Category Archives: Inner London

Coffee Spots within the Inner London Postal Region (those with postcodes starting with E, EC, N, NW, SE, SW, W and WC)

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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Doctor Espresso Caffetteria

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A lovely double-espresso from Dr Espresso's 1956 Gaggia lever machine served in a very musical cupI first met Russell, or Doctor Espresso, as he is better known, at the Caffe Culture Show, where he threatened to come to see me on Christmas Day with a baseball bat (presumably as a present) if I didn’t visit his newly-opened café in Putney. So, one sticky summer’s evening in August, I fulfilled my promise, doing myself out of a Christmas present in the process…

Putney is rapidly becoming a speciality coffee hub for southwest London, with Doctor Espresso starting his own outpost just over the river, on the north bank of the Thames. However, third -wave coffee aficionados need not apply: Doctor Espresso Caffetteria is a lovely Italian-style café/espresso bar, distinctly old-school in outlook. It has London’s oldest working espresso machine, a classic Gaggia Tipo America, which is a joy to behold.

Of course, a venerable machine is of no use at all if the coffee coming out of it isn’t up to scratch, but fortunately Doctor Espresso’s Gaggia delivers a classic Italian espresso, using beans roasted in Italy: a fitting tribute to the great machine. This is backed up by some lovely Italian food: panini, calzone, pizza, pasta & salad, along with some delicious cakes and pastries.

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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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FreeState Coffee

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The A-board outside FreeState Coffee: Espresso Bar, Brew Bar, Breakfast, Lunch, Cakes & SweetsFreeState Coffee has entered the fray as yet another excellent London Coffee Spot competing for my attention in the vicinity of the British Museum. It doesn’t help that the museum now has a lovely Members’ Room serving some excellent Italian espresso. And I’m a member…

However, FreeState is making a strong claim for my business. Open for just four months, it’s already made its mark. As well as serving excellent coffee, the owner, Tom, has recruited some wonderful staff. Anita and Chris, who were on during my second visit, are as passionate about their coffee, and as dedicated to giving you great customer service, as any I’ve had the good fortune to meet.

Tom has also created a fantastic space for drinking coffee. Although it looks like FreeState has been furnished from a clearance sale, at second glance it’s clear that an awful lot of thought has gone into both the furnishing and the layout. The provision of a separate brew bar, at the back of the main seating area, is a nice touch, while the wooden floorboards, furniture and counters (the latter made from wood reclaimed 1920s boxcars) combine with the plain walls to create a harmonious whole.

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Attendant Fitzrovia

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The entrance to Attendant, in an old men's public lavatory on London's Foley Street.I’ve been to all sorts of coffee spots, in all sorts of places, but I don’t think that I’ve ever been anywhere quite as innovative when it comes the setting as Attendant. As the name hints, Attendant is in a (disused) Victorian (men’s) public lavatory on London’s Foley Street. If that sounds weird, it is, and yet it’s also genius.

The great thing about Attendant is that it’s kept most of the original fittings, incorporating them into the design. The result is a quirky, unique place. For some, that would have been enough, relying on the gimmick alone to draw in the punters. Not, however, Attendant, which has aimed firmly for the top of the speciality coffee market, going with local roasters Caravan, from up the road at Kings Cross. It also offers a wide range of sandwiches and cakes, again with an emphasis on quality and local produce.

Attendant is pretty small and, when I was there, it was very busy. However, a high staff-to-customer ratio, with a minimum three staff on duty during my visit, meant that everything was handled very smoothly. Ironically, for a café in an ex-public lavatory, there’s no toilet!

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

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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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Store Street Espresso

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The counter at Store Street Espresso, looking back towards the front window.Store Street Espresso, unsurprisingly located on Store Street, is a wonderful place. It’s been open for about 2½ years and I’ve been aware of it for some time, having walked past several times and given it admiring glances. However, until recently, I’d never had the opportunity to go in. Fortunately for me, Store Street Espresso more than lived up to its external promise.

I like pretty much everything about Store Street, from the layout of the store, through the friendly and knowledgeable staff, right up to the coffee and cake. It’s a place that’s not afraid to experiment, with regularly-rotating guest coffees (including European and American roasters) supplementing the regular offerings from Square Mile. At the same time, it stays true to its core values of serving good food and excellent coffee. It has a pretty decent filter coffee and a mean slice of toast, both of which are pretty rare. That it’s open until seven o’clock in the evening is a huge bonus.

My only regret is that I didn’t know about Store Street when I was a regular visitor to the British Museum, otherwise I would have spent a lot more time in it back then.

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TAP, 114 Tottenham Court Road

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The famous TAP bicycle above the door at the No. 114 branch on Tottenham Court RoadTAP, or Tapped and Packed as was, is a chain of three coffee shops (now four) in central London. The Tottenham Court Road branch was the first one I tried: I was there in February and again in April. Although TAP was packed (pun intended) and busy both times, I found it a lovely place to sit and chill for a while. I like its look and feel and love many of the little touches, such as the re-use of Black Treacle tins for sugar and jam jars for water. Milk for your filter coffee comes in dinky little glass flasks. Such small things please me.

TAP’s reputation is built on its coffee, particularly its single-origin beans which are rotated on a regular basis (perversely I had espresso; I know, I confuse myself at times). It also does a range of food and cake. Bizarrely, since I was there late on a Wednesday evening for my first visit when all the food was gone, I was told off by the staff and made to promise to come back at lunch time (which I did) so that I could see what else was on offer. You have to admire such passionate employees!

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