sam and the city

I read in the paper the other day that Starbucks plan on opening another branch in London every two weeks for the next 10 years! Given that I am already aware of a two places in London where there are two Starbucks separated by less than 50m, that's a lot of stores! In Melbourne, just like when I'm in continental Europe, I wouldn't even contemplate going to somewhere like Starbucks for a coffee. I look at them with disgust as I walk past. In London I see a Starbucks and think "oh, I should go in and get a coffee". It's not that the coffee is in Starbucks is any different here to anywhere else, it's just that in comparison to most other places in the city the quality of the coffee is quite good.

When the Starbucks first opened I'm sure that they must have based their entire business case around places like London. "We'll target places that sell revolting coffee and flood the market!"

I was recently advised of a cafe in Soho called Flat-White, which was opened by two New Zealanders who share my opinion of London coffee. Now, I've never really regarded New Zealand as one of the great coffee nations, but I thought that I'd give it a go. I have to say... it wasn't bad. Certainly better than any coffee I can remember having recently. That being said, it still fell short of my favourite coffee places in Melbourne on the banks of the Yarra where I used to go regularly for breakfast.

That's another thing that I miss about Australia. Whereas pretty much everyone in Australia goes out for a late breakfast on a Sunday morning, when I've tried to do this in London I really struggle to find anywhere that even sells breakfast, let alone something appetising like sticky black rice with coconut milk and fruit with a freshly squeezed glass of orange juice!