Independent Coffee Review - London: Food Hall

Wednesday, 24 March 2010

Food Hall

374-378 Old Street, London, EC1V 9LT

Map – http://www.multimap.com/s/hOA2VxlY

Open - Mon - Fri 9-6, Sat-Sun 10-4

Type of Beans – Monmouth Espresso blend

Type of Machine – La Marzocco

Espresso 9/10 - After seeing the beans and machine my expectations were high and the espresso didn't dissapoint. It was their first coffee of the Sunday morning and the staff were looking like they thoroughly enjoyed Saturday night, but the quality was high. Rich and even taste, nice size and hot cup.

Latte 6.5/10 - Milk was pretty smooth, but it was too hot. I like it hot but it was cooked. (As soon as the milk is over heated the taste changes completely, which is why a lot of places serve their coffees warm)

Atmosphere and service 7.5/10 - Service was reasonable, but not very friendly. This place is half grocery store with lots of yummy treats, half cafe. There is seating in the back.

Overall 7.5/10 - Not recommended for coffee. A tough decision, but I can’t recommend a place that burns the milk. It’s a nice place for bakery items and small goods though.

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ABOUT THE REVIEW

My aim is to provide a useful guide to finding good coffee in London. I have kept the reviews short so they are easy to browse through, but with enough information to make an informed decision about where to go. The reviews are focused on the quality of the coffee itself, though there is a short section about atmosphere and service, because you can't enjoy your coffee without these aspects being reasonable.

Why only review espresso and latte?

By reviewing these two styles I hope to cover most ways people drink their coffee. The espresso (short black) review will give you a good indication of how all non-milk coffees will taste, americano (long black), ristretto, and of course double espresso. As "latte" means milk in Italian, I thought it was appropriate that it should cover all coffees with milk, including cappuccino and flat white. If your drink is a piccolo or short or long macchiato, or half latte, you should take note of both reviews.

Latte, cappuccino, flat white

Let me try and clarify the differences in these styles. Firstly, most good baristas steam milk exactly the same regardless of the style of coffee they are making. For that reason there is usually very little differentiating any milk coffee. Lattes are served in a glass, flat white in a cup, and cappuccino has a bit of chocolate on top or mixed in. Everything else (yes, including froth) is the same. The reason for this is that the barista will steam the milk so that the froth does not separate, and will pour straight from the milk jug into the cup. This creates a smooth creamy coffee with always the same level of froth. In my opinion, this produces the best tasting milk coffee.

Some cafes and baristas will differentiate further. The main differences being strength and amount of froth.

Lattes can be served weaker than flat whites and cappuccinos. Varying the strength of the coffee is either done by serving in different sized cups or glasses (more milk meaning weaker taste), or different amount of coffee in the cup. A flat white or cappuccino may be served with a longer shot of coffee. I don't agree with this as longer shots only lead to an over-extracted, bitter taste. All the goodness (and strength) of the coffee comes in the first 25-30 ml of the shot.

Milk can be steamed so that the froth is separated from the milk. This allows for your flat whites to be "flat" with very little froth on top, and cappuccinos to be heaped with froth.

Milk coffees can vary, but in my opinion the best cafes and baristas serve very similar tasting lattes, flat whites and cappuccinos. Which is the reason I have decided to review just one type.