This hip Scandi-inflected little spot (think washes of light birch wood, smatterings of cork and copper, a stone counter top, lofty ceilings and shelves of colourfully labelled craft beer) may seem like a beacon in the caffeine badlands of Gray’s Inn Road, but it’s actually only a few streets away from Prufrock. No small competition, but Catalyst has carved out a punchy little niche for itself. My flat white, brewed with Vagabond beans, was smooth and sweet, served palatably hot (they’re so often frustratingly tepid, and in the narrow world of coffee it’s these small details that lift a place from ‘meh’ to ‘YEAH’).
Food is famously good, with regular lunch specials and chef pop-ups. This isn’t a jack-of-all-trades situation though. Coffee is very much the focus: there’s a roaster in the basement, visible through a glass floor, and they sell hip barista gadgets – Aeropresses, brew pots and the like. Sterling stuff all round.