We love coffee. Coffee anything. We’re those people who steal the coffee flavoured Roses out of the box and get upset at biting into an orange Revel instead of a coffee one. We also work from home which in turn means lots of working from various coffee shops around Leicester so we know a good one when we see it! Here are our favourites, let us know yours!
To be honest, they supply St Martin’s Coffee to a lot of our favourite places now so it seemed a little bit unfair if we didn’t give them top spot! Their coffee is divine, they were the first people we knew in Leicester to put REAL CHOCOLATE on top of their cappuccinos and they also sell beer. Just incase you fancy a change. They’ve very recently had a refurb and the new menu offering is DIVINE. The Cuban is possibly the best sandwich we’ve ever tasted. They also score bonus points for having their wifi login details displayed all around the coffee shop on various flyers and posters, as well as board games to play. Look out for late night openings and the launch next week of Crafty Burger every Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.
Grays is tucked away inside the LCB Depot in the Cultural Quarter and is a firm favourite amongst the city’s creatives who work around there, or the city’s awful hipsters, however you want to phrase it. None the less, the coffee shop has a daily changing menu which never fails to offer something fresh, seasonal and fabulous, from stilton & mushrooms on toast or a pork and black pudding burger, to jacket potatoes and breakfast crumpets. They’ve just had a fancy new coffee machine installed, which alongside the cake offering (once we tried a chocolate cake made with beetroot in there!) makes it a perfect place to stop off in the afternoons.
Note, Grays isn’t currently open on the weekend, so make sure you pop in for your weekday lunch.
3. Bru
I like Bru. I like Bru because they’re open until so late and I’ve been banging on for years that I wish Leicester had a coffee shop that was open in the evening. Bru is on Granby Street and open until 10pm through the week and 11pm on Friday and Saturdays. It’s an independent coffee shop with a boutique feel, along with a coffee and cake menu that will leave you spoilt for choice. The interior is a mix of new and upcycled, which creates a really welcoming vibe. Their coffee menu changes with the seasons and they use their own blend. Most recently their Coconut Frappe has taken us a bit by storm. Oh yeh, they also do these incredible waffles and gelato too, along with a billion types of cake. Including a “Bronkie”… it’s a mix between a cookie and brownie. Exactly.
They offer good wifi and plenty of seating, including a quieter upstairs area for when you want to concentrate. The outside seating area gets busy as it’s on Granby Street but it’s good for people watching or people judging if you happen to be sitting out there on a Saturday night.
It is what the name says. It’s a bakery that’s tiny. It’s located on Clarendon Park Road, just at the corner with Queens Road and they offer a great range of coffees, savouries and cakes. They serve St Martin’s Coffee, so they can’t really go wrong with that, the bread and pastries are baked fresh (try the brioche buns) and there’s a huge number of cake choices given the size of the place. As we said, it’s tiny to don’t expect to turn up with a big group of friends. However, they do have outside seating which is lovely in the summer or if you have a dog (they have dog bowls ready for you outside). If you’re in the area make sure you pop in and try the salted caramel chocolate cake or the cinnamon latte! It isn’t somewhere to sit in with your laptop so we’re not scoring the wifi on this one, we just think it’s cute. That’s enough.
Bread & Honey is located on King Street and serves Monmouth Coffee, which is worth seeking out. Their food offering is always excellent and very reasonably priced. Freshly baked bread or homemade Portugese custard tarts, everything they offer is of the best quality. We love the quirky, unique interior and the staff are everso friendly. It’s small and cosy inside but this adds to the charm. Given the location we hope they don’t suffer too much from the Council office move! They’ve recently started opening on Saturdays too, so no excuse not to pop down at the weekend for your coffee.