Coffee I actually drink

Marcus Fennimore-Grant

@marcusf_board84

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I live in E17, I run a board game night most Fridays, and I have Opinions about coffee that are disproportionate to how much I actually know about coffee (none. I know nothing. I just know which cup lets me explain the combat rules of Twilight Imperium for the ninth time without my voice giving out). These are the places I send people when they ask, usually right before I also ask if they've ever played a six-hour space opera board game and watch their face fall.

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Coffee I actually drink — 10 items
Name	Address	City	Best for	My take
1L'Hirondelle Coffee Shop	St James Street, Walthamstow, London E17 7PF	London	Proper espresso, no fuss	Small, unpretentious, brass machine doing serious work. I've never once tried to explain a game here because there's nowhere to unfold a map, which is probably for the best.
2Wood St Coffee	Blackhorse Workshop, 1-2 Sutherland Road Path, London E17 6BX	London	Beans to take home	Roasts on site, which sounds like a gimmick until you smell it. (I once spent twenty minutes here trying to convince a stranger that Twilight Imperium is 'actually quite fast-paced' — he left before his flat white arrived.)
3Hornbeam Cafe	458 Hoe Street, Walthamstow, London E17 9AH	London	Slow mornings, vegan food	Volunteer-run, community-feeling, the kind of place where nobody minds if you camp out with a laptop or a rulebook for three hours.
4Chocolatine Bakery	131 Wood Street, Walthamstow, London E17 3LX	London	Coffee plus a croissant emergency	Tiny, French, excellent pastries. Rule I've invented for myself: never leave without a pain au chocolat, no exceptions, I don't make the laws I just obey them.
5Coffee Boxx	125 Wood Street, Walthamstow, London E17 3LL	London	Brunch toast and a flat white	Clean, plant-heavy, good for showing visiting friends that Wood Street isn't just charity shops and a dry cleaner.
6Buhler and Co	8 Chingford Road, Walthamstow, London E17 4PJ	London	Weekend brunch coffee	Busy, deservedly so. Go early or accept you'll be queueing long enough to explain an entire faction's special abilities to the person behind you.
7The Curious Goat	Unit 1 Malt Court, 4 Old Brewery Way, Walthamstow, London E17 7FJ	London	Bigger groups, more menu options	Roomy enough that I've actually considered it as a game venue (I didn't. There's no space for a galaxy map between the brunch plates. A man can dream though).
8Bru Coffee & Gelato	223 Hoe Street, Walthamstow, London E17 9PP	London	Coffee with a dessert chaser	Technically a gelato shop that does coffee properly. I regret nothing about the waffle I had here with my cortado.
9Perky Blenders	314 Hoe Street, Walthamstow, London E17 9PX	London	Quick, no-nonsense espresso	Small, East London roasted, in and out in five minutes. Exactly the energy you want before you spend the next six hours losing a board game.
10Haven Coffee	Wood Street Library, 1 Forest Road, Walthamstow, London E17 6JS	London	A quiet cup with a side of doing good	Runs out of the library, trains and employs local people, and somehow still pulls a decent shot. Feels like the right kind of smug to be caffeinated by.