Where to sit, sip and slow down in London.
Coffee shops, bakeries with seats and the places London lingers in over a cortado.
Peter Dore-Smith's Australian-style coffee bar on Great Titchfield Street in Fitzrovia London, opened 2009, runs Square Mile beans and a serious daytime food menu.
Signature drink: Square Mile filter coffee
Tip: The two-floor Eastcastle Street sibling around the corner is the quieter remote-work bet.
The TY (Timberyard) Seven Dials cafe in central London, opened 2011 on Upper St Martin's Lane, runs a third-wave coffee menu and an all-day kitchen above Seven Dials.
Signature drink: Filter coffee
Tip: Upstairs has plug sockets and quieter tables for laptop work; downstairs is the espresso-bar half.
Tap Coffee's Rathbone Place espresso bar in Fitzrovia London, opened 2011, runs a serious filter and espresso menu using Has Bean and other small-batch UK roasters.
Signature drink: Flat white
Tip: The standing counter at the front is the fastest morning queue. Closes at 17:00 weekdays and 16:00 weekends.
Caravan's flagship cafe inside the Granary Building in King's Cross London, opened 2012, runs an in-house coffee roastery and an all-day eclectic Antipodean menu.
Signature drink: Caravan blend espresso
Tip: Plug sockets along the canal-side window seats. Brunch runs to 16:00; dinner from 17:30 on weekdays.
Bill Granger's Australian breakfast room on Westbourne Grove in Notting Hill London, opened 2011, runs ricotta hotcakes and an all-day brunch menu with serious flat white.
Signature drink: Workshop coffee
Tip: No bookings. The 09:00 queue runs 30 minutes on Saturdays; weekday breakfast walks in by 08:00.
The 1890s Victorian public toilet beneath Foley Street in Fitzrovia London, converted in 2013 into a basement coffee bar serving single-origin espresso and weekday brunch.
Signature drink: Single-origin espresso
Tip: The urinals are the bar counter; the cubicles are dining banquettes. The Clerkenwell branch on Great Eastern Street has more workspace.
Stephen Rapoport's first Department site on Leather Lane in Clerkenwell London, opened 2010, runs Roundhill Roastery beans and a tiled industrial-Victorian cafe space.
Signature drink: House espresso blend
Tip: The Leather Lane original takes laptops; their other 40-plus sites range from work-friendly to grab-and-go.
Robert Robinson's Notes Coffee on St Martin's Lane in Covent Garden London, opened 2010, runs an in-house roastery, a focused wine list at night and a daytime work cafe.
Signature drink: House espresso
Tip: The downstairs basement is the laptop-friendly room. After 18:00 it pivots to a small-plates wine bar.
Store Street Espresso's Bloomsbury cafe on Store Street in central London, opened 2012, runs Workshop and Origin beans in a long-corridor cafe popular with UCL students.
Signature drink: Single-origin filter
Tip: Communal long tables are laptop-friendly. Doors open 07:30 weekdays; closed Sundays.
Lori De Mori and Laura Jackson's Regent's Canal cafe between De Beauvoir and Haggerston Park in east London, opened 2010, an outdoor-only seasonal cafe (closed Nov-Mar).
Signature drink: Filter coffee
Tip: Open March to October only, daytime only, outdoor seats by the towpath. No bookings, cash and card.
Monmouth's Borough Market cafe in London, opened in this site in 2002 and trading as a coffee roaster since 1978, runs single-origin espresso at a standing counter near the market.
Signature drink: Single-origin espresso
Tip: Counter-and-bench seating only. Closed Sundays. The Covent Garden original on Monmouth Street is more laptop-tolerant.
Jeremy Challender and Gwilym Davies's Leather Lane training cafe in Clerkenwell London, opened 2009, runs a focused filter program and weekday-only opening.
Signature drink: Filter coffee
Tip: Open Mon-Fri only; closed weekends. Davies took the World Barista Champion title in 2009 with a Prufrock cup.
Peak food season in London is year-round.
Local dining hours: lunch around 12:30, dinner from 19:30.
service is typically included; small extra is welcome but not expected.
Ask the next local you meet what they would order. London rewards trust.