Yep it’s a New Year and it’s time to get a Coffee Shop Review in.
Just to clarify, we at Climbing-Moss aren’t so bothered by a specific blend or that the beans are squeezed between a Ethiopian woman’s hands to get the right aroma, we are more interested in size and taste! We aren’t going to give a place 5 stars for a thimble of dusty, chalky yuck because it’s from a little run down shack in Southern Nepal, that’s not our Jam! So, with that in mind, our recent journeys out and about in London have taken us to…
One of a handful of new Shops in the area – Coffee Shops are like Convenience Stores, one opens and then a second next door, selling exactly the same stuff and before you know it there are ten of the same all around each other! Well Urban Social is the first of this plethora of the new batch that we decided to try.
It’s a little place selling all the usuals, Avocado Toast for £14 and pastries for £7, that sort of thing! The staff were pleasant, a bit rushed off their feet and the interior is all little tables and chairs inside and out, but a decent amount of space to take a seat and chat or work. We ordered the usual 2 x Mochas with Oat Milk and hurried for the train.
Overall it was a decent drink and one that will go onto the Coffee Map in the ‘Returnable’ section.
This little coffee shop is in the corner of a Retro Furniture Shop, that seems to find old sofa’s that your Grandparents would have had and polished them to within an inch of their frames and sells them for 100’s of pounds. We have reviewed 2&4 a long time back and we pass it all the time and it’s still going. When we reviewed in before it wasn’t very good, but as we are always looking for new places to try we figured we should give it another try.
Big Mistake!
The guy making the standard 2 Oat Mochas, started by trying to sneak Dairy Milk in the cups and groaned when we corrected him, then he added a spoon of brown sugar to the chocolate and then took a loooooong time to actually poor the coffee – We missed 3 buses waiting for this drink!
It was fairly cheap at £7 for the two but then the cups were pretty small when we did get them and as we walked to the bus stop, we sipped and choked and frowned and gawked and then threw them away before getting on the bus.
Some things don’t change, even when they really should, hence…1/2 a star for the nice interior of the shop!
This huge Restaurant opened a few months back during which we have passed it a number of times and thought we need to remember to try it. Well last week we finally remembered, the interior is vast, it’s the ground floor of a new build office, there was no one in there.
The restaurant is a vast sleek interior of LED Strip Lights and Light Wood, it wasn’t open at the time, but the Coffee Shop was. It’s a huge white counter that sweeps around in a circle, with coffee machines like beer taps. We ordered the usual and then spent 5 minutes while they tried to find take away cups, they only had two in the entire place and one was large the other a standard medium!
The staff were really nice though, we took our mismatched cups and headed out. The taste was mhh! we know we said we aren’t bothered by what bean is used etc, but it had a certain taste you get a lot in many new shops, whether it is the type of bean or that it’s made on a machine that is all automated, whatever it is, it will be listed in The Coffee Shop Map as a ‘Been There Done That’!
On a shitty Monday we ended up in Exmouth Market after 4pm, we didn’t expect to find anywhere open. At the bottom end of the market filled with restaurants, tattoo parlours and bars this little Boulangerie was still open and full of customers!
So we took a chance, 2 Mochas to take away, staff took the order with a smile. As we waited we perused the Art for sale adorning the walls. Quickly enough the order arrived placed in a carry tray and we left.
We walked and sipped, we were shocked! This was really good! Like one of our rare 5 star ratings. Should we be in the area again we will know where to go!
So that was our first coffee shop review for 2026 – there will be more hopefully enough to make the 5 star rating less rare…
At least we have spotted a couple of new places to visit and where to look for some new brews – stay tuned for more.
If your around London and are looking for coffee why not check our map to help make your decision for you.
Climbing Moss 