Milk Bar (coffee shop) – London, England (8/10)
Sep 20th, 2008 by admin
Flat White on Berwick Street, Soho, is an Antipodean coffee shop that serves flat white (flat white – noun /Austral. flaat whyette/ /NZ flet wyte/ 1 An antipodean style coffee which is served as a strong shot of espresso served in a small cup with textured milk; a damn good strong coffee. 2 51.51 (51°30′) | -0.13 (0°8′) – courtesy of Flat White’s website). It’s been around a few years and is always busy. Sibling Milk Bar opened a couple of months ago on Bateman Street, in the same location as another coffee shop, whose name escapes me. As it’s literally a minute away from my office, my friend and I decided to go there for lunch.
The interior is dark and moody (like its predecessor), but it’s smarter (as in less grungy), and the walls are covered with photos that, if memory serves me correctly, are for sale. The service is friendly and laid-back. You order and pay at the counter, then the food and drink is brought to your table.
I stopped drinking coffee many years ago, but recently started drinking lattes again, albeit decaf. Between us, we ordered a decaf latte, a double espresso, smoked chicken salad, bacon and halloumi bagel, black coffee, hot chocolate and a pecan and cranberry slice (which came to just over £20 without tip). Next time, I’ll have to get someone to test the flat white on my behalf.
My latte tasted really strong, even though it was decaf, but was lovely. Coffee drinker friend was also impressed with his two choices. The hot chocolate came with mini marshmallows on the side for extra sweetness. Mmmm! The smoked chicken salad was a good sized portion, with onion, orange, tomato, leaves and a home-made vinaigrette dressing. It tasted like a salad you would drum up at home, with fresh ingredients. The vinaigrette accompanying the bacon and halloumi bagel had a touch of brown sauce too, which my friend loved (9/10 for the bagel apparently!). Finally, the pecan and cranberry slice, not too sweet, was huge and half was more than enough to round up lunch.
It was all pretty impressive, and much better than the last place. I left Milk Bar buzzing from my decaf latte! Best of all, and I shouldn’t really be revealing this, it wasn’t at all busy at lunchtime. A great place to chill out in bustling Soho, Milk Bar will be my future sanctuary from work. I’ll be back…
10 – Perfection, 9.5 – Sensational, 9 – Outstanding, 8.5 – Superb,
8 – Excellent, 7.5 – Very Good, 7 - Good, 6.5 - Above Average, 6 – Average
All the London restaurant reviews on World Foodie Guide
Contact details:
Milk Bar
3 Bateman Street
London W1D 4AG
Tel: 020 7287 4796
Flat White
17 Berwick Street
London W1F 0PT
Tel: 020 7734 0370
www.flat-white.co.uk
Helen Yuet Ling Pang @ World Foodie Guide
Flat White is a funky little place, and (I should not be saying this), although it is Australian/NZ, the coffee is not as good as you would expect from its reputation. I guess for London, where there are few good coffee places, it is not bad, but there are a few that are better. Glad that you have found Milk Bar – I would be interested to hear how the coffee compares.
Sounds great. Why couldn’t I find places like this when I lived in London? I kept getting bad coffee that always had milk even though I wanted it black. Of course I was a poor college student who couldn’t afford to spend 20 on a meal and coffee back then. Maybe next time I visit I’ll have more money to spend.
Ganga VegeYum – it’s going to be hard for me to compare the coffee at the two places, as I’m only a decaf drinker, but I’ll take the same coffee drinker friend with me to Flat White next time!
Chinamatt – I think when you were here in London as a student, there just weren’t that many great places! I mean, there were places I always used to go to for cheap, good value food and drink, but there’s just a lot more choice these days. I used to eat at the Japan Centre a lot back then (£3-4 for a huge lunch!)
Helen Yuet Ling
I love flat white! it is a little bit of NZ in the heart of London, i have been hearing about this milk bar place and have walked past a fair few times now, will have to go and check it out one of these days.
Louis – I should walk over to Flat White one day, it is only 5 minutes away. I’m too lazy sometimes to leave my office. Let me know what you think of Milk Bar!
Helen Yuet Ling
The previous place on 3 Bateman Street was called The Blue Room:
http://www.bview.co.uk/listing/2196361/The-Blue-Room-in-W1D
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/london/D51521.html
Foo – thanks for that! That was it…
I went for lunch today with a friend from work.
We found a table at 1.15 which is amazing as it is generally impossible to find a decent table at lunchtime in Soho.
The vibe is relaxed easy going conversation with a mixed crowd of Soho workers.
My friend ordered a smoked chicken salad and a flat white which she declared fabulous. I ordered a bacon, feta, and potato salad which was delicious.
The bill was £13.00 for two which is good value for this high quality of food and service.
George – I was also impressed that tables were available at lunchtime (it won’t be a secret anymore now!). Glad to hear you liked it and that it was good value. Thank you for reminding me to go back soon!
Helen Yuet Ling
I have to say I was unimpressed with my coffee at Milk Bar. The milk was burnt leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. The venue was jammed ot the rafters so it didn’t make for a very relaxing visit.
Lantana produces much better food and coffee.
I also think Sacred coffe shop (Carnaby Street) is overpriced and over-rated!
chris – well, I’m not a coffee drinker anymore, so I can only comment on the hot chocolate with mini marshmallows that I drink when I go there. Lantana is pretty good overall, I agree with you…
Helen Yuet Ling