Fleet St Dragon - EC4/WC2

I do love a good London dragon (look around people, they're everywhere!) and after the weather vane on St Mary-le-Bow in Cheapside, the  handsome specimen on a plinth in the middle of Fleet St is a favourite.  It stands at Temple Bar, the point where the City of London becomes the City of Westminster (hence the two postcodes) and also marks where Fleet St morphs into The Strand.  Handily it is also really close to Coffee by the Clock coffee cart so you can sip a primo flat white whilst gazing at this fine statue. 

Coffee by the Clock - Fleet St EC4

Alerted by my friend Gen that those lovely people behind Flat Cap and Notes Music & Coffee had started a coffee cart in Fleet St, I mounted a Boris bike and cycled eastward on my lunch hour to suss it out.  Situated in the picturesque courtyard of St Dunstan-in-the-West, just near the corner of Fleet St and Fetter Lane, Coffee by the Clock (so named because of the giant clock attached to the church) is run from a cute little red van.  Not sure if it was because of the chilly ride but my flat white tasted really amazing - it's not as if I am a stranger to expertly poured Square Mile coffee and steamed milk, but this one just really hit the spot.  As I sipped happily away I gazed on what is apparently the only known statue of Queen Elizabeth 1st - which originally adorned the old "Lud" gate on Ludgate Hill, then languished in storage in a pub basement and was finally mounted on the wall of St Dunstan's in 1839.  Quite a story - and a very

impressive statue of Good Queen Bess.  I did feel sorry for the friendly barista, shivering away but as she pointed out, when the weather improves, her job will be the envy of all her friends.  I love everything these guys do - Notes in particular - so I am delighted that they are bringing good coffee to the needy workers of Fleet Street.