In the centre of London, you’ll find numerous restaurants and coffee shops where to stop by anytime, mostly chains: not very original but most of the time the place is nice, and the food alright. They supplant small bars from the area and more importantly the national drink: tea!
Along our time in London, we’ve tried Starbucks coffee, Costa coffee and Prêt à Manger...
I must admit I am addicted to Starbucks. It’s the biggest multinational coffee chain. At home, in Marseille, we don’t have a Starbucks, but for some time now, they rise in Paris! In London, they’re everywhere.
Imagine how hard it has been for me not to storm into each and everyone we passed! If you don’t know these coffee houses, they are pretty nice. You can sit in one of those big, fat chairs for a little break and taste coffees of all kind (their speciality since the beginning, they even have their own coffee brand): simple espresso, macchiato, cappuccino, iced coffees with different flavours… Delicious!
They also have some tea, hot chocolate, and juices. Muffins, pastries or sandwiches can be ordered to go with your drink. To tell the truth, it’s not cheap, but compared to London prices it reasonable, and you’re sure you won’t be disappointed. To top it all, there’s a free access to Wi-Fi, ideal place to have a coffee and still do some work.
We later tried a tea-break at Costa Coffee: the general idea is the same as Starbucks, just not quite as good. The logo, the décor, the products are very similar… It’s just like McDonald’s and Burger King if you wish!
To continue in the same kind of places, you’ll also find caffé Nero, but we didn’t try this one.
Just before coming back to France, I had to stop in a café-bakery-sandwich place… Impossible for me to leave without bringing home some muffins! A real treat… The harder for me was: what to choose?! Chocolate, triple chocolate, blueberry, raspberry, banana, lemon, orange, cranberry… Make it stop, my head is spinning!!
Finally, I made a choice. I’ll be bringing a bit of London home, and I know I’ll be really enjoying it!
At the airport, we stopped at Prêt à Manger – or Prêt – because the cafeteria next door was really repelling. Prêt is a chain but doesn’t only serve coffee. You’ll have a variety of fresh sandwiches, soups, salads, pastries and coffees to take out. The products are made the same day in the store. The company gives out whatever was not sold each evening to charity for homeless people.
The number of all these places is very impressive in London, and it’s expanding to most major European cities… Soon we’ll have the very same shops abroad than at home, no more change of scene, of discovering new cultures… It’s actually a bit sad!
