Comments on: Superior coffee #2: the daily grind

By: Dipping in: the best hotel pools in Europe | Travel Blog - Mr & Mrs Smith Boutique & Luxury Hotels

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:31:36 +0000

[...] one thing Team Smith love (after a fabulous boutique hotel, a good rare steak, and a darn fine cup of coffee), it’s a gorgeous swimming pool. A shimmering stretch of water to sun-bask next to, sup [...]

By: Best beach cafés

Best beach cafés — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:10:45 +0000

[...] What’s for afters? While you’re in this neck of the wood, after you’ve had a stroll and a paddle on the gorgeous sandy stretch at Viking Bay, check out Morelli’s, a 1930s ice-cream parlour on Broadstairs promenade, for proper, covered-in-sauce-and-nuts knickerbocker glories and banana sundaes, and foamed-to-perfection cappuccinos. [...]

By: cila

cila — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 14:49:07 +0000

Portland! My hometown… Mecca for coffee lovers, artists, poets, veggies, hippies, musos and bohemians of every ilk plus outdoor enthusiasts, bookworms and beer aficionados. Katy, you’ll have a glorious time… I’m jealous

By: Winnie So

Winnie So — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:21:15 +0000

Thanks Tamara for leaving a comment on my Little Cream Life blog. As I type this, I am sipping a skinny latte (yes, I’m off my detox!) from my favourite neighborhood (think a block away from Opus Hotel) coffee shop in Vancouver…www.citoespresso.com. But http://www.jjbeancoffee.com is also worth an aquabus ride to Granville Island.

Coffee is such an integral part of making one’s home away from home enjoyable that M&M Smith should institute a coffee rating system as well, whether it’s availability of good coffee in the hotel itself or within walking distance. And of course, highlighting local coffee variations. I love Vietnamese coffee (it’s just not quite the same, like pho bo, outside of Vietnam) as well as Japanese-style Sumiyaki (even though in Japan, my preferred caffeinated drink is a well-whisked matcha).

By: Lucy

Lucy — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:52:33 +0000

@Tony Tigerlily - one of Smith’s favourite Edinburgh hotels; must confess to having overlooked their superior coffee prowess and, as mentioned above, is definitely something I’ll be paying a lot more attention to on future research trips!

nb just checked out your blog – re: Nicholson Barker, totally agree – you’re a Glasgae boy, anywhere in your fine city we should be looking at coffee-wise?

By: Tony

Tony — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:28:21 +0000

Flat White do sell a pretty good NZ-style latte. Also, their gravity-powered door closing mechanism is thing of beauty. On the subject of hotels with good coffee though, take a look at Tigerlily in Edinburgh. Their bar staff are all trained baristas, graduates of the Matthew Algie Coffee School, and their beans are Matthew Algie’s Fairtrade, organic, Rainforest Alliance Certified blend. Great stuff.

By: Lucy

Lucy — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 09:21:12 +0000

@Olli Yes, Flat White is getting a lot of name-checks on these pages, along with its sister café, Milkbar; I did try going to Flat White once when I used to work on Broadwick Street, but unfortunately on that occasion the service was so slow I walked away again - clearly I didn’t know then that it probably would have been worth the wait!

By: Olli

Olli — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:58:59 +0000

I couldn’t agree more with Oliver - Monmouth Coffee is unquestionably the best in London.

However, you don’t have to travel all the way to Borough Market to get some. You can head over to Monmouth’s store in Covent Garden (on Monmouth Street, of course)

Or even better - there is a Kiwi coffeehouse right in the heart of Soho which serves Monmouth exclusively:

Flat White @ 17 Berwick Street.