food, reviews and of course coffee
One of the reasons I like coffee from Caffe Nero is that the experience across the different branches is consistent.
It isn’t necessarily the best coffee you can buy, but I like the coffee. It also helps that I have a regular Three offer a £1 coffee deal.
In Bristol in the Clifton Triangle is a branch of Caffe Nero which is deceptively larger on the inside than it looks on the inside.
I had a flat white, which was really nice.
I kind of guess I am getting to be a bit of a flat white aficionado as it is my coffee of choice when I am drinking coffee out and about. At home I usually have an espresso or a lungo.
My first experience of the flat white was out in New Zealand in 2009, and I really liked it, a more intense coffee experience than the cappuccino I was use to, and much nicer than an americano.
I had some time to kill at @Worle, a local gym in Weston-super-Mare. So I ordered a flat white. What I did like, was they let me take a seat and they would bring it over to me. I really like it when coffee places do that, much more civilised than waiting around for your name to be called. I once lost a coffee like that, so much so, that I rarely use my name, James, when asked for my name in a coffee place. Too many people called James who drink coffee, who would believe that.
My coffee arrived and it looked great. It was also an excellent coffee. Sometimes I worry about coffee places in places which aren’t coffee places, such as gyms. However this place knew how to make coffee and the coffee itself was expertly roasted as well, good strong flavours. I was impressed and enjoyed the coffee.
When working in our London office, there is quite a choice of places around Fetter Lane for lunch. One of my regular haunts is Coco di Mama, one of a chain of pasta and coffee places across the capital. Their mainstay for lunch is the pasta pot, however they also have a nice selection of salads. On a recent visit to London I went out at lunchtime for some food, it was raining, so I only got as far as Coco di Mama. I picked up a steak salad and a flat white. I hadn’t seen this salad offering before, so was intrigued to try it out.
It was a tasty salad, the steak was nice and tender, and there was a good ratio of protein to salad. I also liked the dressing. Good choice I think.
Oh, I also enjoyed my flat white.
I was heading to a meeting in Central London and misjudged the time it would take, so I had forty minutes before I needed to be in the room. So I decided I would go for a coffee. I had anticipated visiting a Caffe Nero or similar, but did quite like the look of The Route on the Strand. I went in, and ordered a flat white and took a seat.
It’s not a huge place, there are four seats inside and four on the street. If it was busy you would probably have to make do with a takeaway cup.
This was a lovely looking coffee, made with care. It also tasted great as well.
I was staying at the Moxy Edinburgh Fountainbridge and wanted a coffee. The room only had instant, and as I also felt like a walk, I decided to venture out into Edinburgh to see what was available (and what was open).
I found La Viola Cafe & Bistro and went in. Placed my order, I had a flat white, I took a seat and my coffee was brought to my table. I like it when that happens.
It wasn’t long before my coffee arrived, it was really nice.
Lovely place for a coffee and very different to the chains I usually find myself in.
I went for a walk around Clevedon and decided to stop for coffee. I found a branch of Coffee #1 which was open, so popped in. The place was similar to other branches of Coffee #1 with lots of wooden furniture and Tintin artwork on the walls.
Wasn’t too busy and I ordered a skinny flat white. Once the drink was made I took a seat.
This was a delicious coffee, really nice flavour and well made.
I enjoyed sitting at my table looking out the window with the sun shining in.
Popped to Caffe Nero on Farringdon Road for a coffee. I had a skinny flat white. It was well made (even if there was no coffee art). It was a bustling cafe, but didn’t feel busy. A place I may visit again.
As my phone contract is with Three, they have an app, Three+, that provides rewards and money off. One of their weekly offers is get a drink from Caffè Nero for £1.
I try and use it most weeks, but sometimes either I am not in the mood for a coffee, sometimes I am nowhere near a Caffè Nero (like when I am at the motorway services) or as happened recently at Paddington, there was a really long queue and I don’t want to miss my train.
I have visited the Caffè Nero on Corn Street in Bristol a fair few times and have had some great coffee.
This was the flat white I got on my most recent visit there.
This wasn’t the best looking flat white I’ve had from Caffè Nero. However it was a really nice coffee.
No this is not a play on using the @ symbol, one of the local gyms in Weston is called @Worle. I took one of my children there for a gym induction and had some time to kill, so decided to have a coffee in their cafe.
Sometimes in leisure centres and gyms, the coffee can be, well let’s say just depressing.
I did not have high expectations. However what I got I liked. It looked great. It also tasted great, it was a really good flat white.
According to Wikipedia this is what is the accepted definition of a flat white coffee.
According to a survey of industry commentators, a flat white has a thin layer of microfoam (hence the ‘flat’ in flat white), as opposed to the significantly thicker layer of foam in a traditional cappuccino.
There is some dispute about the origin or creator of the flat white. However there is also a lot of dispute across the various places I visit about the best way to make a flat white.
I was over in Woodbridge in East Anglia, looking for a place for a coffee, and to crack on with some work. I went to Coffeelink in the new(ish) redevelopment on the riverside. It was a typical modern coffee place, similar to places I have been to in Portishead and Whapping Wharf in Bristol.
I ordered my coffee and took a seat. A little later my coffee arrived.
It was an interesting looking flat white, I felt it had a little too much foam. Despite that it was a nice coffee, which I enjoyed.