Discover The 10 Best Coffee Places in London

Georgia Papadon — Wed, 14 Jun 2017 00:01:01 +0000

Whether you are a coffee addict or just a coffee lover…, the Capital is brimming with top notch coffee culture, and we’ve chosen the best places for you to check out this creative caffeinated community – it’s the best cafés and coffee shops in London.

From Instagrammed flat whites to the wave of artisan coffee pop-ups , London has enjoyed something of a love affair with real, good coffee in the past few years. Discover the 10 Best Coffee places, where to get your caffeine fix in the capital, below.

Grind & Co.

Grind is a group of six café-bars and three restaurants across London. All of the Grind’s serve coffee which they roast in Shoreditch to stay, and to go, and all are cocktail bars which serve their famous Espresso Martini. The Grind restaurants all serve breakfast menu, all day food menu and weekend brunch menu. They also have a recording studio at the original Grind in Shoreditch, and the Clerkenwell Club Bar, their late night venue open until 2am.

The Grind is rapidly taking over London – having started with a sole site in Shoreditch Grind, it has since opened new cafes in Soho, Holborn, London Bridge, Clerkenwell and Royal exchange among others.

Hipster staff, great coffee and offbeat interiors make each cafe a destination in itself, plus evenings see them turn into bars – the espresso martinis (made with their own coffee blend of course) are some of the best we’ve tried. Grindandco.com

Ralph’s Coffee & Bar

The fashion crowd has made Ralph Lauren’s new cafe in Mayfair a firm favourite, with the custom blend of La Colombe coffee keeping them coming back for more. Adjacent to the European Polo Ralph Lauren flagship on Regent Street, Ralph’s Coffee & Bar kick-started the brand’s 50th anniversary in style.

Introducing Ralph’s Coffee & Bar, Ralph Lauren’s first dining destination in London and Mayfair’s new hotspot for coffee, cocktails, bar snacks, and shared plates.

The equestrian theme is exactly what you’d expect – think saddle leather banquettes, a brass-topped bar and dark wood panelling throughout.

The café décor pays homage to Ralph Lauren’s trademark equestrian sensibilities. The interior features a brass-topped bar, saddle-leather banquettes, and equestrian-themed art hung against dark wood paneling and green billiard cloth. An intimate oasis in the heart of Mayfair, the café seats 24, with 12 additional seats at the bar.

The curated menu offers light fare in the traditional American style, and, of course, Ralph’s Coffee—our immensely popular custom blend roasted specifically for Ralph Lauren. The cocktail list includes classic recipes, including the Old Fashioned, along with new libations mixed exclusively for the London set, which may be enjoyed with our signature bar snacks—fried olives and mixed nuts.

The London eatery is located next door to Polo Ralph Lauren’s flagship store on Regent Street. It joins a global brand restaurant roster that includes eateries in Paris, Chicago, and New York City.

And should you want to linger through to cocktail hour, you’ll be pleasantly surprised too.

” I’m drawn to the kind of food that people truly enjoy—vibrant food that people want to return to time and again. “

Ralph Lauren

Ralph’s Coffee & Bar, 173 Regent Street, London W1B 4JQ

Coleman Coffee Roasters

As well as being the roastery behind the coffee at some of our favourite London cafes, Coleman Coffee opened its first solo branch near Waterloo station last year.

Serving high-quality Arabica coffee from a pleasingly simple menu of filter, cappuccino, piccolo or espresso, Jack Coleman and his team also sell beans for at-home coffee-making on those weekends you just can’t drag yourself out of bed for one of their freshly-brewed cups. Colemancoffee.com

Kaffeine

Kaffeine at 66 Great Titchfield Street, Fitzrovia opened in August 2009 with the idea to provide an Australian style café that focuses quite simply on excellent coffee, great food and hospitable service. The speciality coffee scene in London was just starting to kick off and since then, the Great Titchfield street store has been regarded by the media, public and industry as one of the leading cafes of its kind in the U.K..

Serving Square Mile coffee, alongside beans from a guest roaster from the UK every weekend, Kaffeine’s two W1 cafes offer excellent coffee, expert staff, delicious cakes and beautiful decor .

The chef prepares their menu freshly each day, while their produce comes from some of London’s best and most respected suppliers. They use French trained bakers to supply the breads and pastries, their bottled juices are from Chegworth Valley organic farm in Sussex and soft drinks from San Pellegrino. All of this is available to be delivered . The salad and sandwich menu changes weekly in order to keep everything as seasonal and as fresh as possible. The menu is available each Thursday on the web/blog site.

. Kaffeine.co.uk

Allpress Espresso

From their own Dalston roastery and coffee shop to the many wonderful cafes that serve their unique blend (Violet and The Monocle Café among them), New Zealand brand Allpress is committed to excellence – and the results speak for themselves. Allpressespresso.com

Workshop Coffee Co.

Workshop’s original Clerkenwell cafe is not only a favourite brunch spot (they also serve lunch, dinner and drinks), but also the site of the brand’s roastery and floor-to-ceiling windows looking out onto a rather beautiful living wall. The baristas are knowledgeable and skilled and coffee very good indeed – take away a bag of the Cult of Done Espresso beans to recreate the experience at home or try out Workshop’s Aeropress or French press coffees in the cafe itself. www.workshopcoffee.com

Fernandez & Wells

Great food, great wine and great coffee – Fernandez & Wells truly has it all. Vogue loves the Stumpy, F&W’s trademarked mini flat white, served in a small Duralex glass and just the right strength for a mid-afternoon coffee run. Owners Jorge and Rick met while working at Monmouth Coffee, and have transferred their expertise into choosing the best single-origin beans each season from Has Bean Coffee in Stafford for their in-demand espresso-based drinks. Fernandezandwells.com

The Monocle Café

Monocle’s chic Chiltern Street Cafe serves Allpress coffee rather than its own blend, but it’s so stylish that it deserves its own place on the list. Impeccable interiors and Scandi-chic ceramicware set the scene, whilst the food is a mix of Japanese and Scandinavian – the cardamom buns (supplied daily by Fabrique bakery in Hoxton) are the best we’ve tried. Cafe.monocle.com

Climpson & Sons

Broadway Market offers an overwhelming wealth of wonderful food and drink options, but Climpson & Sons has stood the test of time. Roasting its own coffee in London Fields, Climpson & Sons offers speedy service in its own cafe as well as supplying beans to venues around the city. Climpsonandsons.com

Saint Espresso, Angel

Angel’s Saint Espresso is the second location from the team behind the popular Leyas next to Mornington Crescent station. Taking inspiration from their location and its moniker, the owner Leon, has clearly enjoyed putting the cafe together. With an impressive attention to detail, he has created a distinctively austere, almost religious atmosphere, complete with stark, custom-made black shelving. The cafe is framed with piumbing pipes which create intricate wall displays. Communion is taken before a black, customised Strada. A black light fixture hangs dramatically from above, while candlesticks and an undercurrent of bronze reinforce the theme.

Of course this is just a backdrop, which alongside the simple food menu places the coffee centre stage. Saint roast their own coffee for espresso-based and filter options. The Lalani & Co tea menu looks equally impressive.

As Saint is owner Leon’s second café, and couldn’t be more different from his first, Leya’s in Camden. Saint is an almost religious homage to the coffee bean. It’s an instagrammer’s dream, with austere, graphic interiors bathed in light streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The food is very nice, but it’s the coffee and teas that take centre stage.

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