Red Lion Coffee Co.

The new-build exterior and backstreet sarf London location might not scream ‘destination coffee shop’, but Red Lion Coffee Company, which opened in late 2016, is an excellent little spot. The food menu is varied (from pastries, sausage rolls and excellent scotch eggs, to slabs of focaccia and stews), there’s coffee-making gadgetry for sale and the beans come from city stalwart Climpson & Sons (no guests!). The coffee is very fine, too: a flat white was smooth and strong. A scattering of specialist coffee mags shows extra commitment to the cause. Set down the road from Goldsmiths, it looks appropriately cool too: Scandi furniture, bare breezeblocks and the loftiest ceilings in London.