Kahaila Cafe Fantastic if you want to work in peace, drink decent coffee, eat nice cakes and not people watching. It seems like a friendly place, Kahaila offers origami workshop and an opportunity to ask for skills needed to complete a project. It doesn’t try to be a trendy coffee shop and there’s a nice vibe about the place. On weekends however it can get very busy. The coffee shop is only 4 minutes from bagel shops in Brick Lane.

Allpress Expresso  Excellent for people watching. On weekends there are plenty of free newspapers to read. Food is expensive. Coffee is treated as serious business, served with hot water and warm milk. Highly recommended coffee from here if you want to stay alert for trend spotting in Shoreditch on Sunday. The coffee shop is on Redchurch street, about 7 minutes from the famous ad agency Mother and 3 minutes from Labour And Wait.

Pitfield Cafe The cafe is part of a beautiful shop on Pitfield Street. Usually it’s quiet which makes it a nice place to catch up. Coffee is nice and the food looks delicious. There’re two tables outside so you can soak up the sun and do a bit of people watching. Smoothies are available if you don’t fancy caffeine. Nothing to read so bring a friend. Alternatively bring a fat wallet to shop for your home.

Coffee@Bricklane The place has been around forever. They were the first coffee shop in Brick Lane that took coffee seriously. Rumour has it they’re going to start roasting their own coffee. We frequent this place more than others just because it’s reliable for lovely coffee and the bagel shops are right next door. The only criticism is sometimes the music is way too loud. Plenty of magazines to read. Excellent place to go by yourself or with a friend to chill on the weekends.

Shoreditch Grind They’ve just secured an alcohol licence so will shortly be starting to open until 11pm weeknights and 1am Friday and Saturday nights. The coffee is as excellent as Allpress. It’s located outside Old Street Tube and there’s an alfresco area making it ideal for a meeting point. There’s nothing to read for free and people tend to come and go quickly inside. The Grind is on the outskirt of Shoreditch, if you’re more interested in good coffee and catching up than watching people it’s perfect but if you want to see beautiful people or quirkiness go to Allpress.