Marylebone, Sandwiches, Cakes, Etc Restaurant Guide

The food at the quartet of London cafés supplied by Lady Bamford’s organic farm in the Cotswolds suffered a mauling from some reporters this year. The Daylesford brand does have some “huge fans”, who praise its venues as “very pleasant for a good-quality snack”. But critics – citing “long waits”, “clueless staff” and “poor-quality, ropey ingredients” – feel they “may be a place to be seen but are overpriced and uninteresting”.

2021 Review: “Perfect coffee every time” keeps caffeine fiends crawling back to this small and serious chain. “Baking from Fortitude Bakehouse is a good complement”.

2019 Review: A small group of “appealing no-frills cafés with a rustic feel” in sought-after locations, including South Kensington and Somerset House. Already “stalwarts” on the London scene, they are “intimate” places providing “simple tapas with the best ingredients”, plus “coffee or a glass of interesting wine”; and there’s “no music, which aids conversation”.

“The coffee is the best!”, according to fans of this “zen” Scandi-style café in Fitzrovia, from an ambitious ethical importer and roastery that has won a clutch of barista awards in the five years since it was founded (including Top Coffee House at the Harden’s London Restaurant Awards 2021). The shop offers “light snacks such as cinnamon rolls and cakes” – and “everything is good, not just the coffee”. Their original venture, in Richmond, moved into a new address in summer 2022, and they also have kiosks in Shoreditch, King’s Cross and Sloane Square.

“They go the extra mile” at this Antipodean-style outfit whose “excellent” brews, including “the perfect espresso”, ensure that is “always packed”. Its two “convenient” sites in Fitzrovia make “a great escape not far from the Oxford Street chain experience”, and they serve “decent food (especially by coffee shop standards)”.

‘Fighting for diversity in the workplace, one coffee at a time…’ – Bianca Tavella’s December 2021 newcomer is a café on one of Mayfair’s more fashionable shopping streets that aims to address the UK’s current 94% unemployment levels for young people with learning disabilities. Amen to that. And it delivers great vibes. But it’s being forced to leave its current premises in January 2023, due to the South Molton Regeneration triangle: wishing them a successful crowdfund appeal for a new site!

A new informal dining space within Claridge's, serving up toasties, crepes and cakes in a new, free, art gallery space designed by John Pawson.