Explore the city,
January 15 2024
London’s coffee scene is thriving. Baristas trained like professional chefs roast, grind and perfect brews across the capital. There’s a vast range of blends and plenty of froth and milk choices too. Add delicious food, creative events and stylish spaces and you’ve got an overwhelming choice of coffee shops in every corner of the capital. So whether you’re a coffee connoisseur, or you just fancy a brew somewhere special, use our guide to the best coffee places in Central London.
In a city with thousands of coffee shops, Rosslyn has built its reputation as one of London’s finest places to get a coffee-to-go. With three coffee shops in Central London, these stylish places don’t offer seating, but they all make truly exceptional coffees, and you can use their high counters by the windows to sip your cuppa and catch up on world events with their wall of news.
There’s well-made coffee roasted to match your drink, skilled and knowledgeable baristas serving with a smile and big windows to brighten your mood on the dreariest of days. Plus, Rosslyn has a strong eco philosophy, minimising landfill waste by getting coffee supplied in tins and fresh milk in reusable buckets. For a delicious cup-to-go, this is the best coffee in London.
Sometimes a coffee shop in London hides a secret. But Catalyst Cafe on Gray’s Inn Road has two up its sleeves. Not only does it roast and grind its own beans in the basement, producing incredible, small batch in-house coffee blends, but it also has an excellent Greek food menu. We recommend the merguez sandwich with shoestring fries if you’re hungry – the doorstep toastie is packed with lamb sausages, provolone cheese and egg. Yum. And yes, there are plenty of Greek coffee blends here too.
There’s window seating, a few stools at the brew station and a large communal table in the middle, so you don’t have to take your food and drink to go. It’s also open until 11pm on Fridays and hosts regular collaborations with chefs, DJs and artists to keep the creative and coffee juices flowing. This place really turns the typical London coffee shop experience into something special.
With branches in Fitzrovia, Chelsea, Richmond and Shoreditch, this ethical London coffee company is London’s first carbon negative coffee brand. Kiss the Hippo takes its sustainability credentials seriously, right down to its eco-friendly roaster at its flagship Richmond location. Oh, and the baristas keep winning the UK barista championships, so you can’t get a bad coffee here.
Cute coffee shops in Central London are everywhere, but Kiss the Hippo coffee shops have real kerb appeal too, with inviting window displays, cosy lighting and tempting coffee gifts on display. It’s a lovely place to hang out and chat over a coffee. Add the smell of freshly roasted coffee emanating from the doorway at Kiss the Hippo is hard to resist.
If you plan on starting your day with an excellent cup of coffee in Central London, we recommend you end your evening with an equally brilliant stay at one of our city centre Thistle Hotels. Thistle Holborn, Thistle Trafalgar Square and Thistle Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens are just three of our top options in great city centre locations.
