For quite a long time, Church Street has been curiously lacking in the café department. Bakeries, brunch spots, restaurants, boutiques and pubs it has a-plenty. But look for a sit-down coffee shop and your choice will be limited. Enter: Foku. This serene little Japanese caff serves coffee, matcha and homemade Japanese sweets.
Its rustic Japandi décor is destined to wind up on the Pinterest boards of the east London fashion girlies and design bros, all untreated wood, stainless steel, ceramic bowls. The food and drinks are just as attractive – but it’s not just style over substance. An expertly made matcha latte is viridescent, its pleasantly grassy taste not overly sweetened or lost in a vat of milk.
The miso chocolate chip cookie is so perfect it could be from a Studio Ghibli cartoon. It tastes wonderful too: rich, gooey, salty, buttery. The sweet garden out the back is still a work in progress, but will be a real Stokey gem once complete. Get down here quick before it blows up on TikTok.