16/08/09
I can't possibly disown this place unless of course if $tarbucks decide to take it over.02/08/09
Discerning coffee lover on a Sunday
Gibraltar and PicolloYes, they're both for me
C&S are a good enough reason for me to relocate to the East End.What heaven!
12/07/09
Exceedingly brilliant flattie- Class A**
24/05/09
Flat White that tasted rushed. Not an ideal morning ( 24ºC !) to have one, but I'm a creature of habit.17/05/09
I've only recently noticed that a lot of dog owners frequent here. Personally I'm a miaow person.
Gibraltar at £1.80Reading about the progressive rise of the BNP, sad to say that the government and ourselves are to blame for their current standing; this generation of ours can't say no or stop to a lot of things in life, we abide by the code of politically correctness. Obvious case of serve you right!
Toasted carpet slipper sandwich of smoked chicken, cheese and salad sandwich£3.90 for this gorgeous elevenses snack
10/05/09
If you can find a better Flattie than this, first thing Sunday AM, do let me know!03/05/09
Beautiful morning overlooking the Grand Union Canal 
Long Macchiato: 50ml double espresso shot, built and stained with dense steamed milk (7.5oz glass)
Focaccia with chorizo, cheese and roasted pepper
£5.60 for the lot, Sunday AMs never had betterBTW, Climpson & Sons are one of my other top three in London for coffee, 'nuff said.
26/04/09
Flappers Maximus- Mmm...
L: Flat White: 25ml shot of espresso, topped with steamed milkR: Picollo: 18ml shot of espresso, topped with steamed milk
Let's just say if I've come all the way here, might as well go for the max amount of shots one can take first thing in the morning.
Coffee for the discerning, C&Sons are ace.
19/04/09
Sunday AM- no crowds yet
Zola and Flat White
Scrummy...
...and yummy!
Came all the way here just to wake myself up a bit more
Beautiful Sunday morning and the queue is growing.
Got myself a nice outdoor table
Very fresh Hot Cross Fun
Left- Gibraltar: 25ml shot of espresso, topped with steamed milk (5.6oz glass)Right- Zola: 18ml shot of espresso, with a dash of cold milk (3oz ceramic)
Both coffees were immensely wonderful, both 'A' grades; now you see why I spend more than an hour travelling just to come here!
Thankfully I came at the right time, this place was getting packed silly when I legged off!
Apologies if the photo is suggestive or otherwise, within the context it is simply Stevie Gerrard jumping for joy. Liverpool beat Man Utd 4-1, there is someone up there after all.
It was also good to have met James here this morning. Despite running his own excellent Dose, he champions the other coffee places in London as well- mega heroic!
Sunday morning prescription of the following:Flapjack- Yummy
Short Black- Absolutely world class, I believe it's Climpson's new espresso blend. Grade A
Flat White- Grade B, perhaps it was too rushed in the making.
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Hackney's answer to the Monmouth Coffee Company
I was nearly bogged down with the over consumption of coffee drinks yesterday. Right after my eel dinner at F.Cooke I popped over to nearby Climpson and Sons to check out their liquid caffeine.
Climpson was discovered via the links page from Dose's site. Like Monmouth Coffee Company, they are roast their own beans as well as running this superior café.
When I turned up it was packed with lunchers and Guardian (me Torygraph) readers. The café is run by some wonderful female staff, I believed they made this place so welcoming that it was like visiting a friend's place for a cuppa. 
I didn't have much time to try out the grub here but the Flat White was beautifully strong and ace. 
Climpson is a destination café, together with F.Cooke and Buen Ayre it constitutes the ultimate raison d'être for visiting Broadway Market.A mega recommendation.
67 Broadway Market
Hackney, London
E8 4PH
www.climpsonandsons.com
Dear Bellaphon,
ReplyDeleteI am enjoying reading your very engaging blog which my friend msmarmitelover directed me to... I also am in search of the perfect flat white ... and should I be surprised that so many cafes in London have never heard of such a way of preparing coffee... (I'm sure you are very familiar with the very blank look one receives upon requesting such a concoction) I don't know? It seems to be thing rarity, in this city anyway.
However, I don't know if you have ever drunk a 'galoa'? This is coffee, Portugese style, prepared with quite a lot of milk (but not overwhelmingly so as in the version of the Italian latte found in London) which pretty very nearly approximates a flat white.
There are a few Portuguese cafes in London, I don't know if you have every visited them. They are to be found around Portobello Road, W10 or Vauxhall, south London (don't know the post code I'm afraid, being a long-term ex-west London girl, now gone east).
And the Portugese cafe I most highly recommend in London is the Lisboa on Golbourne Road which sells delicious coffees, pastries and sandwiches – all at extremely reasonable (and I mean low) prices. Check out the link below for the
address, a map and some very basic comments:
http://www.tipped.co.uk/listings/10575/lisboa-patisserie
Best wishes, AHIH
AHIH, welcome to my blog and thanks for the insight. Galoa@Lisboa, here I come. Every time I'm at Portobello Road I head straight to Cafe Garcia (consistently indifferent service!), now I know where to head instead. ;)
ReplyDeleteGreat! I think you will like the place ... MsMarmiteLover knows it well too ...
ReplyDeleteI would be most interested to hear what a refined palate such as yours makes of it
AHIH
I ventured over to Hackney last Saturday to try Climpsons and was disappointed to get something that tasted like a starbucks cappucino! Had to recover with a Vietnamese iced coffee and then a good Dose to end the day. Maybe market day is not ideal?
ReplyDeleteHi GG, thanks for stopping. Pity as I've never had a bad cup of coffee here, try something like a Picollo next time you're here. It's more even-handed and consistent when it comes to being concocted. I would love to try the Vietnamese coffee stall soon, thank you for heads up.
ReplyDeleteI will go for the Piccolo - imagine it could be like the Gibraltar (and I'm addicted to the ones James makes at Dose). Yes, do try the Vietnamese stall. The coffee is top, and the banh mi are not bad considering they are pretty hard to find in London - they would be great if a little more generous with the filling as the bread/pate/veg ratio not quite there....
ReplyDeleteGG- Seriously, if the picc. still end up tasting like $bucks, then I best get on with reviewing the branches of the latter instead. It's difficult for me to go to Broadway Market on Sats. but I'm going to try my utmost in two weeks time. Speak to you soon :)
ReplyDelete