flatwhite.net

I recently thrust up my volunteering hand following a request from the nice folk at Spacific for people to sniff and sip their way around to find the best Flat White in London.  Spacific is in the process of collating results and will be posting aggregated scores on their site shortly (I’ll link to them when they do), but in my caffeine-addled state I ended up scratching a few notes about each of the cafes and thought I’d post the full deal here.  Note that the cafes are listed in the order visited, and the prices quoted are for double-shot Flat Whites with regular milk.

The Scooterworks Faema

• Scooterworks, Lower Marsh SE1 7AE, £1.80.  What an absolute treasure this place is. It has the feel of organised clutter like your Dad’s shed, combined with the stripped-back simplistic cool of Roasted Addiqtion.  If you want to check it out without making the trip downtown (but do!) it’s about to make an appearance as an internet cafe in the next Bourne film, The Bourne Ultimatum, so keep an eye out. Amidst the dented old stovetops, unmatched chairs and retro vespas squats a proud 50 year old Faema Urania from which they still pull all the shots in this joint.  Like some of the other cafes on this list, Flat Whites don’t actually make the menu card – but the baristas know what they are.  The shot was smooth, though not quite as solid and strong as I’d find ideal.  And the milk, while maintaining at least a veneer of Flat Whitishness on top was more latte underneath.  All in all, probably the kinda Flat White your Ma would happily slurp in a Te Kuiti tea shop.  But the vibe is what Scooterworks is all about.  It’s so laid back that you’re torturously tempted to skip the office and just kick back all afternoon – which I so very nearly did.  Ambience 10/10.  Flat White 5/10.  Overall (average) 7.5.  Cheers Shay…
• Monmouth Coffee Company, Covent Garden WC2H 9EU, £2.  The high-backed pews of the Covent Garden store make Monmouth a little less laid-back than Scooterworks, but perhaps reflect the seriousness with which they treat their coffee.  I had my first London Flat White in this cafe more than two years ago, and have never once been put off by the queues of caffeine junkies spilling out the door – testament to just how good their coffee is.  The level of demand creates a factory line, with different people used to collect your cash, pull the shots, and froth the milk.  But that isn’t a bad thing, especially when you’re calmed by the sweet scent of fresh-roast – a scent that has been marinating the air here since they started roasting beans on site 30 years ago.  A Monmouth Flat White is a bloody good one, with a nice, smooth, slow-burning caffeine release (I still make the amateurish mistake of ordering a second one before the first kicks in, but oh what a sweet mistake) and some fine latte art – on this occasion a perfect fern.  Monmouth beans are beautiful, so good in fact that many of the other great London coffee shops (e.g. Providores, Flat White) use them too.  AND you can buy beans onsite yourself, super for homebake (if only they distributed to Oxford, sigh).  While you’ll be hard-pressed to get a seat here, once you do there is the lovely benefit of shared tables with random drinkers and fresh chilled water.  Monmouth Street is damn cool in itself, and as you approach it you’ll see people walking in all directions with Monmouth cups – making it easy to find on your first trip.  There’s a store in Borough Market which is equally great, and while it has even larger queues during peak hours surrounds itself with a classic street market corner setting.  Ambience  8/10.  Flat White 8/10.  Overall 8.  Cheers to Michelle…
• The Wet Fish Cafe, West Hampstead NW6 1LG, £2.30.  Like Scooterworks, The Wet Fish wasn’t actually on the list of cafes Spacific wanted reviewed, but it makes a good Flat White and was my local up until a couple of weeks ago so it makes the cut here.  It’s a damned fine cafe for those in NW6, playing downbeat tunes around nicely spaced tables that make it either a vibrant start to the weekend or a cosy sanctuary after a big night out.  It’s also a good spot mid-week if you wanna get some work done – not too busy and lots of room on the tables to get a laptop out, or if it’s a good day score a table outside and watch the prams go by.  Its name refers to the fact that it was actually a Fish Shop, and if you do visit check out the weathered sign above the door in the interior which has been beautifully presented to show the shop-front signs of all three generations of fishmongers who plied their trade here; the original store tiles are also left on the wall and are cracker.  The Flat White itself contains a good shot, and another thinly capped (too thin for me unfortunately) pour of milk inside a shiny brown cup.  The Wet Fish also has great food, try the ricotta bake which is always splendid.  The service is both leisurely and friendly; I find it impossible not to tip here.  Ambience 8/10.  Flat White 6/10.  Overall 7.  Cheers to Rob, Amanda and Kristen…
• The Providores, Marylebone Village W1U 4RX, £2.40.  Providores = Ponsonby, surely?  Another damn fine spot, it sells fantastic food and the breakfasts are beautiful.  It’s a cluttered wee tapa-clothed space and they like to cram folk in which gives it the chattery vibe of a start to a good party, helped along by tunes of the like of Manu Chao and Roysksopp.  There are two special spots you must seek out if visiting Providores – the window seat (which I’ve never been early or lucky enough to score) and the shared bench (super for random meetings).  Providores Flat Whites are made with Monmouth beans, and they also sell bags for takeaway (I forget whether the bags are priced above Monmouth itself).  The co
  ffee is good, but the milk is great.  So velvety, yum.  Almost enough to convert an espresso drinker I’d bet.  Give it the spoon test…load a teaspoon up with sugar, place it on the trippy latte art and you’ll watch it drop every-so-slowly through the pillowy microfoam – something you won’t get with the thinly capped milk in some of the other cafes on this list.  Ambience 7/10.  Flat White 8/10.  Overall 7.5.  Cheers Kristen…
• Tea and Coffee Plant, Portobello Road W11 2EB, £1.60.  They’ve been selling coffee & tea, beans & leaf here for over twenty years so it’s an established spot on Portobello Road.  It’s organic and Fairtrade, and they push you to think with the posters, art and cards related to contemporary social issues that surround the cafe – the day I visited there was a wall covered with photos of destruction caused by the Israeli Security Forces and an article on the background to 9/11.  The coffee was ok, but the milk was best.  Damn smooth and a treat to watch the long, Turkish-style pour.  If you wanna sit on Portobello Road they have a couple of tables, otherwise escape to the interior and listen to Rhythm ‘n Sound while watching the world go by through a great glass fronting.  Ambience 5/10.  Flat White 6/10.  Overall 5.5.  Cheers Kristen…
• Bullet Coffee, Covent Garden WC2H 9QA, £2.  My first visit to Bullet they were closed, so I trotted to Monmouth for a cup instead.  On my second visit I stomped thirstily up the stairs through the Snow and Rock store within which Bullet is ensconced to find a ‘Back in 5′ sign on the counter.  I wasn’t gonna miss out this time so hung out listening to old school Pitch Black, sipping on the free water and salivating over the afghan biscuits the size of cakes they had on display.  A while later the barista arrived back with a Tescos bag of afternoon supplies and made me the best Flat White I had during these review visits.  Superb.  Earthy organic and Fairtrade espresso, and nice microfoam milk (though not quite as smooth as Providores) deep through the cup.  Subtle, tasteful latte art AND (though I swear this didn’t affect my rating) a chocolate fish on the side!  The ambience loses a little by being in the surrounds of a retail store, but it’s a mellow and chilled retreat from the mayhem of a trip to Covent Garden.  Ambience 6/10.  Flat White 9/10.  Overall 7.5.
• Flat White, Soho W1F 0PT, £2.50.  Amidst the hustle of Soho sit the Berwick Street markets, and in the middle of those markets swing the hanging flowerpots of The Endurance (which houses possibly the best jukebox in London).  Flat White sits quietly over the road with a fine view of those flowerpots and provides a dimly lit, chocolate-coloured hideaway from which to watch the crowds flow by.  It has the dark feel of a Wellington cafe, displays and sells art and on that visit was playing some good indie rock.  AND it sells L&P.  Flat White is another cafe that uses and sells Monmouth beans, which provide the usual nice smooth espresso.  The milk, while yet another thinly capped foam top, displayed the best latte art seen during these visits – a small but impossibly perfectly formed fern.  Staff here are chatty to both each other and the customers, making you feel at home instantly.  Ambience 7/10.  Flat White 8/10.  Overall 7.5.


The Sacred Barista Altar

• Sacred, Carnaby Street W1F 9BL, £1.95.  Sacred provides more than just good coffee – the food here is good for you and bloody tasty.  Its outdoor tables give a great window onto Carnaby Street for an afternoon of hanging out eating, drinking and people-watching.  Flat Whites are prepared in the raised barista altar and are good, though the coffee itself could’ve been a touch stronger and the milk was more foam than microfoam.  There’s Kiwiana throughout, from the art hanging to the kiwi-themed posters and to the paua set into the counter.  And it’s another store that stocks and sells L&P, bless ‘em.  Ambience 6/10.  Flat White 5/10.  Overall 5.5.  Cheers McK…
• Local Hero, Fulham SW6 5RT, £1.85.  The last of the cafes visited on this caffeine-drenched exercise, Local Hero provides perhaps the calmest sense of seclusion, with a back-deck surrounding of bamboo and wood reminiscent of a Coromandel cafe.  Actually, it feels more like the bedecked garden backyard of a Grey Lynn flat than a cafe, which perhaps draws the hordes of Mommas and suckling babies that take it over in the late afternoon.  A damn pleasant spot, and the coffee (Chilean I think?) is spot on.  The milk was a touch frothy and light in the head for my liking, but the espresso was lovely.  Ambience 7/10.  Flat White 7/10.  Overall 7.  Cheers Kate, Sebastian and Kristen…

So there you have it.  The highlights were:

• Best Latte Art: Flat White,
• Best Milk: Providores,
• Best Ambience: Scooterworks (10/10),
• Best Flat White: Bullet Coffee (9/10), and
• Best Overall: Monmouth (8/10).

Obviously it’s a matter of taste.  Would be interested to hear your thoughts…

This entry was posted on Friday, June 29th, 2007 at 1:46 PM and is filed under Food & Drink. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.