Category Archives: Food

What sort of food the Coffee Spot serves

Nude Espresso, Soho Square

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The Chalk Board at Nude Espresso's Soho Square Cafe: We roast & blend all our coffee at our roastery, just off Brick Lane. East Espresso Blend: 60% Brazil, 20% Nicaragua, 20% El Salvador. Decaf: Organic Del Obispo. Free Coffee when you buy any bag of beans!I finally tracked down Nude Espresso on Soho Square, despite having walked past it without noticing it for a year and a half! Often first impressions count and while I’ve had many first impressions on entering coffee spots over the years, this is the first time it’s been “wow, this smells nice!”. Clearly something delicious had been baking, either that or Nude Espresso is being very clever with piping in smells.

My other early impression is that Nude Espresso isn’t very big, but manages to pack a lot in, offering impressive breakfast and lunch menus, a range of delicious cakes, and a choice of regular, decaf and pour-over single origin, all roasted by Nude Espresso itself. Best of all, you can sit and watch the chef at work, which probably explains where the delicious baking smells come from…

January 2016: Sadly Nude’s branch in Soho Square has closed. You can still find Nude at the roastery on Hanbury Street and also in a new location on Bell Lane.

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North Tea Power

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The North Tea Power logo on the door of the shop in Manchester. Fortunately, it's not just about the tea!North Tea Power, in the centre of Manchester, is dead easy to find. Start at the Market Street tram stop. Turn your back on the Costa and Nero that face you as you step off the tram and gird your loins when you see the Starbucks on the other side of the road. Head down Tib Street, past the Starbucks, and, after a short walk, you’ll reach the crossroads with Church and Dale Streets. On the other side, on an elevated colonnade running along the right hand side of the street, you’ll find North Tea Power.

Since the summer of 2010, when it opened, many people have considered North Tea Power to be the place to have fine tea and coffee in Manchester and I can see why. It’s lovely and the owners, Wayne and Jane, have poured their passion and attention to detail into every aspect of the place. Come on, you have to admire that level of dedication: they even have rhyming names! This infectious love has rubbed off on everything, including the rest of the staff, making North Tea Power one of the nicest spots I’ve been to for a long while.

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Caffeine & Co

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The store front of Caffeine & Co, on Manchester's St James's Square, where the most is made of what little frontage there is with a huge logo!Manchester‘s Caffeine & Co is not the sort of place you stumble upon by accident. In fact, it’s the sort of place you can easily walk past without noticing. Except the clever people of Caffeine & Co have put up signs all over the place so you can’t, which is just as well. Located on the inappropriately-named St James’s Square (it’s a street, not a square), just around the corner from the Town Hall, Caffeine & Co is a miracle of making the most of what you have.

Located in a space that would make a shoe box feel roomy, Caffeine & Co has created a stir since opening in June last year, serving fine coffee, excellent soup, hand-crafted sandwiches and lovely cakes (all baked on the premises) to the good folk of Manchester. Its reputation is aided by the wonderful Dan, who mans the espresso machine and who might be the friendliest and chattiest Barista I’ve ever met, and the equally wonderful Matt, who makes all the sandwiches and cakes. Between them, and the owners, Ann and Phil, they’ve created something which they can be extremely proud of.

November 2015: Dan, the barista who has run Caffeine & Co, took over the shop in his own right in May 2015. You can see what I found when I returned to the renamed Pavé Coffee earlier this month.

November 2017: Caffeine & Co/Pavé Coffee has undergone another name-change and is now Forté Espresso Bar, where I once again caught up with the lovely Dan.

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The Bristolian

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The Bristolian Cafe on Picton Street, offering a warm welcome on a rainy December afternoonIf you know Stokes Croft in Bristol, then you’ll know that The Bristolian was a legend, supplier of fine breakfasts in the best greasy spoon tradition. What you might not know is that, after a short break over the summer (which felt much longer), the Bristolian is back, under new ownership, and it’s better than ever.

The new owners, Anna, Oliver and James, have pulled off an impressive trick in keeping the best of the old Bristolian and building on it. Now, as well as the legendary breakfasts, the Bristolian offers top-notch coffee, lovely cakes, and tapas. No, I wouldn’t have thought of doing tapas either, but what do I know? They’ve also spruced up the interior, bringing out the best in what was already a lovely space, and hired some excellent staff , who make it feel as if the whole place is smiling at you.

The result is the return of an old favourite coupled with the arrival of a new one, all in the same place. As if I didn’t have enough to do, what with all the other great places that I have to visit in Stokes Croft. Sometimes I think they do it just to spite me…

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Workhouse Coffee, Oxford Road

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The exterior of Workhouse Coffee Company on the corner of Oxford and Edinburgh RoadsWest Reading is not somewhere I’d automatically associate with fine coffee, but I’d heard good things about the Workhouse Coffee Company, so when the basketball club had a game against the Reading Rockets, it was the perfect excuse to check it out. It was also just after Workhouse was named in the Independent’s Top 50 independent coffee shops list, so I was keen to see what the fuss was all about.

What I found was a delightful little coffee shop, perched on a corner at the end of a row of shops. Inside it is wood and white paint, which, coupled with the large windows on two of the four walls, give it an amazing sense of space. As well as being a fabulous place to drink coffee, it’s also very serious about its coffee, being a roaster as well as a coffee shop, with beans on sale and a range of drinks, including a cafetiere for two and a pour-over filter.

There is a small but lovely-looking range of cakes, along with the usual pastries. Finally, there’s a range of sandwiches, Panini and filled croissants, along with pasties and sausage rolls in case you get hungry.

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Wild at Heart Emporium

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Wild at Heart's Coffee MenuThere is something really special going on in a small block in the centre of Bristol formed by Small and Broad Streets. Leading the way is Wild At Heart, a Coffee Shop that is also a Vintage Clothes shop, a hairdressers and a tattoo parlour. Fortunately, the coffee shop is right at the front and such is its excellence, I really didn’t have to venture any further.

I could wow you with descriptions of the amazing space, the comfortable seating and the ideal surroundings for drinking coffee, but that would be to overlook the coffee itself. Kit, the man behind the coffee part of Wild at Heart, is as passionate about his coffee as anyone I know. He has the sort of set up, albeit on a smaller scale, that would make Brew Lab in Edinburgh envious. Like them, he offers the usual range of espresso-based drinks, but has also gone to great lengths to select just the right beans for his Aeropress and Clever offerings.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, don’t worry, all will be explained. All you really need to know is that Wild At Heart is a great place to drink great coffee.

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Castello Coffee

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Castello Coffee's Logo at 7A Castle StreetIn the heart of Edinburgh, on the corner of George and Castle Streets, you’ll find a Starbucks. Ignore that and head down Castle Street towards the castle. Just before you get to Princes Street, you’ll find a Costa Coffee on the left. Go past that and a few steps later you’ll find Castello Coffee, possibly Edinburgh’s best kept coffee secret and one of its more recent additions, having only been open since the summer of 2012.

I’d walked past it twice before without giving it a second thought, but everyone I’d talked to about Edinburgh coffee had said excellent things about it, so I thought I’d better give it a go, making it my last stop on the Coffee Spot tour of Edinburgh. It’s a tiny place, with just enough room for a couple of tables and a bar opposite the counter. There are also a few tables outside and another tiny bar space by the window.

Despite its tiny size, it packs a lot in: breakfast, sandwiches and soup for lunch, cake, and three grinders, one for the regular, one for the guest blend and (a little) one for the decaf. I was duly impressed.

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Small St Espresso

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The exterior view of Small St Espresso on a rainy December day in BristolOn a small street in Bristol, aptly named Small Street, you will find the equally aptly-named Small St Espresso. It’s part of a growing speciality coffee hub right in the heart of the city which includes Full Court Press, Playground Coffee and the newly-opened Tincan Coffee Co.

Small St Espresso itself is a suitably small space, over-flowing with love for good coffee. You can sit outside on a bench or inside on some lovely, bespoke wooden furniture. At the back is a tiled counter and a beautiful La Marzocco FB80 espresso machine with a custom paint job. I know I shouldn’t be swayed by such superficial things, but I am.

It helps, of course, that the coffee is as beautiful as everything else in Small St Espresso. It would be a real shame if, after all that care and attention to the layout and the décor, the coffee had turned out to be rubbish. But fortunately, as much love, if not more, is put into making coffee than has been put into the shop. There’s a house-blend from Clifton Coffee Roasters, with regularly-rotating guests on espresso and filter. If you’re hungry, there’s an excellent range of cakes and toasted sandwiches.

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Boston Tea Party, Exeter

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The Boston Tea Party on Exeter's Queen StreetFrom the sublime to the ridiculous. One my recent South West tour, I went from the Exploding Bakery to the Exeter branch of the Boston Tea Party, just two minutes’ walk down Queens Street. From the outside, it’s not much to look at (although the building is stunning) and when you get in, it doesn’t improve much. The ground floor is cramped, narrow and crowded, especially when the lunchtime queue is almost out of the door. But walk upstairs and you’re into a whole new realm of space and light. In a matter of minutes, I’d gone from somewhere with five chairs and two tables to, well, I’d hate to have to count them, so let’s say somewhere that could seat 100 easily…

I was there to try out the new food menu, having been prompted (ordered?) by the Boston Tea Party’s head of food, Anita Popham, and I wasn’t disappointed. As for the Tea Party itself, it’s like all the branches I’ve been to; each is recognisably a Boston Tea Party, but each is its own unique place. It’ll never surpass Park Street in my affections, but if I lived in Exeter, I’d spend a lot of time there.

You can read more of my thoughts after the gallery.

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Freemans Coffee

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Comfy Sofas in Freemans Coffee, Marchmont, EdinburghWhat do you mean, you shut at six o’clock? You mean I can’t stay here forever? That’s just not fair…

As you can tell, I was rather taken by Freemans Coffee in Marchmont in Edinburgh. It might just be the perfect coffee spot for me (and that’s saying something, since there’s lots of competition). It’s an incredibly large, open space with high ceilings, well-spaced tables, interspersed by sofas and comfy chairs.

And then there’s the coffee. Don’t get me started on the coffee! Four grinders, two guest blends, a decaf, the usual espresso-based drinks, a V60 option for one of the guests and a cafetiere for the other.

And don’t forget the cakes, with perhaps the best flapjack I’ve had in my life. And the staff are lovely. And there’s free wifi and power. There’s even outside seating and a guarantee of a sunny day (if I read the website right).

Any of these would be sufficient by themselves, but put them all together and Freemans might just live up to its boast of being the best coffee shop in Edinburgh. Or possibly the world…

September 2014: Freemans closed earlier this year and looks as if it is gone for good. If you want to find out more about the reasons why it closed, check out David Freemans’ blog about his new business venture, including some insights into what went wrong at Freemans.

You can read more of my thoughts after the gallery.

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