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

Eureka!

12/03/09

Lunch with Carrie (I'm not quite sure why she bothered turning up as she only eats seeds!)

Decent Latte

Incredibly fresh farmhouse white that came pre-buttered!

The steak and kidney casserole- so perfect, words desert me.

Desperate Dan would've been proud with the huge amount of cow in the bowl; Carrie dumped all her kidneys into my bowl! I'm beginning to wonder what the Irish Stew is going to taste like here!

Tremendous lunch and excellent value!

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If truth be told, this café is the next best thing to home cooked food, if not; better!

It gives me immense (or intense...might as well chuck that in as well) pleasure to scribble or even mutter about J+A Café.

I've never started a review with a sentence like that before unless a particular eating place blows me away, well quite simply J+A takes the absolute honour. I also have to be so very careful with the superlatives I use in this review otherwise I run the risk of OTT ebullience. J+A is pretty well hidden within Clerkenwell and the best way to reach it is by my now habitual bus ride of route 55.

There's a tiny door-sized passageway (not too unlike the one off Oxford Street to St Christopher's Place) leading to Sutton Lane that’s accessible from Clerkenwell Road. Sutton Lane (must be newish as I couldn’t find it in my A to Z) is one of those modern and beautifully regenerated courtyards that’s emerging in a part of London that’s fast becoming desirable to live and work in.

Barely six months old, J and A are the initials of the two wonderful Irish colleens who own and run the café. The dining room (or mini hall because of its high ceilings) is from a practical perspective, beautiful and purposeful.

The place was already buzzing with what I believed to be media or design pseuds (not surprising in this part of Londinium); as a result I had to settle down with my solo pair of glutæus maximus at the communal refectory table that’s located in the middle of the room. The only minor quibble I have with this table is the long benches; they resonate irritatingly when an incessant foot tapper or leg shaker is also one of the occupying sitters.

Food; everything on it cries out to be ordered; from homemade this to that, I was totally spoilt for choice when I perused the menu.

The Irish Stew was sold out (‘tis 2pm by now) so I plumped for what most people would do when they see it, STEAK.

Steak Sandwich- this came with onion, rocket, dijon, mayo and toms. Beautifully cooked and well-seasoned meat accompanied by the thickest cut and crustiest white bread imaginable- this is unadulterated sandwich porn heaven! As if the sarnie wasn’t enough on its own, crisps were thrown in as well; J+A cheers!

The mandatory Bellaphon test of cake binge. The Chocolate and Morello Cherry Sponge Cake was simply paradise found, it tasted retributively divine. This wondrous cake, and correct me if I’m wrong girls, was of the baked-in-house variety rather than out-sourced!

Lest I forget, the coffee courtesy of J Atkinson & Co in Lancaster was passable, I think a seven-minute stroll to Dose would prove a better bet to complete the meal.

I know it’s strange to draw comparisons, but I’m beginning to worry about The Modern Pantry, so very close, yet so much more expensive and hitting the nail; purveyor of one of the poorest service records in London. J+A is a marvel of a find, eureka! Highly recommended.




4 Sutton Lane
Clerkenwell
EC1M 5PU