Category Archives: Food

What sort of food the Coffee Spot serves

Boston Tea Party, Stokes Croft

Posted on by
5

A recent addition to the successful Boston Tea Party chain can be found in Stokes Croft in Bristol. As my friend who lives there (Stokes Croft, not, contrary to rumour, the Boston Tea Party itself), aptly put it: “just what Stokes Croft needs, another café”. When it opened, there were already three excellent places within a two minute walk (and now there’s a fourth across the road), so the Boston Tea Party needs to be pretty special if it’s going to make a mark.

Don’t worry, it is.

It’s got the usual Boston Tea Party coffee, the wide range of cakes and food, but what makes it stand out is the seating. Well, the seating and the atmosphere, which sort of goes with the seating. Well, the seating, atmosphere and friendly staff. You get the picture.

It’s a got a broad patio out front which provides some protection from the breeze and the noise of the busy Cheltenham Road (I stress some) and inside there is every sort of seat you could possible want. Beyond that, it’s just a great place to hang out on your own or with friends (or, in my case, with my laptop and camera).

Continue reading →

Exploding Bakery

Posted on by
19

Excellent espresso in a glass from the Exploding Bakery, ExeterExeter’s Exploding Bakery ticks so many boxes. For starters, it’s just outside Exeter Central Station, so it’s excellent when waiting for your train. As the name suggests (“Bakery”, rather than “Exploding”) it’s a bakery, so there’s always fresh, baked-on-the-premises cakes. If you’re after lunch, there’s focaccia, frittata and soup. The range isn’t huge, but the ethos is quality over quantity. Then there’s the coffee, along with tea and hot chocolate (regular and white). Best of all, it’s a real, working bakery which shares the premises with the coffee shop, so you can watch the staff baking their wonderful bread as you drink their coffee and eat their cake.

The Exploding Bakery has come a long way since I first visited it in October 2012. Back then it was definitely a bakery that served coffee, a couple of tables and an espresso machine tucked into a busy, thriving bakery, baristas and bakers sharing the space. These days, it looks and feels much more like a coffee shop, offering a house espresso from Monmouth, with regular guests on the second grinder, plus filter coffee through the V60, again using a range of guest roasters. And, of course, the bakery is still there.

Continue reading →

Bean About Town, South Bank

Posted on by
21

Originally, this was going to be a post about the Real Food Market at the South Bank Centre, London. It was going to feature, among others, the Bean About Town coffee cart, but then I got to talking with Claire, the wonderful French lady who runs the cart, and slowly the focus changed… When she produced an exquisite single espresso, poured into a proper, china cup, I was sold.

Standing by a Citroën H van in all weathers might not be everybody’s idea of the perfect coffee spot. It certainly doesn’t tick the laptop friendly box. But when it comes to sheer coffee passion, then you’re going to have to go a long way to beat Claire and her Bean About Town coffee cart. And she makes damn good coffee too. Being outside and exposed to the elements might provide some with reason to compromise, but not Claire. If you are around the South Bank on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, then pay her a visit and you won’t be disappointed.

Continue reading →

Oystercatchers Cafe

Posted on by
2

I’m struggling to describe the Oystercatchers Café. It’s a charming, old-fashioned British café with lovely wooden floors, tables and chairs. Then again, it’s a modern coffee shop with sofas and free wifi. It serves an old-fashioned Full English Breakfast, but caters to modern tastes with Panini and lattes. Then again, it serves treacle-sponge pudding…

And so it goes. In other words, it’s a pretty mainstream British café, where the Panini and latte have become as quintessentially British as Chicken Korma.

The main thing about the Oystercatchers Café is that it’s been done with love, care and passion.  It’s pretty obvious from the greetings that people get as they walk in the door that, as well as attracting visitors who are just passing through, this place is popular with the locals. In fact, if there’s one thing that makes it instantly stick in my head, it’s that feeling of community. Of being in and contributing to the community, not something you get in places that cater exclusively to the tourist trade.

Continue reading →

Brick Lane Coffee

Posted on by
12

I was going to start by describing Brick Lane Coffee as “funky”. Or maybe “quirky”. Or something like that. But that’s lazy and unhelpful shorthand. Brick Lane Coffee is very much its own place. My love-hate relationship with it started with an argument over misplaced apostrophes on Twitter and went up/downhill from there.

I love the attitude; I love the décor and the feel of the place. I even love the loud music, which is rare. So that’s the love part. But, but, my espresso was served in a paper cup! A paper cup, I tell you. Hang on a second while I go bash my head against a wall… Okay, that’s better. Oh wait, the room’s started spinning. I’d better sit down.

Espresso in a paper cup? Noooooooo. And it’s good espresso too, the sort that deserves a proper cup. On the plus side, I was told that I could have a discount if I brought my own cup next time. I’ll let you know how that goes…

August 2016: Brick Lane Coffee has closed its doors for the last time…

Continue reading →

Coffee Bean Central

Posted on by
6

I must confess to not knowing Plymouth at all. I’ve only visited a handful of times, and only then for basketball games, with my knowledge of Plymouth stretching as far as the drive from the A38 to the Plymouth Pavilions. So it was with some trepidation that I sought out Coffee Bean Central and, as I walked through the town centre, past Starbucks and Café Nero, it wasn’t looking good.

But then, across the road from Nero, there was Coffee Bean Central. You know you are onto a good thing when you walk through the door and feel right at home. Plymouth, you have a gem here!  It’s only been open a few months, but it has the makings of a classic: bright, airy, spacious, and with a lovely upstairs area which puts the “lounge” into coffee lounge. As you can tell, I was sold!

Continue reading →

Bea’s of Bloomsbury

Posted on by
14

Someone said of Bea’s of Bloomsbury: “as much cake as you can imagine”. Now, that sounds like a challenge to me, and I can imagine a lot of cake. For fans of Radio 4’s excellent Cabin Pressure, this is very reminiscent of the Ottery St Mary episode and the question: “how many otters can you imagine?”. So, suitably forearmed with an imagination full of cake, I arrived at Bea’s of Bloomsbury and I wasn’t disappointed.

Bea’s does cake. It seems a shame to gloss over the lunches, sandwiches, tea, coffee and afternoon tea, but seriously, Bea’s does cake. In a big way. The Bloomsbury branch (which is where it all started) is quite small, so as well as functioning as a cosy coffee spot, it also has a stream of takeaway customers who just come for the cake. But if you do take your cake away, you’ll miss out on the best part, that of sitting there and staring longingly at the other cakes. Or maybe that’s just me…

May 2019: Bea’s of Bloomsbury, which was acquired in 2018 by Department of Coffee & Social Affairs, has closed the original Bea’s on Theoblads Road.

Continue reading →

Champagne Central

Posted on by
8

If you’re looking for somewhere to spend that odd hour while you’re waiting for your train at Glasgow Central station, then look no further than Champagne Central (although it now has competition from the likes of Riverhill Coffee Bar). Part of the recently-renovated Grand Central Hotel, Champagne Central offers you a chance to surround yourself in opulence while you wait for your train. The coffee’s okay, but frankly, who cares when you are in such wonderful surroundings and overlooking the station concourse so you can keep an eye on the departures board? Not me, at least.

Champagne Central is more than just a posh waiting room though. It serves food, afternoon tea and has a fully-stocked bar, so any time you are looking for a touch of elegance, give Champagne Central a try. And don’t worry, you don’t have to sit overlooking the station concourse if you don’t want to!

Continue reading →

Wild & Wood Coffee

Posted on by
15

There are places where I prefer the coffee. There are certainly places with more comfortable seating for someone of my height (and with more seating in general). And there are a host of other things I could go on about, but the fact remains that of the handful of cafés in the vicinity of the British Museum that I regularly visit, I find myself drawn back to Wild & Wood far more frequently than one might imagine.

There is something about Wild & Wood that I find very attractive, but I’m not sure I can easily put my finger on what it is. Partly it is the attitude of the place, a no nonsense, uncompromising adherence to its principles. Partly it is the style, which has been well thought out; the use of wood throughout is very appealing, as well as being in keeping with the name.

In the end, more than most of my favourite places, it comes down to a matter of taste. Give Wild & Wood a go and see what you think.

October 2015: Wild & Wood closed at the start of July this year as the whole block that Wild & Wood was in is being redeveloped. The good news is that it re-opened at the end of August in a new location on London Wall! See what I found when I went to visit.

Continue reading →

The Camera Cafe

Posted on by
6

The Camera Café is the ideal place to come for an hour or two with your laptop, particularly on a rainy day. Located just down the street from the British Museum, it’s one of a number of places I use when I need a break from the cultural overload that is the British Museum. Not that the Camera Café isn’t cultured and, if you haven’t got a laptop, you don’t need to worry, since there are a couple of bookshelves stacked with interesting titles to help pass the time.

The coffee is good without being outstanding, but the clincher for me is the hot chocolate fudge cake. It’s also worth popping in at lunchtime for a plate of noodles or a toasted sandwich (although I’ve not tried the sandwiches). Another factor in its favour is the relatively long opening hours. When everyone else is shutting up shop at about five o’clock, the Camera Café is open until seven.

Continue reading →