Category Archives: Stations Nearby

Coffee Spots which are near railway stations, including those which are in them.

Coffee@33

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An espresso shot extracting on the Mavam modular espresso system at Brighton's Coffee @33.I was originally put onto Coffee@33 by Horsham Coffee Roaster in 2013, which is when I first visited, Back then, Coffee@33 used legendary London roasters, Monmouth, along with the more local Horsham Coffee Roaster. Since 2015, however, Coffee@33 has roasted its own beans, first using a small hot-air roaster in the shop, then a more conventional gas-fired roaster in a dedicated facility. At the end of 2018, Coffee@33 returned to its original partnership with Horsham Coffee, roasting on Horsham’s new Loring roaster. Not only has this meant renewing ties with Horsham, but it signifies a return to air-roasting on a high-capacity, efficient machine.

Coffee@33 serves a Brazilian/Nicaraguan espresso blend, accompanied by several single-origins. One is available on espresso, providing a contrast to the blend, while the others are available as pour-over using the Kinto dripper. As well as the unusual choice of filter method, Coffee@33 is a trend-setter when it comes to espresso, being one a handful of UK shops to use the Mavam modular espresso system. If you’re hungry, there’s a selection of sandwiches, which can be toasted, and a wide selection of cakes and pastries to choose from, all baked on-site.

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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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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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6/8 Kafé

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A 6/8 Kafe takeaway cup6/8 Kafé isn’t a big place. Located at the bottom of Temple Row, a few minutes’ walk from Birmingham’s New Street, Moor Hill and Snow Hill stations, it’s so small that, momentarily distracted by the branch of Coffee Republic (a chain which I thought had become extinct) across the street, I walked right past it. Fortunately I realised my mistake and retraced my steps.

Unlike Yorks Bakery Cafe, which I’d just come from and had fallen in love with the moment I stepped in the door, 6/8 Kafé took a while to grow on me, but grow on me it did. It’s the sort of place I could easily spend all day in without realising it. While Yorks is a large, buzzing, sprawling barn of a place, 6/8 Kafé is small, intimate and chilled out.

Although 6/8 Kafé does sandwiches and cake, the focus is firmly on the coffee, with an offering very similar to Yorks. There’s a full espresso-based range, backed up by a choice of three single-origin beans via Chemex, V60 or Aeropress, plus cold brew, the latter served with or without milk. The only thing that’s missing (compared to Yorks) is a cafetiere.

May 2017: Sadly, 6/8 Kafé has had to close. It will be sadly missed, although the Millennium Point branch is still going strong.

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Yorks Bakery Cafe, Newhall Street

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The Yorks Bakery Cafe logo: does what it says on the board.A short walk north of Birmingham’s New Street Station (its website says seven minutes, I reckon I can do it in five, even if it’s all uphill) and even closer to Snow Hill Station, Yorks Bakery Cafe has just about everything you could want: fantastic coffee from espresso machine or brew bar, including cold brew, a choice of 16 teas, a brunch menu served until four o’clock, loads of fabulous cakes…

Pause for breath…

… a wide range of seating, in three different areas, free wifi, friendly, helpful staff (who even arranged for the sun to come out for my visit).. The list goes on. If you’re not convinced by now, I’m not sure you ever will be, but just in case…

The coffee is from London roasters, Caravan, which is consistently turning out coffee I like, and Yorks is up there with the best of them when it comes to making great coffee. There’s a comprehensive range of espresso-based drinks, but the real sign of excellence is the brew bar which offers V60 pour-over or Aeropress for one and Chemex or Cafetiere to share. There’s a choice of three beans at the brew bar and a seasonal single-origin espresso bean.

February 2016: Newhall Street has now closed, the building undergoing a major refurbishment. As a result, the mantle of Yorks Bakery Cafe has passed to the new cafe/roastery on Stephenson Street, which is even closer to New Street Station.

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The Press Room, Surbiton

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An excellent double-shot Cortado from The Press RoomSurbiton’s The Press Room is the sort of place every town should have. Serving Has Bean coffee (we’ll get to that later) as part of an extremely comprehensive range of espresso-based drinks (I counted 12, not including Chai Latte and Hot Chocolate, both of which were on the menu under “Coffee”) and boasting 21 Terrific Teas (the menu neglects to say how many mediocre teas are served, but I suspect that the number is zero), the Press Room has something for everyone. If coffee and tea aren’t your thing then there are almost as many cold drinks, as well as wine, champagne and speciality beer. And cake. And toasted sandwiches.

Add to that, the Press Room is a lovely space to sit and consume these things. It’s a friendly, lively place, bright and spacious, with some very accommodating, happy staff. There’s a bar by the fully-retractable front windows, tables outside (on an admittedly busy/noisy street) and a generous provision of tables inside. The background music is unobtrusive and, in keeping with the name, there’s a supply of magazines that you can sit and read.

Oh yes, and The Press Room is one year old today (11th July 2013). Happy Birthday!

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Look Mum No Hands South Bank Pop-up

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An espresso in one of the lovely Look Mum No Hands mugs. Sadly if you want one of these for real, you'll need to go to the Old Street store, not the pop-up on the South Bank.In another new venture for the Saturday Supplement, I present the first ever Saturday Short. Saturday Shorts are Coffee Spots in their own right, but for which I can’t justify a full write-up.

This first Saturday Short comes courtesy of Look Mum No Hands!, something of a legend on the London coffee scene, if only for its interesting name (it’s up there with Bristol’s Didn’t You Do Well in those stakes). I’ve long wanted to try it out, but have never had the time/reason/excuse.

So, imagine my surprise and delight when, on a whim, I decided to walk across the Hungerford Bridge (which connects Waterloo and Charing Cross Stations) on the Parliament rather than the St Paul’s side.  Cutting across to the other side of the bridge I spotted an interesting-looking coffee stall nestling under the bridge itself… And the rest, as they say, is history…

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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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Exploding Bakery

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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.

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Champagne Central

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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!

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