Melbourne's own St. Ali has opened its first coffee bar, roaster and restaurant on Clerkenwell Road, London.
St. Ali, 27 Clerkenwell Road, Farringdon EC1M 5RN
This place is no secret hideaway! It's heaving with people. I hear Australian ascents, Caribou's excellent album "Swim" and the ever comforting lisp of the waspy London Gays. I could be in Melbourne! It's glarey-grey outside. And a pixie just brushed by me wearing a navy blue feather covered mini-skirt.
Feeling like cake, I turn to the dessert section of the menu only to find a note saying, "All emotional eating carbohydrate fixes are displayed deliberately to trigger impulse purchases at counter..." I've been seated very far from said counter. I need coffee. Immediately if not sooner.
How was the coffee? As good as their product in Melbourne. Fresh, consistent and delicious.
Did they have soy? Yes!
Would I go there again? Yes, though I would not order the Sardines. They were covered in scales. The Chef refused to descale them, saying something about preserving their inner-scale, safeguarding the sanctity of the scales, satiability of scales... You get the drift.
Should you go there? Yes. St Ali know that coffee is the great phenomenon of dependency. You will come to need them. You've been warned.
Any other points to note? Keep an eye out for another St. Ali outpost in the West End and Sensory Lab, a smaller-scale version, in Wigmore Street. Both are due to open in the coming months.
eh.
ReplyDeleteIf its anything like the Melbourne cafe its full of hipsters and the coffee is served luke-warm. overrated!