Some of these cafés we have been going to for years. Long before Matelo existed. We found them during lunch breaks when the office needed escaping, or on weekend mornings when inspiration had to come from somewhere other than the house. We have sat in them to brainstorm what was next, to meet friends and creatives from the art world, to have the kind of conversation that does not happen in front of a screen.
Since we started building Matelo, these places have taken on a different rhythm. Early mornings before the day begins. After work when the thinking needs to continue but the caffeine does not, they still sell coffee after all, not mate, so after 4pm it has to be decaf. Saturdays when the week's ideas need air.
We are not a café guide and this is not a comprehensive list. It is just the places we keep coming back to, in the part of London where we spend a lot of our time. If you find yourself in any of them, you will understand why.
Nagare Coffee, Soho
Newburgh Street, just off Carnaby. Named after the Japanese word for flow.
The name alone should tell you something. Nagare is not trying to be anything other than what it is, a carefully considered space where the coffee is excellent and the atmosphere does the work. Microcement walls, reclaimed timber floors, a quiet back room with leather armchairs that functions as an unofficial reading nook, and a large conservatory table at the back that was made for slow afternoons and unhurried conversations.
The ceramics on the shelves are available to buy. The matcha is exceptional. The flat white is one of the better ones in the area. It is the kind of café that imparts its own calm onto whoever walks in, which is exactly what we want from the places we choose to spend our time.
Hideaway Coffee House, Soho
7 Farrier's Passage, off Brewer Street. You have to know it is there.
Tucked into a courtyard behind an unmarked passage, Hideaway is the kind of place that feels like a reward for paying attention. There is a small indoor space and a courtyard outside, and on a good afternoon the courtyard is everything. Coffee comes from Origin. The regulars are creative professionals from the nearby studios and offices who have found it and kept it to themselves.
We like it for exactly that reason. Some places are worth protecting.
Algerian Coffee Stores, Soho — Honourable Mention
Old Compton Street, since 1887.
We are not putting this on the list as somewhere to sit and work. You cannot! It is a counter and a shop and it has been that way since before anyone alive was born. We are putting it on the list because they sell mate. Bags of it, from the shelves, alongside the 80 or so varieties of coffee they stock. It is where we go when we need loose leaf and we want to browse while we are there.
If you have never been, go. Not for the mate specifically but because it is one of the last places in London that has existed long enough to stop caring about trends.
Omotesando Koffee, Fitzrovia
Newman Street. Tokyo origin, London address.
Quiet in the way that only truly considered spaces are quiet. The design is minimal and the preparation is meticulous and the result is a coffee experience that asks you to slow down whether you intend to or not. It is named after the neighbourhood in Tokyo where it first opened and it carries that sensibility with it, a certain seriousness about the craft that never tips into pretension.
We go here when we need to think clearly and the house is not doing it.
Workshop Coffee, Fitzrovia and Marylebone
Two locations, one entry. Because they are essentially the same room in spirit.
Single origin filter, direct sourcing, minimalist interiors, baristas who know what they are doing. Workshop is not trying to impress you with its concept. It is trying to make you a very good cup of coffee in a room that does not get in the way. Both locations are work-friendly without advertising the fact. You arrive, you order, you sit, you get on with it.
The Fitzrovia location is our preference but we would not argue with Marylebone.
Comptoir Café and Wine, Mayfair
Weighhouse Street. Founded by Master Sommelier Xavier Rousset.
This one is different from the others. It is a café in the morning and a wine bar by night, which means it occupies the whole day in a way that most places do not. The wine shop in the basement stocks over 500 bottles, all of which can be opened on the premises. The food is small plates and charcuterie and very good cheese.
We come here in the afternoons when the thinking has been done and the conversation can take over. It is one of the few places in London where the transition from work to not-work feels completely natural. The decaf is good too, for those of us who are still watching the caffeine.
Monocle Café, Marylebone
Chiltern Street. You know what Monocle is. This is their café.
Considered and design-led in exactly the way you would expect from a magazine that has spent twenty years telling people how to pay attention to the things around them. The coffee is good, the space is calm, and the clientele tends toward the kind of person who has opinions about typography and knows where their coffee comes from.
We feel at home here. That probably tells you something about us. It definitely tells you something about the café.
These are our cafés for now. The list changes as the city does. If you have one we should know about, tell us.
Wondering with a Maté is Matelo's series on the places that inspire us. Explored with a can of Matelo. Matelo. Steeped in Culture.