flat whites of london

Konditor & Cook, Borough Market

As I strolled through Borough Market this morning towards my current favourite SE1 morning coffee spot I spotted, past the snaking Monmouth queue, a little A-board of joy. Said A-board was in front of one of my favourite cake places, Konditor & Cook. And it was advertising a coffee + muffin offer for £2.95. “A mere £2.95?” I thought to myself. Sold. In I went for a flat white and some sweet breakfasty carbs…

• The Coffee: Strong. Maybe a tad too bitter, but only by a tiny amount. Nice and hot. 7/10.

• Shop, Branding & Packaging: Love the K&C shop with it’s array of tempting baked goods on display. Not a great coffee servicing area though (not even a bin for stirrers and sugar packets) and non-branded cups. But far less busy than next door. The odd seat. 6/10.

• Service: With a smile and efficient. 7/10.

• Additional Extras: The coffee + muffin deal is good value, especially for the area (I went for the healthy option of blueberry muesli - virtuous but tasty) +1. I love Konditor & Cook cakes so another +1 for those. And an additional +1 for the fact that they do special daily offers and treats - today’s was a whole lemon meringue pie for £10 and mini slices of curly whirly cake (god I love curly whirly cake) for £1. Bargainous.

All in all, Konditor & Cook gets 23 points. And I will be going back for cake soon. 

Cafe Paradiso, Hammersmith Road, W14

In Hammersmith this morning, I found myself with time to kill before a client meeting so I scoured the area for a suitable coffee establishment and Cafe Paradiso is what I found…

• The Coffee: It was rainy and cold and I hadn’t eaten, so I went for something sweet - a double mochacino, essentially a mocha with a double shot of espresso. Hot, chocolatey and a decent quality coffee (ground before my very eyes). A solidly respectable but not blow-you-away 6/10.

• Shop, Branding & Packaging: You’re standard little independent sandwich and coffee/tea stop in this kind of strip of road with not much going on. Nice little conservatory area to sit out in the back. Shame it’s full of decorating materials and a man facetiming his attention-starved child loudly. Branding is as you’d expect from this type of establishment - not fancy but friendly. 6/10

• Service: Polite, sweet and local. I even assisted a local builder-type in working his lip salve (hint: screw the bottom bit and it pops up). 7/10.

• Additional Extras: Good selection of local caff favourites; lots of breakfast options, huge array of freshly made sandwiches, juices, cakes, and so on. Good to have a seating area. In total, +2.

Total: 21 points.

The Rabot Estate, Borough Market

The Rabot Estate is a chocolate shop. Not just any chocolate shop, though. One that, as I found out this morning, does magical things with coffee.

Given that The Rabot Estate is all about chocolate, I went for a mocha and hoped for the best. Here’s what I got:

• The Coffee: Oh. Sweet. Baby J. Mochas are usually overly-sweet, milky affairs that taste like sub-average hot chocolate with a mere whiff off bad coffee. Not from The Rabot Estate. Their mocha tastes as as if someone had melted a very expensive 70% cocoa bar into a very good double espresso. Thick. Delicious. I dare say luxurious, even. Basically the best bloody mocha I have ever had. 9/10

• Branding & Packaging: Non-branded cups. But they are ethical and eco-friendly compostable one. Nice shop set up with lots of old crates used as furniture and display units. Good amount of seating for the area. 7.5/10

• Service: Nothing out of the ordinary. Efficient. Not rude. 6.5/10.

• Additional Extras: +1 for the chocolate-based treats on offer. +1 for the extensive chocolatey offerings in the cafe bit. +1 for the SAVOURY chocolate-based lunch options. Yes, savoury. +1 for the fact that they HAVE A HOTEL IN ST LUCIA (that I now want to go to).

All in all, a deliciously chocolatey 27 points. But only if you like that kind of thing.

De Gustibus, Southwark Street

Today’s coffee blog installment comes from De Gustibus, an artisan bakery (according to it’s website) on the edge of Borough Market. It’s true, there was a lot of excitingly shaped bread in there. But I didn’t want bread this morning. I wanted coffee.

With a relatively small menu, I plumped for a good old cappuccino:

• The Coffee: Fairly average, if a little nondescript. 5/10.

• Branding & Packaging: Plain and non-branded. Shop itself had lots of fairly nice looking food on display, but then cheap-looking sandwich menus drawn up above and behind the counter. Sugar and stirring sticks right in front of till did not make sugaring a particularly easy task. 5/10.

• Service: Stroppy lady in the background, roughly slicing bread like she was hacking an arm off a dead soldier. Average service from the man making my coffee. Fairly quick, though mainly as there was no other customers. 5/10.

• Additional Extras: +1 for range of breakfast pastries and lunchtime sandwich options.

De Gustibus gets an all round dull and average 16 points.

RoMo Coffee, Borough High Street

On Friday, I got my morning coffee from RoMo Coffee, a little coffee wagon (is that the correct term for a half minivan, half coffee machine affair?) situated outside the post office on Borough High Street, right by London Bridge station. I’m a fan of the coffee wagon concept.

“But how did RoMo’s flat white fare?” I hear you cry! Well, I shall tell you…

• The Coffee: Bargainous at £2, the cheapest I have come across thus far. Nice technique of adding the sugar before the milk. Nice and strong. 7.5/10

• Branding & Packaging: Non-branded bar a hand drawn A-board. But then, does it need branding? Your average cup-and-lid. 5/10

• Service: Friendly. Fast. Only downside was that only white sugar was on offer. 8/10

• Additional Extras: +1 for service with a smile and a bit of banter to boot. +1 for the rain-shielding awning.

Overall, a cheap and cheerful 22.5 points

Flat Cap Coffee Co., Borough Market

Another day, another coffee.

Today’s instalment comes from the Flat Cap Coffee Co. - a coffee cart (is “cart” the right word? Maybe I mean “stall”…) that pops up in Borough Market on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

• The Coffee: Smooth and rich with a little tang. Good quality milk. A good coffee:milk ratio. Quite delicious. Could be a little hotter. 8/10 

• Branding & Packaging: Black cups & lids with company branding. Simple branding with a nice flourish. Short, chalked up menu. They do coffee. That’s it. 7/10.

• Service: Fairly efficient. No queue. Nothing to complain nor rave about. 6.5/10.

• Additional Extras: +1 for offering takeaway bags of their coffee and an indie coffee shops of London book for sale.

Total? A healthy 22.5 points

Tas Cafe, Borough High Street

On my way to work this morning, I discovered that I had a hole in the sole of my shoe. My right foot has been decidedly soggy since stepping out of my flat. Hmmm. Not a good start on such a miserable wet day.

So what I really wanted when I arrived in SE1 this morning was a big, warming hug-of-a-drink. And to minimise walking distance from bus stop to office.

Enter Tas…

• The Coffee: I went for a ridiculous sweet monstrosity that you can barely call coffee (a gingerbread latte, if you are asking) so I couldn’t possibly comment on the actual coffee. Nice spicy-sweet ginger flavours though. And insanely hot. Hot enough to still drink an hour later. Will go back another time for a real Turkish coffee. As a result, I can only offer an average 5/10. Sorry.

• Branding & Packaging: HUGE cup that screams Tas branding. Shame the website URL printed on it is incorrect. Cafe was your average Turkish affair. A few seats. 6.5/10.

• Service: A little sketchy, fairly slow and disorganised. Not particularly friendly. But then it was before 9am and raining. 4/10.

• Additional Extras: +1 for the tasty-looking selection of takeout mezze, pide and other Turkish goodies. + another 1 for the awesome and well-priced hot chicken wrap I went back for at lunch and am currently eating. +1 for the array of interesting hot drinks on offer.

Tas Total: 18.5 points

Monmouth Coffee, Borough Market

Today is my first day coffee blogging so I went in all guns blazing with the daddy of SE1 coffee places - Monmouth Coffee Company in Borough Market.

Madame, your Flat White is ready for review…

• The Coffee: Super-strong with a nice toasty flavour. Very smooth. Good ratio of coffee:milk. All in all, a strong 8.5/10

• Branding & Packaging: Simple company branding. Not particularly standout. Standard white logo cups and lid. Wooden spoons a nice touch. Shop itself is ubiquitously lots of dark wood with industrial light fittings and menus chalked up on blackboards. Lots of seating and queueing space a bonus. 8/10.

• Service: An efficient production line. Don’t be daunted by the queue, it moves very quickly. Could be a little friendlier. 7.5/10

• Additional Extras: +1 for whole cane sugar. +1 for excellent selection of delicious-looking breakfast treats. +1 for the grind and take home offering.

Let the coffee wars commence

SO I started a new job last week and, as with every new job, comes the gruelling task of finding one’s favourite spot for obtaining a superior hit of caffeine on the way into the office of a morning.

Said new job is situated in SE1, an area I’ve not really spent any time in for over 5 years, so my coffee knowledge round these parts is virtually non-existent.

As a result, I have decided to embark upon on a search for the best coffee in the area. I may well even extend this out of the SE1 area on weekend jaunts around the rest of London town too. We’ll see.

My judging criteria:

• The Coffee: taste, strength, freshness, texture
• Branding & Packaging: cutesy stall? slick coffeehouse establishment?
• Service: with/without a smile?
• Additional Extras: Extra points to be awarded where necessary e.g. an excellent punnery name +1 point, availability of good croissant +1

The challenge starts tomorrow…