In the heart of the West End this side street coffee stop-off is a must visit.

The Venue
LJ Coffee House is a small venue with a few comfy leather sofas, a few tables and red lip-shaped bar stools at the window – opening onto the street if it’s sunny. Along with comment cards from customers who’ve fallen in love with LJ’s and signed photos of actors from nearby West End productions, the walls are plastered with Union coffee (not literally, but branding-wise). It’s a big selling point and ground in house, with a blackboard detailing the taste of the house brew.

The Atmosphere
Popular nevertheless, those in the know seem to be regulars. Pre-matinee theatre workers, businessmen in the area, freelance workers heads down in their laptops (there’s free Wi-Fi) or friends meeting for a catch-up. The staff know them all, with a welcome and wit that you just don’t get in Starbucks (obviously, always, only seconds away around the corner). Books, newspapers and even a couple of board games are scattered around, creating the immediate relaxed living room feel and an escape from the rat race.

The Food
Around the clock eating is available at LJ’s, from porridge if you’re stopping by in the morning, to handmade cakes – always appropriate at anytime of the day here to accompany your cup of choice. Lunchtime options include vast salads, smoked salmon bagels, roasted vegetable wraps, and variations on cheese and ham fillings in a selection of breads, which lend themselves well to the toasting grill. Tuna melt (£3.95) on sesame is toasted to a tee – light, thin bread with just enough filling mixed with tomato and olive to taste. The duck and hoisin wrap (£3.25) has good sized pieces of meat shredded in amongst the sweet plum-y sauce and is stuffed full of leaves – refreshingly not too rich.

Sweet temptations are displayed at the counter, including brownies, chocolate cake, apple shortbread, coconut and raspberry slice, from the Rinkoff Bakery and the Handmade Cake Compnay. The coffee and walnut cake (£2.75) achieves an airy fluffy sponge, sandwiched together by just the right amount of buttercream and iced thinly with a scatter of walnuts to top it off. It could pack more of a coffee punch, but compliments a cup of the strong stuff well. The toffee and apple muffin (£1.75) is texturally perfect, and satisfyingly un-sweet with an almost salty tang to the dried banana chips.

The Drink
The star of the show at LJ Coffee House is quite obvious. Union hand-roasted have created a house blend which is both sweet and rich, the Americano brewed beautifully and needing nothing more than a splash of milk. All the classic coffees throughout the milky spectrum are available too, latte to espresso, and range from about £1.85 to £2.55 in price. And the Belgian chocolate for your cappuccino is brought to the table and sprinkled from its own jar. Without detracting from the superb hand-roasted beans, there is also an abundance of other liquid options: loose leaf teas, ice cream milkshakes blended to order, and fresh fruit smoothies (£2.45) – a good size and packed full of mango, strawberry, apple, orange - the list goes on.

The Last Word
Coffee culture as it should be.

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