Arguably the UK’s coffee capital (…emphasis on arguably)– East London is a great place to be if you’re into independent coffee shops and exciting roasts. Fix Coffee (in Whitecross Market) is one such contender – our Jack heads down to see how it stacks up to the competition…
Rating
Cuisine
Coffee-shop with veggie/vegan touches
Appeals To
Hardcore coffee drinkers, coffee shop connoisseurs and the type of person who boycott Starbucks long ago (ahem). East London tech startup founders and staff, vegans with a cafe habit (almond milk babay!), people doing a food tour of Whitecross Street and oh look…we can get coffee there! (etc). ‘Coffee Pokemon’ players (i.e – those undertaking the impossible task of trying every region/style of coffee) – Fix’s Guest Blend changes weekly…
In A Word
Archetypal
The Fix Is In
Fix Coffee must be doing something right. For 5ish years now they have survived and thrived in East London, no less – surely one of the mostly hotly contested battlegrounds for independent coffee outlets in Europe. And they’re still competing with the likes of Starbucks.
And true, Fix certainly have a lot of competition but they also have a well deserved reputation for good java working in their favour (people seem particularly keen on their flat whites…). You can find them dishing out caffeine a large cafe just at the end of the glorious wonderland of street food that is Whitecross Street Market.
Last time I checked they were open 7 days a week and, like many coffee spots who are on the ball with customer retention, Fix have a loyalty card / caffeine dependence scheme. Buy 9 coffees, get the 10th one free (I think?). Keeping to the East London theme, they can also be found on Shoreditch’s Curtain Road (at ‘Fix126‘).
The Ambiance
Fix Coffee really is the archetypical East London coffee shop. ‘Modern minimal’: all brick, exposed piping, wooden surfaces, free wi-fi (in 1 hour slots) and plenty of plug sockets for you to plug in your macbook whilst you aggressively acquire funding for your 2nd fintech startup (we’re not that far from Old Street here…).
That said, the interior is still quite something – a huge open lounge space with high ceilings, well worn but comfortable sofas (of the exact variety my grandparents had) and plenty of natural light. They also have some seating outside as well, but it is much too cold when we visit for anyone to take advantage of this.
On the whole, the clientele is what you might expect – young, hip, productive (laptops everywhere), though there are a few parties of tourists milling about. In the 90 minutes or so minutes I am here it goes from ‘nearly empty’ to ‘very full’…the lunch rush. Lots of returning customers, by the sounds of it.
The Food and Drink
Like most other coffee places, Fix have diversified beyond cappuccinos, espressos and the like. They have quite a respectable range of juices on offer and whoever does their baking is au fait with vegetarian and vegan options. This is a cafe, lest we forget. There isn’t a food menu, as such – at least not a stable one. Wanna see what’s on offer? Take a look at what’s on the counter.
A large proportion of the food they offer is vegan friendly – and if you want a vegan coffee, for example, this is an option too. It’s worth noting that they also have their own unique blend, roasted for them by the highly capable folks at Climpson & Sons. Along with this, Fix also offer a ‘Guest Blend’ – this changes weekly.
As this was lunch, I can’t say I’ve eaten (or drunk) enough to give you a comprehensive first hand of the food, but I did have some kind of surprisingly excellent gluten free cake, fully of poppy seeds.
The Verdict:
I find it hard to say too much about Fix. You already know that, if you’re looking for a good independent coffee shop in this part of London, you are absolutely spoilt for choice. Fix, however, could/should be amongst these choices.
What what sets it aside? I can’t say. But I can say that you’re very likely to get whatever the hell kind of crazy coffee you’re looking for (plus some vegan cake too, if you fancy). I’m also pretty sure that said coffee will meet your exacting standards (because we’re sure that you agree: life’s too short for bad coffee).
The Details
www.fix-coffee.co.uk
161 Whitecross St, City of London EC1Y 8JL
020 7998 3878