StArt Coffee - Columbia Rd E2

An appendage to StArt Space, a gallery in Columbia Road, StArt Coffee is probably the smallest coffee bar I have encountered.  We visited at the end of a heavily caffeinated day - Hurwundeki, CapheVn, Prufrock - but still managed to sample the wares and they were pretty good.  As you can see our friend Rob was pretty happy with the whole experience.  Columbia Road is lovely on a Saturday - no crowds, quite peaceful - obviously no flowers but still lots of the shops are open and you can browse without the rubber-neck crowds.  I love the walk from Broadway Market through Columbia Road, over Shoreditch High St, through Arnold Circus to Redchurch Street and it's a caffeine wonderland.  I would happily do it every weekend.

Hurwundeki - Cambridge Heath Rd E2

I wish it wasn't so far to go for me to hang out in Broadway Market but it is, so I seem to only get here every couple of months.  Anyway, this post wasn't meant to be a whinge, it is to tell you about a really quirky and cool cafe that makes a fun pit-stop if you get weary in between Bethnal Green tube and Broadway market (or just can't wait another second for caffeine and food - which was the case with me and the other half on the weekend).  As you wander up Cambridge Heath Road/Mare Street (which is it at that point I wonder?)  you come across Hurwundeki.  At first glance this place looks like a tyre shop but on closer inspection, the mismatched tables and chairs and garden ornaments out the front indicate that there is something else going on.  We had a lovely flat white and a delicious egg muffin - perfect fare to fortify us for the remainder of the hipster trail.

Leila's Shop & Deli - Calvert Avenue E2

I have already blogged about how much I love Arnold Circus in Shoreditch (I have this Utopian fantasy about all my friends living round the Circus and meeting for a chat at the bandstand in the middle...) but I am also a fan of the surrounding streets, in particular Calvert Avenue which radiates from Arnold Circus towards Shoreditch High Street.  There are some cool shops and a fantastic deli and cafe called Leila's which would be a gem in any neighbourhood but luckily for local residents is bang in the middle of this oh so groovy corner of East London.  The delicatessen is full of amazing produce but I have to mention one thing, amongst all the wonderful fruit and veg and generally healthy stuff, that stood out for me - dark chocolate covered clementines.  At the risk of sounding like an SMS from Paris Hilton - OMG, they are amazing.  Some people don't like the chocolate/orange pairing but I definitely do and this is the ultimate, nay the zenith of that particular taste combination.  I will dream about it until my next visit...  Anyway on to the cafe next door - bustling and full of 30+ hipsters we had a lovely late breakfast with decent coffee (although you're better off going round the corner to Allpress or Prufrock if caffeine is your mission).  I had a sizzling plate of ham and eggs, served in a cute little skillet with fantastic rustic bread and proper butter.  the cakes looked amazing but as I had already had a pain au chocolat earlier in the day and I'd just scoffed the aforementoined choc clementine I nobly abstained.  Next time I am definitely going for one of the brownies.  This is a really great place in a really great neighbourhood and I will most certainly be back.

Allpress Espresso - Redchurch St E2

I had a very nice meander around the Spitalfields/Shoreditch area today - kinda nice to go there when the market is not on and the tourist hordes are elsewhere (probably at Borough).  I had heard about Allpress Espresso and wanted to check it out so persuaded my friend Rob to accompany me on my caffeine mission.  Allpress originates from Kiwi-land and you can read their story here.  They have broadened their NZ/Aussie operations to include this outpost in Redchurch Street (the street on which the much missed Penny University used to be located - sniff).  It is a really cool space - housing their roastery as well as the cafe.  We had exceptional flat whites and I had a perfect pain au chocolat. I was enviously eyeing up the next door table's avocado and tomato on toast - that is definitely ear-marked for next time.  I really liked this place and will definitely be back.  It is amazing how widespread this coffee revolution has become, we are truly spoilt for choice in London.  Turn the clock back even 3 years and it was a very different story.  My Central London Coffee Survival Guide Map is getting crowded (I just wish there were more pins in south-west London).

Taste of Bitter Love - E2

Finally!  This was my third attempt to sample the coffee at Taste of Bitter Love and I finally succeeded.  Tucked away on an unlovely stretch of Hackney Road, just round the corner from Columbia Road, it is a good alternative to the scrum around Gwilym's coffee cart on market day.  The flat whites we had were impeccable and the place itself is cool, although really dinky so take away is the more likely option.  They had some tasty looking sandwiches but as we had just pigged out at Hawksmoor (more on that later) we couldn't cram in any more food just then.  I am jealous of East London - they have so many good coffee places, I feel a little caffeine-starved down south.  So any aspiring baristas out there - go SW, preferably Wandsworth!

Arnold Circus - E2

Whenever I am walking from Spitalfields to Columbia Road I try and cut through the back-streets and it was on one such journey a few years ago that I stumbled upon the lovely Arnold Circus.  Arnold Circus is a circular road in Shoreditch on which stands the Boundary Estate - which must be one of London's handsomest social housing schemes, built around 1900.  If only they kept building them like that...  In the middle of Arnold Circus is a wonderful park, with a mound (created from the rubble of the slum that the Boundary Estate replaced - how cool is that?) and a bandstand.  What is extra cool about this is that the locals have a really strong community spirit and formed The Friends of Arnold Circus in 2004 to make sure the park lived up to its potential as a public space and not just a junkie-hangout.  Boy did they succeed - take note Boris, take note Dave C, this is community and the "big society" working as it should.  All power to them and long live Arnold Circus.