Category Archives: Late Opening

Coffee Spots open past eight o’clock in the evening. Please check with the Coffee Spot in question since opening hours do change.

Hot Numbers, Gwydir Street

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The new Hot Numbers logo from the sign outside the original branch on Gwydir Street, Cambridge.I first visited Hot Numbers on Gwydir Street in the summer of 2014, when it was the one place that pretty much everyone recommended to me in Cambridge. These days, there’s much more competition, with the second Hot Numbers (the cafe/roastery on Trumpington Street), plus the likes of The Espresso Library, Urban Larder and Novi, but the original Hot Numbers still has plenty to offer.

Spread over two large rooms on the ground floor of the old Dake’s brewery, Hot Numbers is a café, single-origin roaster and music venue. The coffee is the main draw, Hot Numbers only serving single-origins, all roasted in-house at Trumpington Street. There’s a choice of two espresso beans (with milk and without), plus decaf and another single-origin on offer through Aeropress, Clever Dripper or Syphon. There’s also a decent range of loose-leaf tea.

If you’re not that obsessive about your coffee, it’s still a great place. To start with, the atmosphere is lovely and you can sit in either of the two rooms, which offer a variety of seating. The cakes, with offerings from local bakers such as Afternoon Tease and Fitzbillies, are amazing, and there are decent breakfast and lunch menus too.

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The Java Room

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The Java Room: cafe, music, espressoWhen I originally started the Coffee Spot, the intention was to write about places where I liked to have coffee. Although it’s evolved a lot since then, this original motivation is still very much at the heart of the Coffee Spot. On that basis, I present today’s Saturday Supplement, The Java Room. Located in a small plaza on Littleton Road in Chelmsford, you might be mistaken for thinking that this represents my first foray into Essex, but this happens to be Chelmsford, Massachusetts. Confusingly, the New England version of Chelmsford is in Middlesex County. Go figure, as my American friends would say.

The Java Room offers pretty standard coffee-shop fare. There are no flat whites and piccolos here, no single-origin beans or micro-lots, just large lattes, cappuccinos and espresso, along with bulk-brewed filter coffee and various iced and blended beverages. Where the Java Room really scores is in its atmosphere. It’s a lovely spot, the perfect, small town, neighbourhood coffee shop, friendly, relaxed and welcoming. I’m kicking myself for having been to Chelmsford many, many times and not discovering it before last year.

March 2015: Correction. I popped in one Monday in March (since I was literally passing by) and there are indeed flat whites to be had at The Java Room. Naturally, I had to have one and it was very fine.

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Dinner at Caravan King’s Cross

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The Caravan King's Cross Sign: "Caravan King's Cross" in black letters on a white backgroundAs the Coffee Spot approaches its second birthday, I thought I’d present another first. I’ve visited a few Coffee Spots that serve full dinner menus, but I rarely go for (or write about) the food. However, at the start of the summer, I was en-route to Leeds for my most recent Caffeine Magazine feature when I found I had a couple of hours to kill before my evening train. Instead of grabbing something at King’s Cross station, I took a short stroll to the north and today’s Saturday Supplement was born…

A roastery, coffee bar and restaurant, Caravan, in its cavernous space in an old grain warehouse next to Regent’s Canal, is many things to many people. For me, it’s always been a great place to sit inside at the counter at the back, drinking coffee and shooting the breeze with the baristas, or, on a summer’s evening, somewhere to sit outside with a carafe of one of Caravan’s many fine single-origins. It’s also one of my favourite roasters: as well as the single-origin pour-overs, I’ve always liked Caravan’s Market espresso-blend, keeping an eye out for its coffee wherever I go.

Now, however, I also think of it as a restaurant…

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Piccadilly Grind

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The Piccadilly Grind sign painted on the back wall above the bench.Piccadilly Grind is, as far as I know, unique, being the only coffee shop inside a London tube station. There might be others in the outer zones, but this is certainly the only one in a Zone 1 station. It’s an unexpected setting, but certainly a welcome one, meaning you can get great coffee on the go from seven in the morning until ten at night (nine until eight at weekends). Hopefully we will see more of this sort of thing in the future!

Tucked into literally a hole in the wall on the main concourse, it blends in well with its surroundings. Despite its relatively small size, Piccadilly Grind is anything but a small coffee shop in its outlook. It’s even got seating, power and free (sort of) Wifi. The only thing that it doesn’t do at the moment is pour-over. Other than that, there’s a comprehensive espresso menu (house-blend and decaf, both roasted by Brighton’s Small Batch), tea from Tea Pigs and an impressively wide ranges of soft drinks, pastries/cakes and (at lunchtime) sandwiches.

You can either order your coffee to go or sit down on the bench and, in the quieter moments, chat with the baristas.

November 2014: Sadly Piccadilly Grind is no more. Although I didn’t realise it at the time, it was always intended to be a six month pop-up, and closed at the start of the month.

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Beany Green, Paddington, Update

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One of Beany Green's A-boards, promising Aussie Coffee, Home-made Banana Bread and FREE hugs!This is another Saturday Update where the answer to the question “what’s changed?” is “not a lot”. Regular readers will know that Beany Green’s Paddington branch became my local while I was working in Sheldon Square. However, at the start of June, my contract expired and so my weekly visits abruptly ceased.

After an all-to-brief hiatus, I was offered another contract mid-way through July and so found myself back at Sheldon Square, this time for two or three days a week (which is a shock to the system, I can tell you!). The upside of this (other than getting paid, so I can continue to finance the Coffee Spot) is that I was able to renew my acquaintance with the lovely Beany Green.

During my six weeks absence, not a lot had changed at Beany Green. However, now that I’m back two or three days a week, I have the opportunity to sample more of the range of coffee on offer. Previously, I’d largely confined myself to a flat white to take back to the office, but since my return, I’ve made a concerted effort to get through more of the coffee menu. I’ve also started working through the cakes…

July 2016: my contract finally came to an end at the end of 2015. Since I left, the Paddington branch has undergone a major refurbishment and so I popped back in to see what had changed.

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Look Mum No Hands! Old Street

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Look Mum No Hands! sign, proclaiming itself as a Cafe, Bar & (Bike) Workshop.To celebrate the Tour de France, which enters its last week today, I thought it was about time I visited one of London’s most famous cycling cafés, Old Street’s Look Mum No Hands!. Ironically, I wrote about Look Mum No Hands! South Bank pop-up this time last year, with an update last month, so I really was overdue a visit to where it all started.

Towards the western end of Old Street, Look Mum No Hands! occupies a long, low building on the north side of the street. This being Look Mum, it’s one of the most bike-friendly places I’ve been: lots of bike-rack space out in the courtyard, a free pump for anyone wanting to top-up their tyre pressure and, just inside the door, a bike workshop.

That said, let’s not overlook the café side of the equation. With coffee from Square Mile, Look Mum No Hands! holds its own in an area dominated by top-notch coffee shops. There’s no pour-over or fancy options, just straight-forward espresso, loads of cake and a decent selection of other drinks. This backed up by a comprehensive food menu, served throughout the day, from 7.30 in the morning to 10 o’clock at night. Continue reading →

Artisan Roast, Bruntsfield Place

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Artisan Roast on Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh.Stepping into Edinburgh’s second branch of Artisan Roast, on Bruntsfield Place, there is a distinct sense of déjà vu. In look, feel and layout, it’s similar to the original on Broughton Street, right down to there being a back room called “The Mooch”.

Bruntsfield Place, which started life in 2011 as a Festival pop-up, is similar in size to Broughton Street, perhaps a little narrower and a little longer. Here the espresso machine is in the back right-hand corner rather than the back left-hand corner, and the passage to The Mooch is similarly reversed, but other than that, the similarity is striking.

What you get, of course, is the same Artisan Roast excellence. Everything is roasted in-house, and all the beans are available to buy. However, Artisan Roast seems to be moving away from the “any bean, any method” model that I first came across at Broughton Street. At Bruntsfield Place, specific beans are tailored to specific methods; during my visit, a Kenyan was on offer through the Kalita Wave filter, a Brazilian through the Aeropress.

Naturally there’s the traditional espresso-based menu, along with tea, hot chocolate and the usual range of cake, plus soup for lunch.

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Beany Green, South Bank

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The Beany Green container on the South Bank as seen from the foot of the steps to the bridge.As regular readers may have worked out, my contract didn’t get extended at the start of June, so consequently I haven’t been heading up to Paddington every Wednesday. This in turn means that I’ve been missing my weekly trips to Beany Green. I’m therefore very grateful to the good folks at Beany Green HQ (aka Daisy Green) who have opened a new branch on the South Bank just for me! Since it’s just a few minutes’ walk from Waterloo, I can now get my Beany Green/The Roasting Party fix whenever I come into London. How cool is that?

Tucked in beside the east stairway of the Hungerford Bridge and almost on top of the Look Mum No Hands Pop-up, Bean Green’s container looks like another pop-up operation, but don’t be fooled. I’ve been told that the new branch has a multi-year lease and will be here come rain or shine, fair weather or foul (ie a typical week of a British summer!).

If you’re familiar with Beany Green in Paddington, then this is like a miniature version, with all the same elements that make my ex-regular haunt such a wonderful place, including the mad (in a good way) staff.

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The Franklin Fountain

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The Franklin Fountain sign, showing a man in a white uniform, mixing sodas.The Franklin Fountain is that most wonderful of things, an old-fashioned American ice cream parlour. Yes, I know this is the Coffee Spot, but every now and then I’m allowed a little indulgence and this is one such occasion. Besides, The Franklin Fountain serves coffee. Not that I’ve ever had any, mind you; I’ve always been too busy scoffing the ice cream.

Although it celebrates its 10th birthday this summer, The Franklin Fountain recreates an authentic turn-of-the-century ice cream parlour and soda fountain. It’s a lovely spot, with a mosaic, tiled floor, old tinned walls and ceilings and two belt-driven ceiling fans. It serves some truly gorgeous ice cream, with 20 different flavours, as well as sorbets and various sundaes.

It’s also extremely popular. Most of the times I passed by, there were queues out of the door (keeping in mind that this was back in March and the temperature had just gotten above freezing; I hate to think what it’s like in the summer!). It does a brisk trade, a lot of it takeaway, but there is limited seating inside and a couple of tables out front, not that there’s much chance of getting a seat in the evenings!

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Beany Green, Paddington

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One of Beany Green's A-boards, promising Aussie Coffee, Home-made Banana Bread and FREE hugs!If you’ve talked to me at any length about being the writer of the Coffee Spot, you’ll know that the only downside is that I don’t really have a regular coffee shop I can call my own. The problem is, while I’m out and about, the desire to visit new places for the Coffee Spot trumps visiting old favourites. The closest I had to a regular was Bar des Arts in my home town of Guildford, until, that is, Beany Green turned up in Paddington.

Those who follow me on social media will probably be aware that I spend one day a week in Paddington doing my “proper” job. For a long time, this was a desert when it came to decent coffee. Then, in quick succession, Burito 8 started serving Climpson and Sons, the Can Do Coffee barge turned up and Beany Green opened.

Now, on my weekly visit to the office, I take KeepCup or JOCO Cup to visit Beany Green at least once a day (and usually two or three times). You would think, given the frequency of my visits, that I’d have sampled the entire coffee menu by now, but I usually have a flat white…

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