WillTravel

Go to the coffeeshop web sites and almost all of them will have locators. Enter your address and they will tell you the shops nearby.

SB_Travlr

Took a look at the Wolsley website - sounds great, I'll put it on my list for next visit.

Interesting to note that amonng their lunch/dinner offerings are lapin (rabbit, DH will be happy) and "steak hache a cheval" (I guess that's a bunless burgerish item made with horsemeat ;-))...

artlover

Good Luck!

CaliNurse

JMK38, you're lucky to be going now, and not the past. I still marvel that you can get a decent cup of coffee now, virtually everywhere, in UK. One advantage to joining the EU--improved cuisine and coffee. For years, it was instant only, or some dreadful burnt tasting stuff, so I stuck with fresh brewed tea with the leaves in the pot.
What joy to find great coffee on my first trip back , in 2002, and since, after two decades away. Now, there's great coffee, but alas, the days when a good pot of tea was served everwhere, even in the smallest out of the way cafe, often replaced with a teabag instead.
I found just about any stand had decent stuff. And yes, if it's all you can find and don't mind it, there are omnipresent Starbucks.
Have as great trip too one of THE great ciites in the world.

kmowatt

I'm also a fan of the Wolseley - I think they're pretty reasonably priced for London. I've tried the Monmouth Coffee Company after reading about it in Gourmet Magazine but found the coffee to be way too strong for me and the wait for it was also too long - they brew each cup individually!! I like stong coffee, but this was too much. So for me it's Starbucks.

I always drink my coffee at home with cream (what we call half and half) which is always out for use in any place that sells coffee - but whenever I'm in the UK at a Starbucks I never see cream for use, just 2 types of milk. I figured out that I have to ask the server to put pouring cream in my cup for me - is cream in your coffee not a usual habit? Lashings of cream on everything else, but please only milk in my coffee!!

jimmyk64

Actually, the most wonderful cup of coffee(in multiples)my wife and I have ever sampled was served to us in London. In our hotel.

BTilke

Re cream, yes, milk does seem to be the thing. I used half and half in the U.S. as well and when we lived in Beglium and Germany we got very used to the coffee creams they sell there. Nutroma (sp?), Baren, etc. I haven't been able to find them here, so we bought a couple of cases of them back with us from Belgium a few months ago. The bottles don't have to be fridged until you open them, so they're keeping nicely in our (unheated) garage.

Kate

Another endorsement for the Wolsley. Although we should warn newcomers that this isn't some cozy small cafe - it's an A list restaurant that also happens to do breakfast, coffee and afternoon tea as well. Booking in advance is recommended. It's in a beautiful building - it reminds me a bit of a large historic upscale Parisian Bistro or Viennese Patisserie - richly decorated with crispy linen tablecloths.

BTilke

Kate, I think we might have similar taste in restaurants...have you made it out to Hand & Flowers in Marlow yet? (FYI, we also had a great meal recently at the Marlow Bar & Grill.)

Have you eaten or had coffee at any of the Carluccio's? (hope I spelled it right). How are they? Are any of their branches particularly good or bad? I've read good reviews of their food and coffee but haven't tried them yet. There is one near the V & A museum that looks ok. They are also supposed to have some good Italian foodstuffs for purchase, like olive oil.

Kate

No I haven't yet. Would say it would be somewhere good to go for a weekend lunch? I often like to escape London at the weekends, drive out to Buckinghamshire and take a walk through the chilterns, so it would be nice to combine this with a good lunch. I don't know that you're a pub fan, but the Bull and Butcher, a historic pub in Turville, does a wonderful Sunday lunch, and has a nice garden for alfresco dining in the summer. Turville is great place to go to for a walk, it's the village where they film the Vicar of Dibley and Midsommer Murders, and is the location of the Windmill in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!
http://www.thebullandbutcher.com/

I quite like Carluccios for a casual lunch rather than a smart dinner. The food is simple and quite authentic (for a chain). The decor is very cafe-like and the food shop is fun, although I'm not so keen on their dry pastas. Last time I bought some, it came out all gloopy (not my fault, I assure you!). I only know the ones in Islington and opposite Smithfield Meat Market in Farringdon.

cmcfong

Near Sloane Square,is Baker and Spice at 54 Elizabeth Street, wonderful breads and pastries plus lovely salads and soup. They had very good coffee.
Not so near Sloane Square, The Cinnamon Bar just across the street from One Aldwych and InnthePark in St James Park.
By the way, if you are on Sloane St. I highly recommend the chocolates from L'Artisan du Chocolate, 89 Lower Sloan Street. They are gorgeous. Another treat is French Sole shoes (sold as London Sole shoes in Santa Monica). Cute little ballet flats with manageable price tags...unlike the rest of Sloane St. Haave a wonderful time.

PatrickLondon

From coffee to shoes... I wonder if there's still that shop in the King's Road - R. Soles? (There really was, I promise).

Nelson

When we were in Bath in 2003 we walked by a small advertising billboard for some coffee that had been "voted the 12th best coffee in England". That must mean there are at least eleven better coffees available!

I still rue that I did not take a photo of that sign.

BTilke

For Kate and anyone else interested in visiting Marlow, my favorite restaurant there, the Hand & Flowers (see posts above), just received a Michelin star Excellent food, attractive, stylish but simple decor, friendly staff...worth a visit if your travels take you up that way.