Sunday, February 26, 2006

Smell the coffee

We just got back from visiting Greenwich market.

It's a cold, windy but dry day here in London, with glimpses of wan sunshine. We parked Zuki in the normal place and wandered around pretty much aimlessly, like we normally do, the only pre-designated stop being at the Coffee Guy in the main market. I collected my usual 3 parcels of coffee, which he ground for me there & then.

We rifled through anything that took our fancy in Ottakar's, and a couple of small mom-and-pop style bookshops on the way to the bakery, where we picked up a crusty French loaf to accompany the potato & leek soup the missus is busy preparing downstairs even as I type this.
From the bakery, we ducked through a narrow walkway, past the nautical antiques shop and the map gallery, zipped across a busy stretch of road and with gleeful smiles, pushed open the doors to George of Greenwich. One of my new favourite coffee shops, leagues above Starfucks.

As per my previous, erm, comments about what comprises a decent coffee shop, I'm going to give G o G a bit of a review:

1) Baristas who can understand english: Good! The girls behind the counter seemed to have been hired for the ability to do the job, not just as window dressing. Though foreign, they understood my order and got it right, albeit after checking 3 times.

2) Clean premises: Good! Tiled floors, mirror clean table tops. No dust-bunnies anywhere. I still need to check the loos, but 10/10 so far.

3) They serve plain black coffee: Yes!

4) They are reasonably priced: Absolutely! £1.25 for a large cappucino or a large hot chocolate.

5) They're easy to get to: Yup. 15 minutes tops, unless Holly Housewife is performing a 33 point turn in her SUV on Lewisham high street again.

6) No one to you: We sat and had a nice long chat, people watched through the floor-to-ceiling windows, sipped our coffees and were never once hassled. Plate removal (we had to have a wee pastry to ward off the chill) was accomplished with an alarming degree of stealth.

7) Comfy chairs. Well, mostly. It depends what table you sit at. After 30 odd minutes on a relatively high chair with a low back I didn't have NumBum, so I reckon it's good.

On top of all that coffee goodness, they have a restaurant on the back/ side of the shop, and it looks like it could be really good. Slightly upmarket prices (£11-£15 for a main course) but before I say anything we're going to try them out and see if its worth it. Watch this space.

Now, if only they'd open a sister branch near the office!
Posted by Mark :: 14:03 :: 4 Comments:

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