Independent London Coffee

Glorious term break!  It's been a grueling half term in the lead up to exams.  I've been struck down by some hybrid monster flu that grounded me for nearly two weeks.  Back from the other side of hideous, I'm so happy to be able to leave my flat and walk around for twenty minutes without being exhausted.

Paul and I are off to Barcelona and Montpellier on Saturday so I'm trying to take advantage of the downtime to enjoy London.  The weather's sunny and it makes me a little bit more than grateful to be a denizen of this metropolis.  I've also decided to branch out and explore for today's blogging. Foyles and the crowd were getting me down.   Courtesy of TimeOut magazine and my local wanderings I'm writing live from two new coffee shops:

Stop 1: Fairly Square on Old Red Lion Street
I discovered this little fair-trade cafe off the 19 bus route a couple of weeks ago.  With its mismatched furniture, Joloff Rice and lentil soup filled menu, extensive wine list and friendly baristas, it's a reminder of DTUT in miniature.  I'll be back for drinks on one evening or another this week.

Stop 2: 193: Tap Coffee on Wardour Street 
A nondescript outside leads to a wooden-tabled enclave of bloggers, lunch breakers and deadbeats who buy one coffee and sit for hours (one of whom includes me).  The coffee's good, the sandwiches are large and the crowd is kind.  I'm sitting in the skylighted section and couldn't be happier.

This photo doesn't do the place justice but I don't want to be the creeper tourist I'm not by snapping a photo standing in the middle of the cafe.  They've got two other branches in Fitzrovia and Tottenham Court Road.  Definitely worth a visit.  

Regardless, in today's coffee shop hopping I've blogged various places forgotten in the last three years of my travels--Pompeii, The Vietnamese Sleeper Bus, Chicago.  More to come later in the week.  I may even venture to the hipsterville that has become Shoreditch.