best coffee shop in central London?

nantucket66

nantucket66

nantucket66

Associate
Joined
25 Jun 2005
Posts
1,164
Having a couple of days away next week, I'd like some recommendations on somewhere to go for a cracking cup of coffee (flat white is my poision of choice) somewhere in central London (Regent Street/Covent Garden/Piccadily/Soho sort of areas)

Not a chain preferably.

Thanks!
 
Okiedokie then...

Tottenham Court Road or Oxford Street- Tapped and Packed
Regent Street - Curators Gallery, Workshop Coffee, Soho Grind
Trafalgar Square - Notes
Covent Garden - Tinberyard
Somewhat inbetween - Soho Grind, Fernandez and Wells, Milk Bar, Nude, Flat White...

Other than those... Prufrock, Kaffeine, Association, Dose, Alchemy.

Sadly, you missed [H]AND, which was amazingly good. But only open for a short time. :(
 
Ha, not much more I can add to that list. Although you did miss off Monmouth (Covent Garden and Borough). That said -- even getting beans in the Monmouth in CG is hideous, I hate that store so much. Always packed and crazy.
 
Scam said:
Ha, not much more I can add to that list. Although you did miss off Monmouth (Covent Garden and Borough). That said -- even getting beans in the Monmouth in CG is hideous, I hate that store so much. Always packed and crazy.
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With Monmouth only ever go for the pour over coffee, their espresso is horrible (IMHO)

I'd put Purfrock at the top of the list personally, went last week and had forgotten how good it was :)
 
My friend highly rates Monmouth, I've only walked past the Borough Market one myself but it was busy. I've tried a bag of their coffee though and it was very nice.

Some nice recommendations I'll save for future though.
 
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Kaffiene - the best flat white I have ever had. They use Square Mile coffee.
Prufrock is good but personally I wouldn't venture all the way there if I wasn't nearby already.
Association is bang in the City, nice interior and a lovely flat white.
Monmouth is lovely for a pour over coffee.
Princi - nice strong espresso and some amazing pizzas and pastries
 
Siliconslave said:
With Monmouth only ever go for the pour over coffee, their espresso is horrible (IMHO)
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Fair enough. I actually rarely frequent coffee shops anymore. We have a proper coffee bar upstairs at work now so that covers me at work. I just buy beans for my AP :p
 
I'm not a huge fan of Monmouth tbh. I'm fully appreciative of the part they played in the coffee scene in London, and the guys who work there are awesome but I don't enjoy their coffee that much.
 
Best Coffee in London I’ve drunk this year?

Take your pick from:

Caravan Exmouth Market
Look Mum no Hands (Been there twice)
Origin Shoreditch
White Mulberries St Catherines Dock
Any one of the Grind coffee shops
Fernandez & Wells

& the worst one (Most expensive too) The new black in the city (by the ‘walkie talkie’) the flat White I drank in there was sour, almost undrinkable.
 
We tried Fernandez and Wells and Kaffeine.

F&W was pretty good, but Kaffeine was on another level altogether in my humble opinion. Flat white was spectacular, even my missus who's not really into coffee (more of a tea girl) said it was was easily the best coffee she's ever had. I had 3 and spent the afternoon buzzing as a result!

Bought some beans from Drury as well, not tried them yet, no idea what it will be like but looking g forward to trying it.
 
I hate Starbucks.

But the Starbucks Concept store brews amazing coffee with a Siphon brew over Halogen. I think it was £8 a cup. :p
 
POB said:
I hate Starbucks.

But the Starbucks Concept store brews amazing coffee with a Siphon brew over Halogen. I think it was £8 a cup. :p
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Siphon can create some seriously nice coffee, but in all honesty don't bother with one brewed from crappy Starbucks over roasted beans, no-where near worth the money imho. I had one of their ' Clover® Brewing System' coffees in the past and it was really disapointing (Clover is a system that was getting rave reviews but got bought up by SB and now you can only find in their stores)
 
was curious about clover internals - some explanation here could not find an animated exploded view,
did not look up the patent but the VacuumPress Technology looks like it is just the automation of creating a vacuum using a piston ?
otherwise looks like one of these £30 syphon jobs from ebay would deliver ... what is the entry price has anyone got one ?
 
jpaul said:
was curious about clover internals - some explanation here could not find an animated exploded view,
did not look up the patent but the VacuumPress Technology looks like it is just the automation of creating a vacuum using a piston ?
otherwise looks like one of these £30 syphon jobs from ebay would deliver ... what is the entry price has anyone got one ?
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The link you posted doesn't seem to be working but if it's this one:

https://goo.gl/i9F4Dt

I've got one and apart from the branding, it's the Hario TC-5 but far, far cheaper! I've not used mine for a while but had good fun using it. The meths burner that comes with it is crap though. I replaced mine with a gas burner from elsewhere.
 
Thanks yes, I had tried to link to a £30 look alike to your ~£70 hario
... the stand-alone burner requirement does look a bit of a faff, I guess none of them would withstand a gas hob.
 
Without a doubt Kaffeine, it's possibly my favorite coffee shop in the world.

Their Ristretto is incredible.
 
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