on duty while I was there, is a cheerful, engaging soul. For somewhere that’s so small, Brewsters packs a lot in, including a decent espresso menu, based around Allpress’ Redchurch blend. There’s also food, a decent selection of reading material and some interesting music.

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Cotswold Artisan Coffee

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The exterior of Cotswold Artisan Coffee on Bishop's Walk in Cirencester.Cotswold Artisan Coffee in Cirencester hasn’t been around long, but it’s already created a bit of a stir. Not long after it opened at the end of August, the local paper ran a story reporting that the locals were up in arms about it.  “Not another new coffee shop!” they were reportedly heard to say (well, tweet).

People of Cirencester! What are you talking about? This is not just “another new coffee shop”. It’s not something that can be lumped together with another branch of the ubiquitous chains (and heaven knows I walked past enough of those on my (short) journey from the car park). In Cotswold Artisan Coffee you have somewhere that would grace any town in the land, serving some of the best coffee there is, along with fabulous home-made cakes, all served in lovely surroundings.

With regular coffee from local roasters, Rave Coffee, and guests from London’s Union Hand-roasted and Shropshire’s Has Bean, the focus is clearly on the coffee. There’s bulk filter for those in a hurry, plus Aeropress to compliment the standard espresso-based coffee menu. For non-coffee drinkers, there’s award-winning hot chocolate and tea. And cakes. And toast!

October 2018: Sadly, after five successful years, Barry and Mandy have decided to close Cotswold Artisan Coffee.

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Shrewsbury Coffeehouse

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An exceptional Has Bean espresso in a classic white cup from the Shrewsbury Coffee HouseClose enough to Shrewsbury Station to be worth running out for a quick visit when changing trains, the Shrewsbury Coffeehouse is a delightful place. In fact, it’s so delightful, it’s worth making sure you have about an hour between trains so you can pay it a proper visit!

Many things mark the Shrewsbury Coffeehouse as something special, starting with the friendly, welcoming staff who add so much to the atmosphere. Then there’s the space itself, bright and airy, with lots of seating options and a cosy basement for those winter days when you just want to spend all snuggling up with a cup of coffee.

Which brings me to the main point of a coffeehouse, the coffee. The Shrewsbury Coffeehouse serves Has Bean. Oh well, I thought to myself, can’t have everything. Except… I really liked the Shrewsbury Coffeehouse’s house blend. That was two Has Bean espressos I liked in the space of a week! What’s the world coming to? As well as the house blend, the Shrewsbury Coffeehouse does single origin Sundays, showcasing Has Bean’s extensive range.

After all that, I had to have a slice of cake to calm me down. And excellent cake it was too!

January 2016: the talented Cherie Jerrard is displaying some of her excellent cafe illustrations at the Shrewsbury Coffeehouse until the end of February. Pop along and have a look if you can, or take a look at my pictures at the end of the gallery. You can also read a little piece that Cherie wrote about the exhibition and see what I made of it in the Saturday Supplement.

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The Barista’s, Chester

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The logo of The Barista's, ChesterI’d describe The Barista’s in Chester (the apostrophe leaving me asking “the Barista’s what?”) as an old-fashioned coffee shop (“old-fashioned” meaning a mere 10 years ago!). Set in the bottom of an old building on Chester’s historic Watergate Street, it’s a lovely, relaxing place, with bare stone and brick walls belying the age of building (it dates from the 17th century, if not earlier).

As a venue, it’s worth it just for the experience, especially if, like me, you appreciate old buildings. There are also a couple of tables outside on the pavement; on a sunny day, I can see sitting outside being a great option, the pedestrianised Watergate Street making a very pleasant backdrop.

The Barista’s serves Has Bean, so you know that the coffee’s going to be more than just run-of-the-mill. In fact, The Barista’s achieved the unique distinction of serving me a Has Bean espresso which I drank without pulling a face! There is, as they say, a first time for everything!

Add to that a fairly typical coffee shop range of cake, sandwiches, Panini, soup and a less-than-typical selection of flatbreads and you have a credible alternative to the coffee chains in the heart of Chester.

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Ground Coffee, Hove

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An A-board outside Ground Coffee, Hove saying Hello, Bonjour, Ciao, Hallo, Guten Tag, Dia Duit, Hola, G'DayGround Coffee Houses is a chain of precisely two. Business partners Matthew and Rick founded the original in Kemp Town, Brighton, four years ago, going on to open this branch on Church Road, Hove, two years later.

Ground appears to believe in keeping things simple with a straightforward layout and minimal décor (particularly in contrast to somewhere such as The Marwood), perhaps so that it doesn’t distract from the coffee, which seems to be the focus. It’s a busy place with a bustling, convivial atmosphere, background music adding to the hum of conversation. If coffee’s not your thing, there’s loose-leaf tea as well as sandwiches and cake.

Ground gets its house blend from Union Hand-roasted, a particular favourite of mine, while taking espresso and filter beans from regularly rotating guest roasters. A fairly regular guest is one of my favourite local small batch roasters, Horsham Coffee Roaster. While I was there, Ground had an impressive number of its offerings squirreled away under the counter. Bradley, the man behind Horsham Coffee Roaster, was most insistent that I paid Ground a visit once he knew that I’d be going to Hove. How could I refuse…?

December 2015: I’ve learnt that the Hove branch has now closed.

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Workhouse Coffee, King Street

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Workhouse Coffee Company on the ground floor of the George Hotel in ReadingYou know how it goes. You go to a coffee shop, you love it; you go to another branch, you don’t like it. It’s always a danger and so it was with the King Street branch of Workhouse Coffee. I think I’d been subconsciously avoiding it, having visited the original Workhouse Coffee on Oxford Road in West Reading at the start of the year. That was a small, intimate and lovely place to drink coffee and I worried that the much bigger King Street, in the centre of Reading, wouldn’t live up to my high expectations.

My fears were, of course, groundless: if anything, King Street is even better. From the moment I stepped inside, I loved the place. Very different from Oxford Road, it’s still small enough to be intimate, while its bustle adds a whole new dimension. How I longed for a place like this when I was a regular visitor to Reading 10 years ago!

As well as running the two coffee shops, Workhouse roasts its own beans, offering (while I was there) a single origin, two blends and a decaf as espresso and all its beans as pour-over fitler or for sale (beans or ground).

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The Fields Beneath

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A very small coffee (recommended by Jess) and a slice of Apricot crumble (recommended by Vanessa) at The Fields BeneathIt’s almost impossible not to like The Fields Beneath, located underneath North London’s Kentish Town West train station. From the moment I saw it, I was sold, but if I’d been in any doubt, the warm and friendly greeting I got from baristas Jess and her colleague Vanessa would have won me over. Although they “only” work there, their affection for and dedication to The Fields Beneath puts some owners I know to shame.

It helps that The Fields Beneath serves excellent coffee from regularly rotating roasters, which means you’ll always be in for a surprise! However, it’s served without a hint of pretension and none of the snobbery that sometimes plagues such places. Jess was equally happy discussing the finer points of roasting with me and serving a “black coffee” to the next customer who came in.

It also helps that the cakes, pastries and bread (I tried the lot) are divine and that The Fields Beneath is a lovely place in which to eat them/drink the coffee. The only downside I can see is that the line serving the station, part of the London Overground network, doesn’t actually connect to any of the stations that I regularly use!

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Notes, Trafalgar Square

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Filter Coffee from Notes, served in a silver coffee pot, plus a muffin.Notes is one of those places that I have a love-hate relationship with. In theory, I really ought to love Notes. Unlike many modern coffee shops, Notes is decidedly upmarket. As much wine bar as café, with food to boot, the Trafalgar Square branch (although these comments applied equally to the nearby Covent Garden Notes, which is now closed) exudes quality. It has the setting and a certain elegance that would normally have me gushing with praise.

So, why do I sometimes find myself fidgety and ill-at-ease when I’m in Notes? Well, it’s not the coffee, which is excellent, nor is it the decor, which is wonderful. It is, in fact, the noise. Notes can be downright loud at times and sometimes, for me, loud is fine. And sometimes it’s not. I’m very binary like that, and when something crosses that line, it’s time to leave.

Which is a shame, since if I pick my moments, I find that I really like Notes. I like the coffee, there’s food all through the day, it’s open late into the evenings, the list goes on. The only thing that’s missing is Wifi (long since rectified, by the way).

So, if you can stand the (sometimes) noisy surroundings, I present Notes, Trafalgar Square.

July 2020: Notes has reopened, offering sit-in and takeaway services. You can see what I made of it when I visited.

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Four Corners Cafe

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An espresso from Four Corners Cafe in a white cup with Four Corners Cafe Limited written on the inside of the rimLondon’s Lower Marsh is not the most appealing part of the capital. Even the name doesn’t conjure up particularly positive images. Lying behind Waterloo and not particularly on the way to anywhere, I’ve only recently become aware of it, despite Waterloo being my gateway to London for the past 15+ years. However, there it is and, in recent years, it has started to shed its poor image, becoming home to the likes of the Scooter Cafe and now, just across the road, to Four Corners Cafe.

Four Corners is, if you’ll excuse the pun, going places. Taking inspiration from the phrase “four corners of the world”, it’s a travel-themed Cafe, decorated with maps of the world and dotted with globes. Continuing the travel theme, its neat loyalty card is in the form of a miniature passport.

Not that this counts for much if the coffee is poor, but thankfully it’s not. As well as a decent coffee menu, powered by London Roasters, Ozone, Four Corners offers loose-leaf tea from Yumchaa and a small range of toasted sandwiches and pastries to die for (according to fellow coffee-blogger, Kate, aka A Southern Belle in London) from a bakers just around the corner.

April 2014: Four Corners won “Best Use of Social Media” the inaugural London Coffee Stops Awards!

August 2020: Four Corners has reopened, offering takeaway service only, although there is limited outside seating. You can see what I made of it when I visited later that month.

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The Borough Barista

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The Borough Barista logoThe Borough Barista, confusingly (for me) nowhere near London’s Borough Market, is actually at the western end of London’s West End. It’s somewhere that I really don’t go very often, so while The Borough Barista has been on my radar for a while, I’ve not had any reason to visit. Until, that is, I landed some work in Paddington, about 20 minutes walk away, and decided it was high time I visited.

Not far from Marble Arch, The Borough Barista sits just off the busy Edgware Road on the corner of Seymour Street and the quieter Seymour Place. It’s fairly unassuming at first glance, but is lovely inside, an oasis of calm and excellent coffee in an area lacking both! With an espresso blend from Yorkshire roasters, Grumpy Mule, that seemed to have been specifically selected to suit my tastes, I can safely say that the espresso was one of the nicest I’ve had in a very long time!

My only problem is that I liked The Borough Barista so much that if I popped out one afternoon for a quick coffee, I’m not convinced I’d actually go back to work! Ever…

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