Indie Coffee Cart - Church St NW8

INDIE COFFEE CART IS NO LONGER IN NW8 PUT PETER HAS OPENED A REALLY COOL CAFE IN BRICK LANE CALLED FULL STOP.

I love a coffee cart and so was keen to check out Indie Coffee, on the recommendation of my friend Rob who works around Edgware Road.  He had raved about how good this cart was and how it kept him sane during his full-on working week.  So on our trip to Alfies on the weekend, the other half and I sampled Indie's wares.  First impressions were that this must be the coolest looking coffee cart ever - part organ grinder, part Diagon Alley (did I just out myself as a Harry Potter fan...eek), this is a thing of a beauty, particularly wedged in the middle of the Church St market.  And the coffee?  Sensational (so much so that the other half had two in quick succession, on top of the two we had made ourselves that morning at home - caffeine overload).  Brewed with Square Mile beans and poured by an expert, this is top notch stuff.  So hooray for another entry on my Central London Coffee Survival Guide map and long live Indie Coffee.

Alfies Antique Market - Church St NW8

Ah Alfies - what a wonderful place.  I hadn't been there for years - in fact since I lived just round the corner near Sea Shells (London's "best fish & chips restaurant" - yeah right...*cough*...).  The first thing I noticed on the walk from Marylebone tube was that Lisson Grove had snazzed up a bit since I lived there.  The Church Street market was pretty unchanged (except for a great coffee cart...more to come on that) but there seemed to be more swish furniture/antiques stores than I remembered.  Alfie's was pretty unchanged - three floors of amazing vintage/antique/retro (take your pick) furniture, glassware, jewellery, paintings, homewares and general stuff.  I could seriously spend hours there - it's a treasure trove.  We bought a cool 60s stainless steel set with toast rack, teapot, milk jog, sugar bowl etc. all for £20 from a lovely fella on the 3rd floor who specialises in 50s and some 60s stuff, he also looks the part, quiff included.  I also bought an old 60s school book on ancient Britain (don't judge me - it is really interesting).  The only bum note and the one thing that did not live up to my memories of Alfies was the cafe - still has the very cool roof terrace but gone was the trippy piano player and the food and service was pretty dire.  I just love this place though - if you have never been, make it a priority this weekend, I guarantee you will not be disappointed.