Coffee Island

Sat in the epicurean interzone between Seven Dials (heaven) and Leicester Square (hell), Coffee Island is the first London outpost of a Greek chain. It may appear generic as heck from the outside – dare I say it, as you might imagine a Greek coffee chain to look– but step into the lofty room and things improve from the off. Aesthetically, it’s still a tad uninspired (swathes of wood, a glass-fronted cabinet of workaday sandwiches and so on) but they’ve clearly done their homework where it counts. For a start, there’s a menu of single origin coffees (plus an espresso blend), available via a host of decent brew methods: your standard chemex, V60 and Aeropress (impressive to see in a chain, though standard barista kit), but also a tray of hot sand for making Turkish style coffee. Seriously. Staff are genial and well informed: I asked for a decent strong blend for a V60, and was handed a full-bodied, single-estate Brazilian Ametista. Very good it was too, with a carefully timed bloom and none of the ropey insipidness that pour-overs have a tendency towards. All the gear and plenty of ideas, it seems.