What are the best coffee shops in London? Where are the best ones where you can work?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “best coffee shops in london“
What are the best coffee shops in London? Where are the best ones where you can work?
You can check the answer of the people under the question at Quora “best coffee shops in london“
Bar Italia on Frith Street – been there since the 50s run by a family so whenever you go there you see the same staff. Real community feel to the place. Good cannolis but great coffee and still the best Cappuccinos in London (yes Monmouth, Vergnano, Flat Cap are very good but Bar Italia is still the best and its the only one which is not a franchise…
Taylor Street Baristas – Australian based – they have a few locations now. Very very good…
My favourite places in London for great coffee are:
Caravan Exmouth Market – roast their own coffee and serve wonderful brunches.
Flat White Berwick Street – excellent coffee.
Monmouth Coffee Borough Market / Monmouth Street – the original roasters and coffee shop, never bettered.
Climpson and Sons Broadway Market – a great coffee place in the East End.
Prufrock Leather Lane / Shoreditch High Street – Gwilym Davies, World Barrista Champion’s permanent pitch.
Lantana Charlotte Place – more fantastic coffee, amazing food and cakes.
Wild & Wood New Oxford Street – excellent coffee, cakes and small bites.
Kaffeine Great Titchfield Street – another great option.
Fernandez and Wells – good coffee, good food.
Since shops selling coffee beans/grounds are also ‘Coffee Shops’, and since I usually buy the beans and make my own coffee, I’d like to note 2 of my favourite Coffee shops in London:
Astrora Coffee in Teddington: http://www.astrora.co.uk
They import beans and roast them in the shop with a beautiful roasting machine (which looks like a steam punk contraption yet hooked to a laptop for precision roasting). They sell, hands down the freshest most tastiest coffee I’ve ever tasted and are pretty much the reason why I rarely buy coffee from a coffee shop these days.
Algerian Coffee Store in Soho: http://www.algcoffee.co.uk
Huge selection of Coffee and even bigger selection of teas. Quite good coffee but not as fresh as Astrora.
Monmouth Coffee offers by far the best coffee in my experience. I also like Canela and Kastner & Ovens (both Covent Garden).
South of the river, I vote for The Fat Deli in Balham. Decent coffee, great food, friendly staff.
Until recently (shock! horror!) I bought my morning coffee at the Pret a Manger on Regent Street north of Oxford Street and I have to admit the ‘strong cappuccino’ at that branch is pretty good.
Flat White on Berwick Street- it’s a bit ‘scene’ but has the best coffee. Failing that Nude Espresso in Spitalfields is pretty good too.
People seem to have covered most of my favourites here, but two I’ve not seen mentioned yet are:
Fix 126 on Curtain Rd in Shoreditch. They have another branch somewhere round there too – I just can’t remember where, exactly.
Ray’s Jazz Cafe in Foyles on Charing Cross Road (excellent coffee and a good buzzy atmosphere).
Not sure if it’s still there because I haven’t been for ages, but bizarrely Snow & Rock in Covent Garden has an amazing cafe called Bullet on the top floor.
On my patch out here in the north I’d recommend the Monmouth-coffee-serving Nyborg’s Kitchen in Muswell Hill (if you don’t mind braving the buggy-heavy pavements) and I’ve heard excellent things about Ginger and White in Hampstead, though not made it there myself yet.
Also Coffee Circus in Crouch End does excellent coffee and an amazing marmalade chocolate brownie – they have a Camden branch too which I’ve not yet explored.
I’d also echo the recommendations of these places, already mentioned here:
Dose Espresso , tiny place but very friendly.
Look Mum, No Hands in Shoreditch – best cafe name ever?
Notes Trafalgar Square (they also have a Covent Garden branch I’ve not tried)
Tapped and Packed on Rathbone Place (also on Tottenham Court Road)
Foxcroft & Ginger on Berwick St in Soho, great after an hour or two in the record shops along there.
Monmouth Coffee – obviously – where the staff are happy to serve tasters and chat even when it’s super-busy. (Tip: if it’s a nice day, take your coffee to the nearby Phoenix Garden rather than waiting to squeeze into a booth.)
Sacred Coffee just off Carnaby St. You never feel too rushed in there, even when it’s busy (and they do some ace cakes too). I believe they have a branch in Stanfords bookshop too.
I hope that’s helpful!
Shoreditch Grind at the Silicon Roundabout (Old Street – City Road, Old street tube, exit 7) It’s a relatively new place, and they have great coffee.
Image from FITCH. See full article here: Shoreditch Grind | FITCH
Marks & Spenser’s Central London store has a coffee shop on its top floor ..not that it has great view from the top but that place is quite different from many other coffee shops i have been. this is for the feel.For taste, I think there are many places!
+1 for Prufrock’s on Leather Lane
+1 for Brill on Exmouth Market
+1 for Espresso on Great Ormond Street
Nude on Hanwell Street is very good
Ditto Department for Coffee and Social Affairs on Leather Lane (best name for a coffee shop!)
Speakeasy just off Carnaby Street is always a good bet as is New Row Coffee in Covent Garden.
If you happen to be in Bath at any point check out Collonna and Smalls-came 6th in the world barista champs in 2013 and won the UK barista champs this year. Incredible!
London Coffee guide (book and app) is always a great bet for good, independent coffee shops.
Hello
My reviews / suggestions are based on MOCHA only as I don’t really like coffee, only like Mocha for the combination of coffee and chocolate :).
I have less of a good idea on which would be the best to work in as I have limited knowledge of the Industry and also do not them well enough to comment. For Mocha…
the best is Rhythm & Brews :
They serve fantastic Mocha, yet the owner and her son, who I know since I have been quite a few times, make it the best. The other baristas are good too. Their food is nice also.
Next up is another regular favourite of mine:
Ginger & White make their own chocolate and it is marvellous 🙂
Its small and cosy, in a wonderful area, Hampstead (Northern Line). There is another branch in Belsize Park, yet I have only been there once.
Another one that serves lovely tasting Mocha is… Attendant Fitzrovia
This place used to be a public toilet 🙂 … was then bought out and converted to a coffee place. It is in a prime location between Oxford Circus and Great Portland Street. I like coming here, staff are great.
A really good one for Mocha is also Exmouth Coffee in Aldgate
Yes, their chocolate tasted good, I enjoyed this one on my recent first time visit.
Another nice one is Camden Coffee House … only if Glen makes it. The other barista is not up to par yet
They have great paintings in here and a Garden area as well as more quiet study /meeting type room downstairs. Mocha = 8 to 9/10 depending on the barista.
Then there is … Monocle
Monocle, in Marylebone, serves good Mocha. Say 8/10. Not brilliant, yet nice and smooth. Just not sweet enough for me, so I always add sugar 🙂
Have yet to meet the owners who are clearly into Abstract Art. For Art lovers like me, you may appreciate some of the paintings / pieces 🙂
Another one is Cafe Zee in Ealing Broadway
Mocha is a little bitter so I add sugar, though overall it is lovely 🙂
Finally another good one is Artisan (one in Ealing diagonally opposite to Cafe Zee, and another branch near Turnham Green / Hammersmith)
The following have quite good Mocha… its not as good as the others but I am mentioning them since they are highly rated for other coffees:
Kaffeine – Great Titchfield Street
TAP – Warren Street (difficult to get a seat as its in a busy area)
Flat White – Soho (Mocha was mediocre but I have heard the other coffees are great. Place is very noisy, you won’t be able to study or have a meeting here)
Enjoy 🙂
Bhavin
Many people answer this question but i just usually look for Starbucks where ever I go in London so not really look to try local KE else where shops
My personal favourites are:
Flat White Berwick St Soho
Map & reviews: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/place?um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=Flat+White&fb=1&gl=uk&hq=Flat+White&hnear=London+E8+1BH&cid=328436187937423898
Nude Espresso on Hanbury Street off Brick LaneMap & reviews: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&gl=uk&g=17+Berwick+St,+London+W1F+0PT&q=nude+espresso&btnG=Search+Maps
Present on Shoreditch High St
Its actually a clothes shop but has a coffee bar at the front and is something to do with the former World barista champ. Really nice
Maps & reviews: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/place?um=1&ie=UTF-8&q=Present&fb=1&gl=uk&hq=Present&hnear=London+E8+1BH&cid=1176260601138408459
One place I’m yet to try but am very keen to is Bar Italia on Frith Street in SohoMap & reviews: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&gl=uk&g=17+Berwick+St,+London+W1F+0PT&q=nude+espresso&btnG=Search+Maps
Alchemy in the City, just near St Pauls. Limited range of coffees but the best espresso bar none. And then Taylor Street Baristas near Liverpool Street Station
Café Phillies just off Kensington High Street. A wonderful environment!
Peet’s
I suppose the best coffee shops are the Italian. I quite liked the organic coffee shop http://www.myvillagecafebar.co.uk/info.html located at the end of Camden Town, c. l cannot recall the names of the rest though.
Some of my favourites:
Welcome to Kaffeine | 66 Great Titchfield Street | London W1
TAP | Coffee | London
Workshop Coffee
Prufrock Coffee | Coffee & Training by World Barista Champion Gwilym Davies
Taylor St. Baristas
Department of Coffee and Social Affairs
Monmouth Coffee : Home
Enjoy!
I used your feedback to write this blog post on BBC Travel and concluded
what my favorite coffeeshops were:
http://www.bbc.com/travel/blog/20110511-tech-test-drive-quora
Here are the coffeeshop findings (from the article):
“Of the many options written by our Quora compatriots, we visited five in
one week, chosen by writer enthusiasm and personal convenience: Flat White (and its sister Milk Bar), Tapped & Packed and Sacred Cafe, all in SoHo and Taylor Street Baristas in Mayfair. A sixth that was often recommended was Monmouth Coffee in Covent Garden, already a favourite of ours, and used as
something of a shibboleth to discern good taste among the respondents.
“The real highlights of this test drive were the Quora-led coffeeshops
themselves. Without one exception, they all had great coffee, delicious
food, cool ambience, excellence customer service and seating that was
highly conducive to writing in one’s journal about the merits of visited
London coffeeshops recommended by Quora users. If we had to pick a
favourite (the previously beloved Monmouth aside) it would be Taylor
Street Baristas , with its almost Quaker aesthetic of clean, dark wood
tables and pew seating, happy baristas, funky global music soundtrack,
excellent breakfast fare and, of course, flawlessly smooth and rich
coffee.”
My favourite spots for coffee in London are:
1. Workshop Marylebone (formally known as Sensory Lab) (http://8spt.co/LDagHc )
2. Monmouth at Borough Market (http://8spt.co/IF325j )
I especially love Workshop, as they are fastidious in the preparation of their coffees. I also love the look and feel of the cafe.
Eight O’Clock
If you’re in the NE, Trattoria Sapori, on the corner of Newington Green and Green Lanes, serves the finest cappuccino I’ve ever drunk… and I’ve spent lots and lots of time in Italy. The coffee is Illy.
Algerian Coffee Shop on Old Compton Street, Soho. No mention so far of this one yet it’s a wonderful pit stop. You cannot sit down, but you can get an espresso for £1 and a latte for £1.20 on the fly. And buy some real coffee from people who know coffee inside out.
http://www.algcoffee.co.uk/scripts/default.asp
My favourites are:
Fernandez and Wells on Beak St Soho.
Taylor St Baristas on New St, off Bishopsgate
Monmouth on Monmouth St, Covent Garden
Have recently found The Black Lab on Clapham Common Northside, just near the tube. Excellent coffee (the best in Clapham imo) and great food.
Hey, I have four Starbucks within three blocks of my home near St. Paul’s Cathedral. If “best” includes convenience Starbucks rocks even if the coffee sucks and is over-priced. Working there? With around 280 branches in London, you have plenty of opportunities.
Flat White, Milk Bar, Monmouth, NotesMusicCoffee – at least, in central London.
The best coffee in central London isn’t served in a shop. It’s from the Flat Cap Coffee stall in Strutton Ground.
I’ve made map of all the recommendations on this thread: http://journly.com/jcarlson/best-coffee-in-london/.
Feel free to add more places and comment on the existing entries. Hope this helps.
A list of all recommendations:
Nordic Bakery
Ray’s Jazz Café
Tate Modern
RIBA
Note’s
Foxcroft and Ginger
Monmouth Coffee
Taylor Street Baristas
Flat White
Tapped & Packed
Sacred Cafe
Caravan
Climpson and Sons
Prufrock
Lantana
Wild & Wood
Kaffeine
Fernandez and Wells
Dose
Brill
The Expresso Room
Nude Expresso
Bar Italia
Algerian coffee shop
NotesMusicCoffee
Princi
I am a big fan of Monmouth Coffee, which I think is the best. However, some longer comment
– Monmouth Coffee tends to be slightly more acidic than the average and better suited to be an after-lunch drink in its Espresso and Filter fashions. Their cappuccinos are a good breakfast companion
– Nude Espresso Soho Square brews an awesome full flavoured espresso that is very good as a coffee-break drinks, with no food together
– Notes, Music and Coffee St Martin’s Lane brews some fantastic flat whites and it’s also the best place to go to get some food with the coffee as they make their own pastries and meals
I don’t want to spoil what is apparently a great secret, but New Row Coffee do a brilliant coffee, and if you can get in early enough, make their own almond milk, which I’ve heard is to die for.
However, Brill on Exmouth Market is a firm favourite of mine. As is Shoreditch Grind on the Old Street Roundabout. Both use quite mellow blends and seem to prefer the very warm, but not quite hot coffee approach, which I love.
Dunkin’
Here’s a good place to start. have tried 4-5 of these recommendations and all came up trumps:
http://philwbass.wordpress.com/2010/02/14/londons-best-coffee-a-map/#comment-921
I find that almost any Turkish cafe in London will serve up a very decent cup of coffee – if you like it super thick and strong that is. So head for Stoke Newington Road and take your pick… 😉
Sacred is a good cuppa. There’s one at Westfield as well as Ganton St.
If you’re ever in Putney I highly recommend Grind Coffee Bar on the Lower Richmond Road. Great cup of coffee and my regular haunt!
In order of preference:
Kaffiene on Great Titchfield St – W1
Nude – Hanbury St off Brick Lane
Flat White, Berwick St Market Soho W1
Fernandez and Wells – Brewer Street Soho W1
Monmouth Coffee in Covent Garden, great coffee, the import direct from producers.
http://kaffeine.co.uk/ Great Titchfield Street. Though avoid if you
dislike overhearing talk of digital strategy, IA and whether or not
Drupal is better than Joomla…
Victor Allen’s
Ones that I love but would like tips on more:
Dose on Smithfield Market, EC1
Brill on Exmouth Market, EC1
Monmouth Coffee on Borough Market, SE1
…(what’s with markets and coffee?!)
Monmouth Coffee on Monmouth St, Covent Garden does the best coffee IMO
My answer doesn’t really answer the question but if you were faced with choosing to buy a x large cappucinno from either costa or starbucks you should know that costa gives you four shots of coffee whilst starbucks only gives you 3.
Costa coffee tastes better as well but that’s subjective.
Monmouth in Borough Market gets my vote very time and they’ve just done a re-furb. Tapped & Packed on Rathbone place also has great coffee