Coffee Mafia

Everyone raves about this place.

I’ve spent a few nights in here before, guzzling down the wine and watching the nights flit away. True enough, it is a nice place to sit and for some reason the conversation you find yourself having in this place are a bit weird, obscure discussions on the pro’s art and just how talented was Mark Rothko… etc.

Dock Street Market is famous for it’s teapot cocktails, trendy hipsters (or the few that are in Leeds) sit and sip rum delights from the china cups. Today however is quiet, it’s 2pm, i’ve just passed Howard Marks in the street and enjoyed a brief chat about our Dance Awards rendezvous in 2010 and am now settling down for a cappuccino. Hmmm, maybe i should have invited Howard…

I ordered a cappuccino and am told by the barista what kind of beans they use. Good start. La Bottega Milanese - it’s served promptly, brought to my table, money exchanged and change brought back to me, boy! what service. I feel the need to tip.

The cappuccino was not as good as expected, it was weak, and served in a tiny cup which was borderline espresso. But i ordered a cappuccino. It really was awful, then just as i was thinking it would be tolerable, a passer-by knocked it over and and it soaked the table. I was saved form bad coffee.

Different note, the design of Dock Street Market and the art work which adorns the the walls are amazing. It’s a feast on the eye, you’re left stunned and inspired by the artwork around, but it the coffee left not just a sour taste in my mouth, but a large stain and mess on my jeans and the table.

Maybe it’s best i visit on a different occasion.

Two and a half Beans!!! 

It’s like coffee heaven in here, great atmosphere and proof that Leeds is becoming a force in UK coffee culture - this is definitely a good thing. I opted for something different this time; a split shot. An espresso shot and a side was a ‘milky’ drink - piccolo. Excellently presented, the espresso was no nonsense, like a debauched gig in my mouth and the piccolo was the after show party, no one wanted to go home and we wanted to party all night. A great coffee. The atmosphere reminds me of my old bedroom (a good thing) the layout of artwork is a common theme in many coffee shops these days, but is always eye catching. God knows I’d prefer to stare at some artwork instead of the miserable frowns of fellow coffee punters - cheer up people. Stop drinking that green tea and get yourself a coffee. Perfectly situated by the galleries, Brew Bar is a thriving hub of creative types. Another jewel in the Leeds coffee crown.

Four bean mash up! Short and sweet review, just like my visit and drink.

Tea Monkey! In the Centre:MK! Hundred yards from the Starbucks!

“Try this shop, it looks nice, you can get a Starbucks anywhere” i’m told. I know this, but Starbucks make nice coffee and this place is a chain anyway (granted not as big as Starbucks but still a chain).

Despite the name involving ‘tea’ this place makes a fairly good cappuccino. I did have to wait ten minutes to be served, even though i was the only person waiting int he queue and only one other person was actually drinking in the shop - this did however give my mum plenty of time to think about what over priced bottle of flavoured water she wanted (£3!!!). I eventually got served and ordered my cappuccino in a take out cup but to have in, this always freaks out the baristas, I’m never normally asked why i want this but this young man asked to which i felt i should say “none of your business” but i felt i would explain why, “it’s just if i want to get up and leave, i can without having to rush my drink or leave it behind”. He seemed bemused.

The great thing i suppose about Tea Monkey is the row of iPads they have on the bench along the wall, all free to use and all connected to the free Wi-Fi. There was even one left logged into someones Facebook account. I resisted the temptation to assume their identity.

All in all a mundane experience. As i was leaving, the girl topping up the sugar sachets asked what i was writing in my notepad (Tea Monkey - home of nosey baristas). I said i was writing a blog about coffee shops. She offered to stamp my receipt as a kind of loyalty card. Explaining i don’t come to Milton Keynes often enough to remember a stamped receipt she told me there is a shop in Birmingham - not sure i fancy traveling up there for a one off cappuccino. 

Two beans. They have made me feel like i want to start my own shop called ‘Coffee Chump’.

The Coffee House is what i was going to name my house. I was going to go get an engraver to make me a plush looking shiny sign, etched in gold. It would have been a beacon on my street. I would have polished it with Brasso and made sure it dazzled local drivers. Alas, the name has been taken.

The Coffee House in Bedford is across from St Peters church and the cafe itself offers a great view of Bedford centre. Small in size and very ornate, it used to be the old tourism office. I remember as a child in the 90’s i would walk past it and wonder why we needed a tourism office - what was here for tourists.

Well, they moved the office and its mass supply of toy London buses, Beefeaters and tube maps to an equally nice building and turned this into the kind of coffee shop you’d expect to see in York.

The regular order - a small cappuccino was delivered to my table and a healthy sprinkling of chocolate on top. The coffee was a medium roast and i opted for the brown sugar too. A great price and i took my time with it. So much time in fact they closed the big drawbridge ‘like’ door and began to put chairs on tables, i wasn’t asked to rush off -  bonus bean for that.

Not the biggest, most comfy, arty or ‘happening’ coffee shop in Bedford, but its location and attractive foreign staff ;) and just general friendliness and great price scores it high.

Would i go back? Of course i would. I’m going there after i’ve finished this post.

Three beans!

Hey, did you hear the one about the best coffee shop in Yorkshire….

Laynes Espresso is situated on New Station Street in Leeds, seconds from one of the most well known live music venues in the country and in the centre of one of the UK’s fastest growing cities.

When i arrived in Leeds recently, i was in such a rush to get a connecting train i had to walk past Laynes without going in, it was the hardest challenge of my life, but i promised myself the biggest cappuccino possible on the way back.

The walls are adorned with art - amazing photos of all things uniquely Leeds. It is a  relatively small coffee shop and has no way of setting up a terrace to while away the days on, but it makes up for this in charisma. I instantly felt at home here and you will too. The set up i understand is quite small, a dedicated team run by a driven businessman.

Laynes presents some of the best coffee roasts in the UK at the moment, it has an extensive tea menu too. This place has won awards. If Laynes was a celebrity, it would be ‘The Boss’ - highly respected, creative, you’d always want to be in its company and you can’t believe your luck when you are. 

During my visit i went for a large cappuccino to take out, it came with a beautifully presented design in the foam and i had an amazing chat with one of the baristas about Steve ESPO Powers’ art in Shoreditch, London. It was an education. Not only do they know their coffee, they know their art too.

Laynes is a new addition to Leeds’ and my own coffee taste buds, it may also be a new addiction.

Pop in for that quick shot of espresso for the train journey, or pick up a cappuccino and meander around the city.

Five beans!!!! Best coffee bar in Leeds, i can’t wait to come back.

I really liked this place, but it does have a head start because i love Camden. There are so many coffee shops stretching from Chalk Farm Road all the way down Camden High Street. From the The Barfly to Koko, you’re spoiled for choice. You know what, one day i’ll have them all reviewed too…. i hope.

I ordered the standard Cappuccino, it didn’t cost the arm and a leg that you’re thinking either. The barista was generous with the sprinkles - always a bonus and as it’s an outdoors market, the cup was super-thermal to keep the heat as i wondered the vintage shops.

This coffee bar is a required taste. The coffee is great and although the food is super expensive - it does look and smell delicious. Again you have to remember, it’s about coffee. The surroundings are amazing, everywhere you turn there is colour as well as many huge horse sculptures (it is called The Stables). There are history lessons to be had, and as you wonder around the market taking in the history of the place, you really feel part of something.

The environment is a bonus but has nothing to do with Creperie 95, so they can’t take credit for it being good or bad. The Stables Market is amazing, the downside; constantly being asked by tourists to take photos of them with the giant horses which equals less cappuccino drinking time.

Two beans!!!! (Both for the cino, there is no atmosphere to judge Creperie 95 on as it’s an open market). 

Normally I’m knocking back a few whiskey and cokes in this place and watching a decent band. However, recently I’ve taken to spending my afternoons in here and sipping an Americano. Not primarily a coffee shop or cafe, but a great atmosphere, loads of space and always a spare copy of Vice on a table somewhere.

A large projection screen beams short art films on a far wall, and the walls are littered with vintage looking frames full of amazing local artwork.

Bargain coffee and fucking nice coffee, served by a barmaid/barman and not a barista but still a great time spent with a plenty of black coffee.

Try it!

Three beans!!!!

I went into this cafe on Roff Avenue in Bedford at about 9.30 and i was still half asleep (which is why i was so eager to wake myself up with a strong cappuccino), i was even going to sit in and enjoy it, but it soon turned into a drama, then quickly went to being a disaster.

Fancy is the only cafe I’ve ever been in that charges you more to take drinks out, eh?! I asked for a small cappuccino to have in, it was going to cost me about £1.40 i instead thought I’d better hurry to catch my train to Leeds so asked to take it out. I was then told they don’t do small cappuccinos to take out, so i had to go a size larger and then the price would also go up to nearly £2, WTF?!

It is a nice looking cafe and i should point out it is also a cake makers, but it’s mainly about the coffee.

The cappuccino was flat, no frothy head, no chocolate sprinkles, NO THRILLS! Plus, on the way out i was told to move out of the way by a delivery man just before he tried to decapitate me with a stack of boxes.

One bean!!!!!!