Friday 20 February 2009

Wild & Wood Coffee

22/05/09
Perfectly decent tarts

Bożena's perfect pick-me-up

08/05/09
Enticement guaranteed

As expected

A subliminal treacle tart- yummus maximus

01/05/09
Ace Flat White

24/04/09
Long Bench Black
Flat White made by Kit- Excellent
The said Long Black- most definitive and all.
17/04/09
This part of Bloomsbury is starved of beauty except maybe St. George's
Fabulous Friday Flattie
Croissant- neat without lubes and conserves, that's how I like it.
10/04/09
New Oxford Street- entirely loveless, but livened up no less by W&W
Good Friday breakfast dilemma
Lemon and Poppy Seed Cake
Cheers!

03/04/09
Nice innit!
Couldn't say no!
First thing in the morning and rather good it was. Thanks Bożena
Banana and walnut heaven with chococlate chips thrown in.
Bożena's hearty 'A' flattie- excellent!

27/03/09
I'm going to ritualize my Friday mornings at W&W with immediate effect...

The halfway house Rosetta that is fast becoming W&W's signature. Grade A

Croissant- full blown butter fix for the morning

Needed this to perk myself more. I'm ready for work now.

20/03/09
Flat White made by Bożena- the drinking aspect of it is Grade A

I was eyeing indecisively at the lovely display of food when Bożena suggested that I go for the last slice of the carrot cake (she swore by it). Yes it was indeed scrumptious, it was moist and packed full of flavour. A carrot cake that sets the standard. Supplied via Clarke's.

Concluding with a Long Black - another 'A' cup.


05/03/09

Came here straight after Bea's, what a difference; an incredible cup of Cappuccino!

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W W W
Wondrous Wild & Wood


Here we go again, coffee connoisseurs, brace yourself for yet another café for the must list. Wild & Wood Coffee; you read it here first! WWC was discovered by accident, from a bus of all places. It was the trip back from J+A Café on board the number 55 that I noticed ‘We serve Monmouth coffee’ plus ‘We use only Organic Jersey Milk’ written on a blackboard outside WWC. The self elected Coffee Crusader that’s yours ever simply couldn’t resist but try the place out for the sake of all discerning caffeine appreciating Londoners.

The location of New Oxford Street is in itself a strangely ambiguous part of London. Its close proximity to the Centre Point Tower doesn’t exactly spell out prestige emplacement and the other landmark of the British Museum that’s surrounded by tourist trap caffs that purport to serve the best of British food is equally discouraging. Thank goodness, WWC doesn’t serve Fish and Chips or the dodgy cuppa! My first step in was immediately clear-cut, this was pure comfort zone I’ve just wandered into.

There’s a certain Ye Olde English charm about the inside; an assumption that was rightly confirmed by the owner that the furniture was made from reclaimed wood courtesy of an old church.



This wonderful detail is further found in another tiny extension to one side of the main room that’s known as The Nook. The Nook with its wooden cubicles (similar to the Monmouth Coffee Co arrangement in Covent Garden) seat up to six peeps in a relatively confined but perfectly cosy space. Just before one starts to arrive at certain conclusions, there is no Mr Wild or Ms Wood, the name was derived from a deconstructed road name of where the owners live.


The two ladies who were manning the café when I showed up were wonderfully friendly and welcoming. As WWC is remarkably young at less than three months old, impatient grumbleweeds who lack the patience to wait for their coffee should reek off elsewhere; a good cup of coffee takes time and even more so when a new place like WWC is still perfecting the trade.

My flat white at £1.90 (cheap for Zone 1!) was a textbook effort, although devoid of a perfect rosetta, the wonderfully thick foam befits the aromatic coffee. Excellent!

Woah- this was outstanding. I was told it was frittata, but I’m not convinced; as far as I’m concerned frittata is an Italian omelette.

Whatever it was, this tomato, cheese and basil thing is worth trying should you venture here.

I’m most definitely coming back here, great ambience and brill service coupled with of course good food and coffee, I would be silly if I didn’t. So see you there anon. Highly recommended.


NB Surprisingly there’s no antipodean tie-up here at WWC, just goes to show that the Brits can make a decent Flat White as well, hooray! (I must also add that
Bożena, a Polish revelation, is also a partner at W&W- she's a dudette 20/03/09)



1 New Oxford Street

Unit 19
London WC1A 1BA

14 comments:

Eva said...

I discovered this place in exactly the same way -- from the bus! I googled and googled, but all in vain (incidentally, a lot of porn is called Wild & Wood...). Now there will be something to find!

I adore this postage stamp of a café. Plus it's right around the corner from school. Sweet!

bellaphon said...

Eva- It would be great to see how you fare, otherwise I might be accused of being vague with my usual positive write-ups.

Unknown said...

I came across this little cafe today. I thought the name was "Wind & Wood" to be honest, but guess that's just the fault of my failing and ageing eyes!

I, too, was drawn in by the Monmouth coffee sign, but, once inside, I was just fascinated by all of the wooden furniture and walls. Just wonderful.

I also tried Bea's of Bloomsbury earlier this week. That place is adorable, and serves some mighty good coffee. They use Square Mile Roasters coffee.

bellaphon said...

LMR- What pleasure to have you on board! Bea's on my list and thanks for the tip ;)

Unknown said...

When you're at Bea's, check out their famous La Marzocco coffee machine. It commands respect. Seriously. It's just so big and majestic.

On another note, I just blogged about my visit to Wild & Wood Coffee and linked to this post. I hope you don't mind! I didn't have my camera on me and your photos are very nice and clear.

Thanks in advance. :)

bellaphon said...

LMR- Be my guest. I go gaga over things like Marzocco!

Your blog...I'm still reading it...it's random...your music tastes (Radiohead is akin to a Man Utd supporter!)...I tink I like it...

Unknown said...

Heh. Thanks! :)

I heart cupcakes said...

Thanks for the tip on this place - I popped in for a coffee today (no cake I'm being good after a week stuffing myself in NY!) and it was really good! I love the decor (I sat in a cute little alcove bit). Next time I shall definitely have something sweet..just to check how good they are of course!
I must go check out some of your other coffee suggestions - seem to be a lot in Hackney so I shall have to plan the journey soon!

bellaphon said...

IHC- You're welcome. Let us know how you get on in Hackney. (Those lucky East Enders!)

Siri said...

I just wanted to thank you for your very useful reviews of London coffee shops! I'm Norwegian, an ex-barista and struggling terribly to find good coffee in England... Unfortunately I live in Cambridge and so am unable to visit all the lovely places you feature on this blog, but I'm planning a dedicated coffee trip to London very soon, and have a number of your favourites on my list. So thank you!
Siri :)

bellaphon said...

Siri-

Cheers and likewise. I'm glad that my blog is useful to good peeps outside the M25. Oh don't forget the cakes as well! ;P

tanglang said...

I went to Wild and Wood yesterday. The service was so appalling that I decided to complain – I was immediately told to pay and get out repeatedly in an extremely threatening manner. When I asked to see the manager, unfortunately it emerged this awful individual was the manager, and so there was little I could do.

I turned to my friend and vocalized my feelings about the manager, at which point he grabbed me, put his HANDS ON MY THROAT and physically threw me out of the shop.

As I was waiting for the police to arrive, the waitress and the manager both came out to continue threatening me. While the manager told me it was going to get personal, the waitress made the irrelevant comments that 1) Wild and Wood is not Starbucks, and 2) they have the right not to serve me. My issue was of course with the physical assault.

The police asked if I wished to prosecute, and I decided against it as I am very busy. I would just urge customers to avoid this cafe if you value service or your physical well-being.

Anonymous said...

Hi Anonymous (not brave enough to publish your name). I didn't have a favourite seat as I have only been there once. As you are clearly the manager who assaulted me, I'll say this - "irresponsible" means "not showing a proper sense of responsibility". One such example would be allowing your own insecurities regarding your masculinity to allow you to assault a stranger for no reason. Sadly, actions have consequences, and while the incident occurred over a year ago, I have recovered from the assault and am now taking you down (legally).

Anonymous said...

I have been to Wild and Wood Cafe twice both times travelling about 45 minutes from home with a friend to get the trendy "cronut." They get their cronuts from another bakeshop at around noon so it's easy to get a cronut without having to wake up at the crack of dawn before the sellout of many other shops. Let me start out by saying their cronuts are the only item in the store even worth possibly trying. Then let me continue with telling you about their customer service. Clearly the manager or owner with the goatee (others have talked about him also) does not care in the slightest about his customers. He openly complained about me and a friend sitting down to a table and "taking up space in the cafe." He yelled in front of us that it's ridiculous that we only shared one cronut (which, by the way, was 4.60 pounds, while others next to us were spending the same amount on one cup of coffee each). After telling him that we would leave in 5 minutes, and that I have been there multiple times, he told me never to come back. My friend and I were quiet, sat at a small table in the very corner of the cafe, and there were 3 other open tables the entire time we were sitting (NON OF WHICH SHOULD MATTER IF WE ARE SPENDING 5 POUNDS). This man was beyond offensive and rude and I will definitely not be going back.

This cafe is also in a terrible location with construction surrounding it and a terrible view.