Costa vs. Starbucks

Coffee in London isn't that big of a problem, there are so many beautiful independent cafes that you could have coffee from a different place every day. But when going to airports, or shopping centres, or smaller English towns you have to make a choice, Costa, or Starbucks?

I'm a little biased because my flatmate works at Costa, so when things expire on a Monday she brings them home for us to have. I may have had one too many chocolate twists. When I look for good coffee I go for Costa, because they only use their coffee once to make espresso shots. Whereas Starbucks uses theirs more than once, so the coffee is weaker. But if I'm going for iced, or sweet, its Starbucks all the way. 

I think the Costa food is slightly better, especially when looking at their fresh baked goods. Starbucks does have amazing carrot cake though. The Costa tea is better, but they don't entertain you by spelling your name incorrectly on the cup.

It's really a toss up. I tend to go to London City Airport and they only have Cafe Nero once you've passed security so I never get coffee there. What I love about Costa and Starbucks is that they complete each other. What one is lacking the other has. I want a Frappuccino on some days, but on others I just want a Mocha Latte. I guess I'll never be one of those people that order the same things over and over again. I just need to mix it up a little. My best compromise is to alternate between the two. But if I need coffee for my 9am class, I know I should go to Costa. I'll have Starbucks as my afternoon pick-me-up. 

Here's the Costa website: https://www.costa.co.uk/

Here's the Starbucks website: http://www.starbucks.co.uk/

(They are listed in alphabetical order)

Ziferblat

When my friends Gabi came to visit I wanted to take her somewhere new and exciting. I had originally planned to go to Love Shake (my favourite milkshake place ever) but then we stumbled upon Ziferblat, the "pay as long as you stay" cafe. After walking up the stairs and stepping inside a kind lady explained to us how the system works. You write the time you arrive and your name on a sheet and you hang it up, you take a clock with you too! After that you're free to use any of the tables, sitting comfortably with others, and get yourself something to drink.

Both Gabi and I chose to have some tea, and there was a huge selection of teas to choose from. There are cute tea cups as well as fun mugs and glasses. There's a box with cookies laid out next to the sugar that is a little too inviting. Next time I'll probably have coffee, if I feel like playing around with the coffee machine. All around the open space there are people chatting or typing away on laptops. But even if everyone is doing their own thing there is a huge sense of community. Sitting with people tends to make you feel more at home and relaxed. 

We ended up staying there for a little less than an hour, because I was getting hungry, so we paid 1.20 GBP each. Which is nothing for a cup of tea and a cookie in London. I really liked the place and will probably go there alone if they stay open (sadly, they're having some landlord issues).

Here's their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ZiferblatLondon

Rough Trade East

I first went into Rough Trade back in 2011, with a group of girls only interested in taking a quirky picture in their photo booth. But since then I've spent time browsing their book, cd, and vinyl collections always with awe. Recently I was even able to enjoy coffee there on a Sunday afternoon. I love the atmosphere there. Everyone is doing their own thing, but it feels like a community. Everyone placed together because they love music and books.

The staff there is very helpful and kind. Even if you don't know what you're looking for they somehow point you in the right direction. And they're very attentive when making your coffee too. Their loudspeakers play a variation of good music that puts you in the mood to browse even more. I could probably spend a small fortune there after hours of browsing. I was instantly intrigued by their books but I had just bought 4 others that same day. 

Overall, what ever you're looking for, they will have it. And if they don't they'll tell you where to get it, or order it for you. If you ever have some time to kill and you're in the area, I recommend you browse their collections, grab some coffee and enjoy the atmosphere. It's the type of place you can enjoy with others as well as on your own.

Here's their website: http://www.roughtrade.com/

(they also have 2 other stores in west London, but the one off Brick Lane is the biggest)

Kahaila

Before Christmas time my friend Matilda set up a make your own head-band workshop, where a group of people from her class and a group of outsiders got together to make any random type of head piece. I was going to attend a Great Gatsby themed party, so of course I went along and made something, or rather, 4 things. 

This workshop was held at the back of a cafe called Kahaila on Brick Lane. My flatmate Charlotte calls it her favourite place on Brick Lane. It's a cute home-y coffee shop that offers a variety of food and drinks, and cake. The indoors is similar to my flat in the sense that they have the same brick walls as we do. But not only that, they have these amazing wooden tables which are really worn out, but not in the sense that they're about to collapse but in a beautiful "I have lived" sense. 

One of the beautiful things about Kahaila is the artwork hung up inside it. They have temporary shows of different art from around the community. Oh and I forgot to tell you, it's a charity coffee shop. Which means they give all their profits to supporting local community projects. So stop by, grab a cake, enjoy the art and feel like you're doing something to help others while enjoying your self. Their sandwiches are good too.

Here's their website: http://kahaila.com/

Dark Sugars Chocolate

When I'm in London I tend to walk down Brick Lane at least once a week, a few weeks ago a new and intriguing chocolate shop opened. The first thing I noticed was of course the chocolate truffles in the window. After that I looked up at the name of the place, Dark Sugars Chocolate. The store has a very earthy look, all the chocolate is propped up on these amazing pieces of wood. 

Sadly for the relaxed shopper going there on a Sunday means its really really crowded but I was able to distract the guy behind the counter long enough to get a hot chocolate. And let me tell you, not only are they incredibly kind and friendly but their hot chocolate is amazing. I wasn't very adventurous so I went for the plain hot chocolate, but next time I'll pick something a little more "out there". They have all the normal coffees but their selection of hot chocolates are amazing, you can get it with chilli, cinnamon, and a bunch of more exotic flavours. Their cups are tiny, but I really didn't mind, it's worth the money for the amazing after taste you'll have in your mouth all day. 

I'm really excited about going back, but all I can do for now is fantasise about how amazing it was, and plan when I can get some more.

Here's their twitter (their website is still in the making): https://twitter.com/DarkSugars

Portobello Juice Cafe

The weekend before Christmas I realised that this term I had not yet been to Portobello market this term. So I dragged a friend with me. Sadly, I was pretty hungover so I needed to make a pit stop. One of the places we stopped was "Portobello Juice Cafe". I was attracted to this place because of the awesome graffiti exterior, and the fact that I didn't feel like another cup of coffee, especially on a Saturday afternoon. 

I tend to have a pretty big problem with Portobello Market, every time I go there and spend the afternoon outside I get a really bad cold. So I spent a few hellish days blowing my nose hoping that I didn't look like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Anyway, back to this juice cafe. The indoor wall art was just as good as the outdoor, and they played some soft jazzy music as we strolled up to the bar. 

We ordered our fruity drinks, and weirdly enough I opted for one of the few ones including coffee. I know I just said I didn't want another cup of coffee, but this one was different, it was cold, and it had bananas! The Portobello Juice Cafe was a perfect place to hide from the cold and the tourists. I'm looking forward to enjoying a drink once the weather gets warmer, I have to start avoiding these colds. 

Here's their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/portobellojuice

The Book Club

The Book Club is a place I’ve been wanting to go to since this summer, and finally I went! I met one of my friends for coffee which ended up being for drinks and we chose to go to The Book Club as our first stop. The Book Club is a place I associate with being relaxed and productive. They have free wifi, and they serve breakfast, lunch and brunch. 

But what attracted me most to this place was the fact that they have different activities they put on as well as having a gallery and a ping pong room all in one place. You could literally spend the day there. Strewn around on the tables are drinks menus so of course we were attracted to their cocktails. It being 3pm on Saturday we decided it was socially acceptable to have just one drinks, after all it was the weekend. 

The ground floor was all decorated with hat related photographs and decor. The ceiling in fact was covered in hats varying from white to black. There were just so many little details placed around that I loved and made me wish I went there more so I could have time to notice them all. Maybe I'll start working on my assignments from there. It's one of those places that is somehow perfect for when you're alone and when you're with friends. 

Here’s their website: http://www.wearetbc.com/

Pitfield

Pitfield is a really nice home decor store that doubles as a café. Its really cute, welcoming and the food is really delicious. The people who work behind are all French, and to me that means they must know something about food, as well as their coffee. Because the French, the Spanish, the Portuguese, the Greeks and the Italians know about food. We have a saying "We live to eat" whereas the others "eat to live". We look for the joys in food, and I think that's what makes me a foodie too. 

I walked in with a few friends, and we went straight to ordering food, I hadn't had anything to eat yet that day. I got a salad, but not one of those weird leafy things. I got a mix of feta cheese, tomatoes, olives, and olive oil as well as cold pasta. And as an Italian I usually stray away from cold pasta salads, but this one was incredible, it almost made me wish I had only gotten the pasta part of it. 

I loved the inside of the place too, because there was a random bronze octopus in the corner and there were loads of cute little details. The section of it that was a store had really strange colour combinations, it was kind of eclectic but somehow everything looked like it was in style, and it fit. Maybe that's just because the place is in Shoreditch. 

Here's the website of the place: http://www.pitfieldlondon.com/

Also do you think I should start including mini maps to show the locations of the places? Comment to let me know what you think.

Exmouth Coffee

Living near Aldgate East tube station meant that I've walked past Exmouth Coffee a million times. It hasn't always been open because I tend to get home pretty late, but when it is, everytime my mouth waters due to their cakes and snacks in the window. Its hard to see what the name of this place is because the name of it is only written on a wooden bench they have outside when they're open. It looks like a black painted café with sandwiches and a lot of other food. 

Sadly, its one of those places where they charge you a little more if you eat in, so I've only eaten in once. But other than that I love them. I used to try to go there before uni to get freshly squeezed orange juice, because its the best. I think what I like the most about them is their food, but they brew pretty good coffee too. I just love that somehow their food all looks and feels healthy. If I had the money I'd get lunch there every day. Maybe next year I'll treat myself to it once a week. 

The atmosphere there is really nice, everyone seems happy to work even if they're tired. And sometimes if you're lucky you can even see some of the staff dancing and singing along to the music they have playing. Now that I've been thinking about it, I could really use one of their turkey sandwiches. 

I can't find their webpage so here's their page on yelp: http://www.yelp.co.uk/biz/exmouth-coffee-company-london

L'Eau a la Bouche

Walking through Broadway Market sometimes you just want to sit down and people watch. My friend and I struggled to get seats here, at L'Eau a la Bouche, because so many people are doing what we planned to do, sit and watch the people walk by. Previously I had been in this shop/cafe, to buy mortadella and other southern European foods. I really enjoyed the food I bought, and I had finished it really quickly. But this time we just wanted to get coffee and look at the people walking by.

Originally we had brought books with us to read in the crowded cafe, but I think I was only able to read 4 pages in the two hours that we sat there. It was just such a good view. We were able to see different families walking past, with cute children stopping to listen to and clap for the street musicians. We also saw the different ways people talk to each other, and analysed body language of different groups of people. It was also a good way to see what clothes we liked and which shoes I wanted to buy. 

They probably would have let us sit there for a lot longer, but the market was closing and there were less people to watch, and it had been a while since we had finished our coffees. But if you ever feel lonely in London, sitting there on a Saturday afternoon will really cheer you up.

Here's their website: http://www.labouche.co.uk/

Kahve Dunyasi

Walking around near Piccadilly circus, we decided to stop at Kahve Dunyasi to have some coffee and relax after having spent about an hour in Abercrombie and Fitch. It took a little while to be seated before having the chance to look at the menu. The front of the shop looks like a chocolate shop, and they have a cooler with ice-cream right outside. Looking at the menu from outside we had already decided what we wanted to get, but once I walked inside I was dying to taste all of the different truffles they had. 

Luckily I didn't go crazy on the chocolate, I just ordered a macaroon instead, to then dip in my coffee. The room where we were seated was a bit noisy because every table was full, and the air-conditioning was blasting. But we had a fun conversation, and we all enjoyed our different drinks. Overall, it was just a good place to sit down and relax a bit before throwing ourselves into rush hour on the Piccadilly Line. 

Here's their website: http://www.kahvedunyasi.co.uk/

Yog

Yog is another one of those frozen yogurt places. But I was happy to go to it because the staff was friendly and they let me and my friends take forever to make our choice. I especially like that their frozen yogurt is made from milk nearby because I don't really like getting food from the other side of the world. I try to eat local food as much as possible and I'm happy to know that Yog's yogurt is locally made. 

One of my favourite things about frozen yogurt is that you can choose all the different toppings you want and you can choose as many as you like. I usually only pick 2 and I rarely put syrup on mine because I like to taste the flavour of the yogurt too. Its a bit weird to me that you can get frozen yogurt in so many different flavours now, because I'm used to there only being a "natural" flavour. That way the toppings stand out more. 

This time I chose granola and chocolate, my friend Kristin chose strawberries chocolate balls and chocolate brownies. What toppings do you like? Here's their website: http://www.yogyogurt.co.uk/index.php?p=home