When someone says, ‘Come back to my place’, you don’t expect to see mud tiles on the ceiling – especially in Soho. But that’s just one of many quirky features in this charmingly eccentric coffee shop. What’s more, its decorative brass wall panels, heavy latticed doors and copper-topped tables make a refreshing change from the pared-back, #iwokeuplikethis decor of many cookie-cutter coffee shops in London.
The café is open from morning coffee and pastries (make a beeline for the vanilla-scented cannoli) all the way through to post-theatre nightcaps. Its menu is long and varied, spanning soups, salads, sandwiches, pasta specials and charcuterie and cheese platters. Everything we tried was perfectly good without being pinch-me-I-must-be-dreaming great. What tips the balance for this place is the warm welcome extended to customers by genuinely friendly staff; clichéd as it sounds, we were made to feel right at home.
Our apple, carrot and ginger soup had astutely balanced flavours; a chicken and pesto sandwich featured a good ratio of tender meat to airy, lightly toasted ciabatta; while a generous portion of nicely burnished homemade lasagne came with a carefully prepared side salad. Best of all was a small platter of headily smoked Corsican coppa.
We could have bedded in for the afternoon with a couple of coffees and a cannoli – and no doubt Soho’s office-less contingent will be doing so soon. We think you’ll dig the mud too, and will want to come back.