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.
Tip: The standing counter at the front is the fastest morning queue. Closes at 17:00 weekdays and 16:00 weekends.
Address: 26 Rathbone Place, London W1T 1JD
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.
