North London is less of a coffee hotspot than its east. But where the previous guide in this series is in places an illustration of how speciality coffee can saturate pockets of a city like water through a puck, this more closely resembles the diffusion of a slow-brewed filter.

That’s not to say that these cafes aren’t interconnected, or are totally disparate to each other, just because the region lacks the fast friend relationships between cafes and roasters that comes with speed of growth and development. But to understand north London’s cafes, a visitor must first understand “north London”: an appositely imprecise description for a region that stretches tens of miles horizontally as well as vertically. To adapt the observation of London writer Jonathan Nunn, “to understand the food of north London, first understand [not two, but three] roads”: the A10, the A105, and the A406. The first two run roughly north to south; the latter arcs across the width of the region like a rainbow; all three connect people and places more directly than any Tube line. The communities, and cafes that they connect may be far apartโ€”as far north as Barnet, as far south (yet still north) as Islingtonโ€”but they share common infrastructure. They are north London cafes.

Per the remit of this guide, all of these cafes are destination visits as much as neighborhood essentials, but they are best (if visiting multiple) taken as something in between, as that matches most closely with the unique psychogeographic sprawl of the area. A final piece of advice to the completist: if seeking to reach all these places, don’t take the Tube; walk, or take the bus.

Velasquez and Van Wezel

This Colombian-Dutch-owned cafe in Crouch End has gone from (brew) strength to strength since it opened in September 2016. Having begun on solid footing with a focus on Colombian coffees from top Cornish roaster Origin and then moved to Square Mile, Oscar Velasquez and Martin Van Wezel have taken a gradually expansive approach to showcasing top European roasters. Friedhats and Uncommon, both of Amsterdam and lesser-seen in London, are regulars on the brew bar. This combination of predictable excellence and more roving tastes is exactly what any regular should look for in their neighborhood cafe, andโ€”somewhat ironicallyโ€”also makes V and W a destination for London drinkers.

Velasquez and Van Wezel is located at 78 Park Rd, London. Visit their official website and follow them on Instagram.

 

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Esters

Jack Lloyd-Jones and Nia Burrโ€™s tiny Stoke Newington cafe with a bijou garden is a fiercely guarded local haunt, itโ€™s true. But for all its regulars would prefer it to be a hidden gem, Esters’s outstanding coffee and singular approach to something called โ€œbrunchโ€ makes it one of Londonโ€™s best cafes full stop. Itโ€™s a single roaster affair here, relying on British veteran Hasbean, but their at times incredible range of coffees allows the cafe to rotate a range of filters with enough revs to satisfy even the most diehard of daily drinkers. Espresso drinks are always well made, and from time to time thereโ€™s a tempting guest on deck for the morning, whether brewed straight or paired with outstanding almond milk made in house.

Esters is located at 55 Kynaston Rd, London. Visit their official website and follow them on Twitter and Instagram.

Campbell and Symeย 

Resident in East Finchley since 2012, Campbell and Syme initially, somehow, ran an outstanding neighborhood cafe and reliably excellent roastery out of the same realistically too small space. Itโ€™s since traded in for a larger space offsite when it comes to browning beans, but the original cafe stands strong after nearly a decade. Being an in-house roaster, coffees change most noticeably according to seasons, rather than whims, but its range of washed Ethiopian coffees (and naturals, in the guest espresso slot) is worth the annual wait: theyโ€™re founder Joe Symeโ€™s favorite, and he treats them with care enough to blow away any hoary clichรฉs about how theyโ€™re every baristaโ€™s first taste of real coffee, man.

Campbell and Syme is located at 9 Fortis Green, London. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Intermission

Both one of the newest and most contemporary cafes in this north London bracket, Intermission recently took a familiar plunge: going from brewing other peopleโ€™s coffee very well to roasting and brewing their own coffee instead. The pitfalls are as myriad as the transition is predictable in London coffee in 2022, but Intermission has handled it with aplomb in West Hampstead, with no loss of quality on either espresso or filter. Making such a change as a neighborhood fixture shouldnโ€™t be underestimatedโ€”itโ€™s all too easy to ruin a lot of peopleโ€™s morningsโ€”but itโ€™s this kind of ambitious familiarity that makes Intermission a local standby.

Intermission is located at Unit 2 The Hardy Building, Heritage Ln, London. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebookย and Instagram.

 

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Dark Habitย 

Dark Habit is such a neighborhood favorite in Queenโ€™s Park that when it moved mere meters up the road, all of London felt the reverberations.

Okay, thatโ€™s not exactly true, but such is the gravity of Rapolas Rimeikaโ€™s uncompromising shop that itโ€™s not all that hard to believe. Coffee is these days almost always from Round Hill, close to Bath in the West Country and one of the best roasters in the country, let alone outside of London. Filter is the particular stand-out here, not as susceptible to capricious changes in quality as others in the city, but the daily driver flat white is just as carefully made, proving that Dark Habit wears its status as a local cafe as sharply as it does its status as a London one.

Dark Habit is located at 72A Salusbury Rd, London. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

dudleys london

Dudleyโ€™s

James Stephensonโ€™s Walthamstow outfit dubs itself as โ€œmore than a corner cafe,โ€ thanks to its Sunday night events that pair vinyl DJs with guest chefs. But in truth, itโ€™s been more than one without them for a long time, just a year into its life before COVID-19 forced lockdown in the U.K. in March 2020. With quality beans taken north from south-of-the-river Thames roaster Assembly, an inventive brunch menu, and a cool little courtyard, itโ€™s become an essential fixture in its part of the city and beyond.

Dudley’s is located at 145 Wood St, London. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebookย and Instagram.

Normanโ€™sย 

British caff culture, that of strong teas and stronger cafes in big white mugs and plentiful plates of fried food, is so enduring that cafes often try to get in on it as a form of tribute, or update. All too often they completely fuck it up. But Normanโ€™s, between Tufnell Park and Archway, is a โ€œBritish cafeโ€ with soul to match the aesthetics, both forward looking and in touch with the cityโ€™s cultural roots it takes nourishment from, in the way that Tรฉlescope feels like a Parisian cafe despite all the AeroPresses. Brilliantly brewed coffee from Dark Arts comes in a big mugโ€”filter is the choice hereโ€”to be slurped alongside butties, fry-ups, and specials like bolognese on chips. Puddings are especially good here.

Norman’s is located at 167 Junction Rd, Archway, London. Visit their official website and follow them on Instagram.

 

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Nkora Barnetย 

Housed in a beguilingly beautiful church front (behind it, a modern shopping centre) Nkoraโ€™s move from east London to north has brought quality brews to Barnet. As well as a focus on provisions (wine, granolas, other bits) occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic and its conversion of so many cafes into grocery stores, thereโ€™s always a covetable selection of retail on the shelves, perhaps from Edinburghโ€™s Fortitude; Cornwallโ€™s Origin; or mainstay roaster Assembly, which provides the beans for rich and creamy espresso drinks as well as delicate filters. Like any truly good local coffee bar, all bases are thoroughly covered.

Nkora is located at Unit 32, The Spires Shopping Centre, Barnet. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebook and Instagram.

The Fields Beneathย 

The Fields Beneath opened in Kentish Town in 2012; five years later it removed animal products from its menu entirely. Founders Gavin Fernback and Sibylle Meyfret (the latter of whom left in 2014) named the cafe for local writer Gillian Tindallโ€™s psychogeographic history of the area published in 1977, and has over a decade built its own deep connection to the area. Its coffee is roasted on its behalf by Butterworth and Son, but comes from a direct relationship with Colombian grower Luzma Marina and the Santa Elena estate in Costa Rica, where Marina was one of the first to use the โ€œhoneyโ€ process that is now famous in the countryโ€™s production. Righteous, but not po-faced, itโ€™s a wonderful example of a cafe on a mission.

The Fields Beneath is located at 52a Prince of Wales Rd, London. Visit their official website and follow them on Facebookย and Instagram.

James Hansen (@jameskhansen) is a London-based journalist and an associate editor at Eater London. Read more James Hansen for Sprudge.ย 

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