Kerb crawling – looking for a cafe on a Saturday morning

Posted by 5M Coffee Admin

March 21, 2009

This morning my wife and I fancied breakfast at a cafe, and in the part of London we chose to visit we struggled to find a decent cafe that was open or served a decent coffee.

The area that we targetted has a number of chains but we wanted to try an independent.

We drove through 3 suburbs before settling on an area that had a few appealing cafes (based on signage and visibility whilst kerb crawling)

After finding a park we made our way to 3 that we had earmarked.

The first cafe we came to was a non-starter. Appealing from the road, this was no more than a greasy spoon with nice signage, so we did not venture inside.

The second cafe we came too showed promise but the menu was dire. Dripping in fat or covered in pastry there were few menu items that would constitute a cafe breakfast as we are accustomed to. Poorly lit and the coffee machine was not clean. An X in the box for this cafe.

Passing by a respectable chain cafe (that in hindsight we should have gone to) we settled on a less popular chain that looked to serve a decent coffee (based on an experience in another of of this company’s locations).

We ordered, and the food did not diappoint, but there was a limited breakfast selection with not a bowl of muesli or piece of fruit in sight. However, the coffee was just not up to standard. The lattes were served in a glass, European style but was weak and the milk overstretched. My wifes cappuccino was drinkable but nowhere near the quality we have been exposed to in other parts of London. We will not be in a rush to go back and certainly would not recommend this cafe.

There is a serious coffee void in this part of town and I aim to address this. With a few calls to be made to the cafe owners I am sure that with a little persuasion these cafes can turn themselves into a place that people will want to go to on a Saturday morning and can serve decent coffee.

The first data gathering exercise will involve finding out who the wholebean suppliers are as this may be the root of the problem (where coffee quality is concerned)

The lack of training can be overcome, but will the mindest of the owners be able to be changed?

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