Alison Head of Projects
Fancy somewhere a bit different for your next coffee or tea fix? Check out our cool cafés picks! Whether you’re meeting friends for coffee, your mum for tea or want an unusual choice for a first date, this quirky list will hit the spot. Pick your favourite from our cool cafés list, or why not visit them all?
1. Lady Dinah’s Cat Café
Image sourced from: TimeOut
As soon as we saw Lady Dinah’s, we knew it would be the first on our cool cafés list! This cat lover’s paradise in Shoreditch, London serves its tea and coffee with cats on the side… Don’t worry, we only mean that there are eleven beautiful feline friends in the café that may snuggle up beside you whilst you’re sipping your Earl Grey or you might simply hear their purrs as they brush against your legs as they weave their way through the tables!
Nip over to their website and fall in love with the rescue cats such as leader of the pack Mue, who is mummy to seven of the cats at this cool café, or how about cheeky little Loki, the youngest in the pack – and the most trouble (but in a lovely way). Lady Dinah’s is so popular it even has a fab range of cat themed products that you can buy online; we have to admit, we couldn’t resist the cat face socks!
2. The Afternoon Tea Bus Tour
Image sourced from: Justopenedlondon.com
Next on our cool cafés list is the perfect place for afternoon tea and a tour of London. Yes, you guessed it, it’s a café on a red top bus that combines tea, cakes, scones and sandwiches with a tour of London’s best sights, including The London Eye, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and Downing Street, to name a few – it’s the Afternoon Tea Bus Tour!
The bus looks great; the interior has been refurbished to a high standard with the original seating upholstered with new cream and burgundy leather seating and tablecloth laced tables topped with vintage bone china teapots and tea cups. And, of course, let’s not forget the delicious selection of cakes, cookies, pastries, tarts, quiches and sandwiches…
For more information on the Afternoon Tea Bus Tour, including times, price and route, visit their website. This would make a fabulous gift and children are welcome too.
3. Akamba
Image sourced from: villageonline.co.uk
Want a cool café that offers a little entertainment too? How about the Tribe restaurant/café, set within the Akamba Garden Centre in Solihull? You’ll feel like you are in the middle of a beautiful rainforest as you sip your Kenyan blend coffee and you can also sample the authentic Caribbean dishes including curried goat and jerk chicken. They also hold fun tribute shows such as Michael Jackson and Motown nights. Find out more on their website and enjoy a tropical experience when you visit!
4. The Legal Café
Image sourced from: thepumpkinhead.wordpress.com
Need a lawyer? The next time you’re looking for advice on issues including wills, commercial property, divorce or some other kind of legal advice, combine your legal meeting with a cappuccino at The Legal Café, London, where you can enjoy a bagel, sandwich or cake alongside a consultation with a fully qualified lawyer. Now that’s a cool idea!
5. The Attendant
Image sourced from: archiscene.net
Last but not least on our cool cafés list is, perhaps, the most unusual of all as it is actually a former Victorian toilet! Yes, you did hear us right, visit Attendant on the corner of Foley Street in London and you’ll be sipping your latte in the loo! A line of porcelain urinals are now a unique bench with seats and the original Victorian tiles still adorn the walls to make this a place to remember. In fact, our quirkiest cool cafés find is so good, it was runner up in the ‘Best Coffee Shop in London’ awards in 2013! The old Attendant’s office serves as the kitchen for the delectable dishes and the place is so spotlessly clean you can hardly believe what it used to be!
We hope you love our cool cafés collection as much as we do – we’re on a mission to visit them all and we’re taking our friends along for the experience.
