Eating out at Seven Dials, London

Monmouth coffee shop

Aside from Dishoom that serves reliable roomali roti and chicken tikka, there are several nice eating and drinking spots near Seven Dials. We could only sample a very small subset. Monmouth coffee was one. According to a reliable local source, while tea shops are on the decline, coffee shops are on the rise in London. Monmouth may have been the one that started (~1978) the micro roasting trend. Being perhaps the grandaddy of the business, they didn’t seem quite the coffee police as Blue Bottle or Four Barrel, very few coffee shops are. But they have a large selection of single varietals and brew a good espresso to make a coffee lover happy. The one at Seven Dials attracts a hipster crowd, there is always a long line, tables are shared, and you can get a croissant to go with your coffee. I do think they need some chocolate-y stuff to go with their coffee, say crepes or biscotti.

Neal’s yard dairy has excellent British cheeses and they import Poilâne bread. Like Cheese Board, they let you taste before buying and the staff is super friendly. We bought a variety of cheddars and even some Stilton. You really can live on Poilâne, Stilton and Monmouth coffee if you so wish.

Neal’s yard salad bar serves up health food. On our first day, we got a large bowl of organic lentil and carrot soup which was dairy free, fat free, and salt free. I do prefer a balance between taste and health so I am afraid I stayed clear of the salad bar during the rest of my stay. But it is worth going to if there are dietary concerns or if you are overcome with guilt with days of heavy duty eating.

Then there is Kopapa cafe that appeared very popular with the locals. They had a boiled orange cake on the menu that we just had to try. Clotilde, of Chocolate and Zucchini fame, had introduced us to her version and as a result, we are fully appreciative of the power of boiled oranges. Kopapa came a distant second to Clotilde but even so, it was most satisfying after a Poilâne and Stilton dinner.