It’s that time again. Yes, that time for special things and things that warm you inside,
Yep, it’s Coffee!!
You thought we were talking about Christmas, didn’t you? No, not yet – soon.
But first Coffee
So first off…
On the pedestrian walkway next to Wenzels is a little organic shop that sells the usual assortment of free-range, vegan and alternative products, with a little coffee shop in the front. The food was too expensive and all sweet – cakes, chocolate and the like – so we just ordered the usual (2x Soya Mochas).
A speedy service and pleasant staff were good, what wasn’t so good was the coffee. It was hot – it just didn’t have any flavour. We tried more sugar, we tried a vigorous stir (hoping to churn up the chocolate), but nothing made it any better.
Maybe we should have actually tried Wenzel’s bakery next door instead, but that’s only one stop up from going into Greggs!
Abraço N4
Not our usual haunt, but we found ourselves in Harringay the other week – we needed coffee. This place is the only real option, save for the usual sea of Costa’s and their bland excuse for coffee. Thankfully, Abraço does a far better job.
The interior is covered in Evil Eyes on the doors, the walls and even the coffee art. Clearly, they are trying to ward off the evil of costa’s everywhere and their coffee in the weird heat-protective cups is good enough to do just that.
It’s a well decorated Shop and the staff is really friendly. If we find ourselves back in this part of N4 again, we will return – that’s for sure!
Wandering around to see the Christmas lights, we found a little coffee shop in Drummond Street, W1. At first we thought it was going to be another of those pretentious trendy places with the thimbles of coffee, as the first counter only had pastries on display and no coffee machine.
It turned out there was a bar a little further in, where they made the coffee and a lot of seating further on, with a good smattering of customers enjoying the comfy interior and even a cocktail! We waited a while, it has to be said, but when the barman called us over, we were pleasantly surprised to be handed not thimbles, but jugs of hot, chocolatey, Soya Mochas (and if we had wanted it, we weren’t limited to Soya, they offered Oat, Almond, Coconut and even Pea Milk).
We took our drinks and continued our search for Christmas Lights and sipped and wow! We have found a Goooood Coffee Shop, one for the ‘We will return to’ list, that’s for sure!
Brunswick East, N16
Talking of places we don’t go to, Dalston is a place we avoid as best as we can, but having had to go there a few weeks back, we saught out this coffee shop that looked good.
It’s really oddly situated down the bottom of a pedestrianised road, filled with loitering, shifty men, waiting to mug someone. We kept our eyes down and headed to the alleyway, where a courtyard of tables makes for a pleasant place to while away an hour, weirdly hidden from the drug dealers and the scum of the area.
So we got there right as they were closing at 3 pm (because you are allowed to drink coffee in the afternoon in the UK, it seems!) so we got the feeling that we were being hurried up. This may not have been the best experience of Brunswick East. But if we are in the area again (god help us!) we will try again, at least it’s a haven from the rest of the area.
It serves Australian-style food and coffees – apparently – we guess that means mhh! Coffee in small glasses and cold to boot, even on a cold November day! (maybe order takeaway cups looking at their photos, the paper cups look a lot bigger!)
So if it’s a beer and an Aussie sandwich you want, then it could be good, you just have to get there without the threat of a knife to your throat!
Well, that’s probably the last Coffee Shop post of 2021, we hope you’ve liked our round up of places to buy a Cup of Joe this year and we will be back with more of the Black Stuff (Americano’s that is!) in 2022!
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