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.
Tip: The downstairs basement is the laptop-friendly room. After 18:00 it pivots to a small-plates wine bar.
Address: 31 St Martin's Lane, London WC2N 4ER
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.
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.
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.
