Department of Coffee and Social Affairs

This is one of my regular coffee shops.  It’s on Leather Lane, which is a great place for some street food on weekday lunchtimes, from its many market stalls and cafes.  It’s also home to two very good coffee shops, this one and Prufrock.

Dept. of Coffee is part of the Coffeesmiths Collective, which includes Chancery Coffee, The Liberty of Norton Folgate (great name!) and Speakeasy Espresso & Brew Bar.  The coffees are consistently tasty and well presented (see my collage of latte art below), the staff friendly, and there’s always some (usually) decent music playing.

It’s not usually a problem getting a seat, so a good bet if Prufrock is too busy, as it often is – although in no way would I say this was second-best; they’re equally good in my book, although quite different.  The main seating area is a good place to sit and watch the passing world, and they have a long comfortable bench seat against one wall.  And they have a room with a large table which can be hired for meetings.  They always have a small art exhibition too.

They do a range of nice looking sandwiches and cakes (although I never eat them – I’m just here for the coffee!), as well as tortas de aceite.  I did have some nice ‘artisan’ toast there for breakfast one morning.

In summary, a place I always like to go to, and if I’m needing to get a coffee at lunch, this would usually be my first choice.

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