With coffee around every corner, you’re never far from your next flat white fix. Whether you’re Central, North, East, South or West, we’ve got you covered with our lowdown on the best coffee shops in London:
Table Of Contents
Central London Coffee Shops
1. The Gentlemen Baristas, multiple locations
One visit to The Gentleman Baristas and you’ll be tipping your hat to their well-mannered coffee. With multiple branches around the city, this London coffee house endeavours to get the most out of every bean, serving up your daily dose of caffeine using the finest sustainably sourced beans from all around the world. Sip creamy cappuccinos or cool off with a refreshing iced batch brew in one of their nine cosy cafés, which are as welcoming and dapper as their distinguished name suggests.
📍Find your nearest location here.
2. Monmouth Coffee, Covent Garden
Monmouth Coffee have been roasting and retailing since ’78, when they were using rather old-fashioned methods in their basement. Fast forward to now and they’re flaunting some of the best coffee in the capital. If you fancy buying some of their beans for drinking-coffee-at-home purposes, let them know what method you’ll be using to make it (cafetière, filter, etc), and they’ll grind it for you.
📍Find Monmouth Coffee at 27 Monmouth Street, WC2H 9EU (and other locations).
3. Host Café, Mansion House
Inside this beautiful, historical church you’ll find what many believe to be sacred: seriously fantastic coffee. The building is run by a new monastic community within the Church of England, and they’re all about promoting love, hospitality and inclusiveness. But it’s not just a place for quiet reflection within the big city — it also serves an excellent cup of joe.
📍Find Host Café at St Mary Aldermary, Watling Street, EC4M 9BW.
4. Rosslyn, Mansion House
Don’t let the Instagrammable surroundings take away from the fact that Rosslyn serves categorically brilliant coffee. Fancy without being pompous, you’ll feel right at home at this friendly spot.
📍Find Rosslyn at 78 Queen Victoria Street, EC4N 4SJ.
5. Caravan, Fitzrovia
Caravan is a big name on the London coffee scene. With various restaurant-slash-coffee shops around the city, they’ve gotten pretty good at perfecting the brew. These guys provide beans for a number of shops, so you’re bound to come across them at some point on your coffee journey, if you haven’t already.
📍Find Caravan Fitzrovia at 152 Great Portland Street, W1W 6AJ (and various other locations).
6. Algerian Coffee Stores, Soho
Back when Victoria ruled England and the Eiffel Tower was just beginning to rise, Algerian Coffee Stores set up shop on Old Compton Street. They’re still there today, proudly boasting having weathered 130 years. The coffee’s a little fresher, thankfully. Algerian Coffee Stores stock eighty types of bean from all corners of the globe, but the very best part? They’ll sell you an espresso for just a quid!
📍Find Algerian Coffee Stores at 52 Old Compton Street, Soho, W1D 4PB.
7. The Black Penny, Covent Garden
This little coffee shop has been lovingly designed to highlight its gorgeous original features, including exposed brick and wood panelling, making it the perfect environment for latte and chill. You should definitely stick around for a spot of brunch, too – and perhaps check out their event space in the basement.
📍Find The Black Penny at 34 Great Queen Street, Covent Garden, WC2B 5AA.
8. Kaffeine, Fitzrovia
The owners of Kaffeine coffee have certainly put a lot of thought into their menu. Each coffee comes in a specifically selected size ‘to reflect and respect the true flavours of the coffee’ and the detail doesn’t stop there. Their baristas are held to the highest standards—if you ever want to work there you’ll need at least three years of continuous experience—so their espresso is certainly not to be sniffed at. You can find them at two different locations in Fitzrovia.
📍Find Kaffeine at 66 Great Titchfield Street, London, W1W 7QJ and 15 Eastcastle Street, London, W1T 3AY.
9. Fork Deli, Bloomsbury
This lovely London deli-cum-café is located right in the heart of Bloomsbury near UCL, and they serve up one hell of a good mug of Joe – as well as toasties, paninis and freshly-baked pastries too. Best thing of all is that they also double as a wine bar on Thursdays and Fridays – winner, winner!
📍Find Fork Deli at 85 Marchmont Street, London, WC1N 1AL.
East London Coffee Shops
10. Climpson & Sons, Broadway Market
Climpson & Sons’ coffee is roasted down the road at their very own London Fields roastery. Their café, which used to be a butchers, offers a friendly atmosphere with a cracking menu full of locally-sourced produce.
📍Find Climpson & Sons at 67 Broadway Market, E8 4PH.
11. Perky Blenders, various locations
Bringing top puns and great coffee to the people of east London, Perky Blenders source most of their coffee from South America. As far as I can tell, the Perky Blenders don’t wear hats, so you don’t need to be skittish about visiting.
📍Find Perky Blinders at various locations in London. You can find out more here.
12. Hand Cafe, Stratford
Run by a seriously lovely team in the heart of the East Village, Hand is home to delicious coffee and Greek-inspired food.
📍Find Hand Cafe at 11 Victory Parade, East Village, E20 1FS.
13. Trade, Aldgate
Trade comes highly recommended by the TripAdvisor community, and this is no surprise. Located near Spitalfields Market, this independently owned coffee shop boasts gorgeous interiors and a fantastic menu full of spectacular food. They also have a lovely outdoor terrace for when the sun decides to shine!
📍Find Trade at 47 Commercial Street, E1 6BD (and other locations).
14. Mouse Tail Coffee Stories, Whitechapel
Mouse Tail is run by a bunch of serious coffee geeks, and that’s clear from the get-go. When it comes to coffee, you can’t get much better than this. And as for the sandwiches? Well, you’ll have to see them for yourselves…
📍Find Mouse Tail Coffee Stories at 307 Whitechapel Road, E1 1BY (and other locations).
15. Tina, We Salute You, Olympic Park
Tina, We Salute You is somewhat of an east London institution. The cafe is the brainchild of Danny and Steve, who started off selling their cupcakes at a stall on Brick Lane. They now serve everything from Marmite on toast to fluffy American pancakes.
📍Find Tina, We Salute You at 2 Olympic Park Avenue, London, E20 1FT.
16. Origin Coffee, Shoreditch
Origin is a training lab as well as a coffee shop, offering courses for professionals and enthusiasts. So, if you fancy honing in on your latte art skills, enquire here.
📍Find Origin Coffee at 65 Charlotte Road, Shoreditch, EC21 3PE.
17. Ozone Coffee Roasters, Shoreditch
Ozone are experts in the coffee game. Their beautiful space is dedicated to the good stuff, with their own blends on sale in store and online.
📍Find Ozone Coffee at 11 Leonard Street, EC2A 4AQ.
18. Quarter Kitchen, Hackney
Sure, we may have focused a fair bit (a lot actually) on the food offerings when we covered this tucked away Dalston café-cum-stand. But don’t be fooled, the coffee at Quarter Kitchen is among the best in the city. Their small batch filter coffee makes use of some of the best beans from small roasteries around the UK, while their espresso offerings make use of equally carefully curated beans and delightfully textured milk. Their approach to coffee and food is essentially the same, start with great base ingredients and keep the final product simple to allow those ingredients to shine. And shine they do.
📍Find St John at Hackney Churchyard, Lower Clapton Road, Hackney, E5 0PD.
West London Coffee Shops
19. Kanenas Coffee, Ealing
Family owned Kanenas Coffee brings a little Mediterranean flair to Ealing. The coffee shop is inspired by the flavours and culture of Greece, and the team combine both British and Mediterranean ingredients in their food and drink menus – how does a Kykeon Ancient Greek blend tea sound? Coffee wise, Kanenas Coffee work with an ethical export partner to source their coffee beans internationally, and they use these to create some pretty unique house specials, such as matcha oat lattes and Freddo espressos.
📍Find Kanenas Coffee at 65 The Grove, London W5 5LL.
20. Antipode, Hammersmith
Antipode is the epitome of Australian cafe culture, with perfect flat whites and painstakingly cool brunch offerings. By night, the menu switches to craft beer and cocktails, and you’ll be Googling flights to Melbourne before the evening’s over.
📍Find Antipode at 28 Fulham Palace Road, W6 9PH.
21. Bluebelles of Portobello, Ladbroke Grove
Bluebelles is a staple in W10 for coffee and cake. It’s a lovely spot with lots of loyal locals and, with that display of baked goods, you might be tempted to become one.
📍Find Bluebelles at 320 Portobello Road, W10 5RU.
22. District, Parsons Green
This place is the very definition of ‘small but mighty’. You might not find a seat, but you will certainly find happiness in their excellent homemade banana bread and top quality coffee.
📍Find District at 50 Parsons Green Lane, SW6 4HU (and other locations).
23. Cable Co., Hammersmith and Kensal Rise
This lovely independent coffee shop serves an awesome selection of brews and bakes. They’ve got a delicious menu of seasonal guest espressos, alongside a bespoke Colombian coffee from Climpson & Sons as their House blend. Oh and their ‘Nitro’ cold brew is an absolute winner on a sunny day! Cable Co. also has a gorgeous ‘Lovewall’ painted by Los Angeles based artist James Goldcrown on its shutters—so it’s worth a visit even when it’s shut.
📍Find Cable Co. at 100 Cambridge Grove, Hammersmith, W6 0LE or Bridge House, Chamberlayne Road, Kensal Green, NW10 3NR.
24. Farm Girl, Notting Hill
If you like your jolt of caffeine to be picture-perfect, head to the Notting Hill branch of Farm Girl. Boasting ‘farmhouse meets Californian coast’ vibes, this artfully on-trend cafe will serve you coffee in a range of vibrant colours, in the form of lavender lattes, liquid gold latte, and butterfly matcha.
📍Find Farm Girl at 59a Portobello Road, W11 3DB (and other locations).
South London Coffee Shops
25. Browns of Brockley, Brockley
This spot close to Lewisham is somewhat of an institution. Stop in for a fantastic coffee and one of their famous cinnamon doughnut muffins.
📍Find Browns of Brockley at 5 Coulgate Street, SE4 2RW.
26. Canada Water Café, Canada Water
A magnificent triad of café, bar and restaurant, this place is worth a visit for more reasons than one. But this article is all about the coffee so for that reason I’m obliged to tell you that the latte art here is better than anything you’ll find in the Tate Modern.
📍Find Canada Water Café at 40 Surrey Quays Road, SE16 7DX.
27. Greenwich Grind, Greenwich
Yes, yes, I know you’ve all heard of Grind before, but this one’s particularly noteworthy as it’s the largest in the group. Much like any Grind, the space is beautiful—and you can guarantee good coffee no matter what time of day it is. What I will say though: come 5pm, it’s more likely to be in a cocktail than a flat white.
📍Find Greenwich Grind at 17-19 Nelson Road, SE10 9JB.
28. Lumberjack, Camberwell
Lumberjack is part of a charity that helps young people into employment by training them in either coffee or carpentry. It really is an excellent place, and everything is sourced from the local south London community where possible.
📍Find Lumberjack at 70 Camberwell Church Street, SE5 8QZ.
29. Old Spike Roastery, Peckham
Another charitable institution, Old Spike helps people to cope with homelessness by training them to be baristas. And yes, the coffee is great too. Do I even need to say that at this point in the list?
📍Find Old Spike at 54 Peckham Rye, SE15 4JR.
30. The Watch House, Bermondsey
The Watch House have a couple of branches in the City, but none quite as iconic at their Bermondsey outpost. Housed in an octagonal building where guards used to look out for grave robbers in the church cemetery outside, this is a weird and wonderful spot for a brew.
📍Find The Watch House at 199 Bermondsey Street, SE1 3UW.
31. Batch & Co Coffee, Streatham Hill
With a bespoke espresso blend from Caravan and an excellent selection of food, Batch’s locals are an extremely lucky bunch. There’s even a little lending library in the corner for book lovers!
📍Find Batch at 54 Streatham Hill, SW2 4RD.
32. Birdhouse, Clapham
If you’re wandering around Wandsworth, pop into Birdhouse for a coffee and a sarnie—you won’t regret it. It’s gorgeously understated and somewhere you’re bound to return to again and again.
📍Find Birdhouse at 123 St John’s Hill, SW11 1SZ.
33. F.Mondays, Brixton
If you find yourself calling out ‘F Mondays!’ every Sunday night, you should consider adding a trip to F.Mondays to your morning routine. It’s the perfect escape from the mania that is work, especially if you retreat to the hidden garden out the back.
📍Find F.Mondays at 112a Brixton Hill, SW2 1AH.
North London Coffee Shops
34. Frequency, King’s Cross
Frequency is so much more than a coffee shop, but coffee is certainly at the core of what they do. They roast their beans at the Tate Britain, which hires out their state of the art roaster to help small coffee companies. At night, the store becomes a cocktail bar, and there’s a real focus on the music as well as the drinks.
📍Find Frequency at 121 King’s Cross Road, WC1X 9NH.
35. MILK BEACH, Queen’s Park
If you ever find yourself strolling down Lonsdale Road, this place will surely catch your eye. While the bright and beautiful space will draw you in, you should stay for scrummy eggs and brilliant coffee roasted by the shop’s owners.
📍Find MILK BEACH at 19 Lonsdale Road, NW6 6RA.
36. Lucia’s Coffee House, Wood Green
Lucia’s Coffee House is a local champion with its own unique “403” blend. This dates back to the phone number of Lucia’s Roastery, a 1920s coffee house in Cyprus well known for serving the best blend in town. Today, this little café in Wood Green pays homage to Lucia by serving delicious 403 coffee.
📍Find Lucia’s Coffee House at 162 High Road, N22 6EB.
37. Beam, Crouch End
Crouch Enders (is that a thing?) are seriously lucky to call Beam their local. With perfectly brewed coffees and a mouthwatering brunch menu, I’d struggle to stay out of the place. We’ve popped the Crouch End original in our guide, but you’ll also find them in Notting Hill and Highbury these days.
📍Find Beam at 40-41 Topsfield Parade, N8 8PT.
38. The Coffee Jar, Camden
It’s surprisingly hard to find good coffee in Camden, but The Coffee Jar has been making it since 2013. Frequented mostly by locals, the coffee here is brewed to perfection and the food is worth shouting about, too.
📍Find The Coffee Jar at 83 Parkway, NW1 7PP.
39. The Fields Beneath, Kentish Town
Found within a converted railway arch beneath Kentish Town West station and next to Camden Town Brewery, The Fields Beneath is a personal favourite of mine. They use their own beans, which you can buy to take home with you—and, if you do, they’ll give you a coffee on the house!
📍Find The Fields Beneath at 52a Prince of Wales Road, NW5 3LN.
40. Starfish Loves Coffee, Palmers Green
Unless you live in north London, this last addition to this roundup of the best London coffee shops might be a bit of a trek for you. However, lying at the end of said trek is one of the best breakfasts in town, and a downright dangerous prosecco tap…
📍Find Starfish Loves Coffee at 92 Aldermans Hill, N13 4PP.
* Some features in this article have been paid for by Secret London’s friendly brand partners.
So there you have it – a roundup of the most atmospheric and independent London coffee shops dotted about town. Now I don’t know about you – but I’ll be visiting all of these again at some point this Autumn and Winter!
Also published on Medium.