Forget soggy white loaves from the supermarket or the industrial sourdough they serve at the organic cafe, at De Gustibus you’re only served the real deal, kneaded and baked on site. This is bread like you’ve never tried it before.

The Venue
Hidden just a street away from St Paul’s Cathedral, De Gustibus is not the type of place that would do well in the high street. It’s small, intimate and seems like it needs to hide itself a bit from the rest of the world, otherwise people would queue for bread for miles out the door. So find yourself a decent map, head for Carter Lane and navigate until you’re in front of this cafe. Part of the interior is painted sunny yellow and the walls are decorated with photographs of the production process of bread. A big medieval-style illustration about baking emphasises that here they are deadly serious about their production methods.

The Atmosphere
The atmosphere of De Gustibus reflects it ethos. Artisans here make bread following century-old traditions and a few lucky souls get to enjoy it. The crowd is a mix of several groups, with a few people in suits trekking down from Bank during lunchtime. De Gustibus is located right in front of a popular youth hostel, so expect to find a number of young travellers popping in for breakfast, lunch or a snack. The rest of the crowd consists of in-the-know foodies who make the trip especially to grab a loaf of wild rice and lentil or honey and lavender bread.

The Food
De gustibus non est disputandum is a Latin proverb that translates roughly as you cannot argue about personal taste. Surely at De Gustibus you cannot argue about anything at all – the quality is amazing and it goes without saying that here they don’t use any flour improvers or emulsifiers. You can pick whole loaves from the metal bread rack from a choice of British, American, Eastern European, Continental and Mediterranean recipes. The tomato ciabatta is one of the most flavourful breads you will ever try and the olive focaccia is an oily, indulgent affair. The German rye breads, instead, are dark, moist and slightly rough.

Their breakfast and lunch offers are equally hard to resist. In the morning you can choose from buttered toast (95p), croissants (£1) or a full English (£4.95) amongst other options. At lunch you can go for bruschetta (£4.50), tortino (double focaccia filled with Provencal vegetables and mozzarella, £4.75), a salt beef sandwich on a caraway bun (£5.50) or dishes like hot couscous, a 6oz beef burger (£5.75), rib-eye in Thai chilli sauce (£6.95) and more.

The Drink
A selection of juices complements the wholesome, healthy and fresh products on sale at De Gustibus. Whereas most cafes carry only one brand of juice, De Gustibus stocks plenty. Choose from Firefly, Feel Good, This Water, Pago and Fentimans range, all priced between £1.50 and £2.

The Last Word
De Gustibus has received a shower of awards to prove their breads are amazing, even if you’re unaware of their honours you can still taste the difference between these loaves and supermarket bread at the first mouthful.

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