I don’t know about you and your line of work but as for me and mine, I run around all over town all day long. Often I find I’ve got time to kill between meetings and events. Sometimes it’s just 20 minutes, other times it might be a couple of hours. And just because I have time on my hands doesn’t mean I have time to dawdle. During such spare moments, I need to get in somewhere fast and park it – to can tackle my inbox, draft my next blog post, maybe grab a bite to eat and (most importantly) have a cup of coffee. With the recently opened illy Regent Street, being able to do all this stuff in a seriously stylish and comfortable setting just became a real option for me.
illy Regent Street is a short walk up from Oxford Circus station. It’s well lit and rather large (two storeys) … and worth a visit alone for the ginormous mosaic replica of Bauhaus artist Xanti Schawinsky’s 1934 illy advertising poster. The mosaic consists of 85,000 tiles in 31 colours and measures nearly four metres high by three metres wide. There’s a nifty chandelier too, made from 216 illy Art Collection espresso cups.
So yeah, the cafe is roomy and rather swank. But look and feel are just part of the equation. A fan of illy coffee for quite awhile, I’m pleased to report the cafe is as tasty as it is tastefully designed. From a no nonsense espresso to a somewhat froufrou neve fondente (an “evocative” shot of espresso with hot milk and cocoa powder, topped with a layer of cold frothed milk, £3.20), you can rest assured that your coffee expectations will be met. Food’s good too (I recommend the tiramisu!).
Friendly table service is definitely an upgrade from what I’ve come to expect at whatever other cafes I tend to hit around Oxford Circus (and I’m in this area a lot). Prices are similar to what you’d expect at any of the big name coffee joints and hipster hangouts in Central London. The WiFi connection is strong and there appears to be an adequate number of power outlets distributed evenly throughout the space (along with a few tables with free-to-use Samsung tablets – but I’m not sure if the Samsung team-up is temporary or long term).
In short, this place is ace, and I expect I’m going to be popping in here on a regular basis. Indeed, I’m actually writing this post (and publishing it too) from illy Regent Street. Now to get back to that unwieldy inbox. Ugh.
A welcome addition to the London coffee scene (and to my short list of smartly situated quality cafes for my freelancing lifestyle), illy Regent Street is located at 295 Regent Street, W1B 2HJ. Find out more at espressamenteilly.com.
