Holy roast: the best of the City of London’s church cafés
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
This article is part of FT Globetrotter’s guide to London
Anglican churches in the City of London have found a novel way to get bottoms on pews: by converting their ecclesiastical spaces into coffee shops.
The trend began a decade ago when St Mary Aldermary opened the Host Café at the entrance to its nave, moving church furniture around to create more table space.
London’s Christians have a history of hospitality dating back to Norman times (the Royal Foundation of St Katharine in Limehouse, just beyond the Roman city walls, has provided bed, board and worship since 1147). Dozens of English parish churches have started tea rooms in recent decades to spread their appeal beyond Sundays, but the City’s churches have refreshed the concept to suit busy workers’ timetables and needs. The way this is done varies greatly, from squeezing the serving point into corner pockets of the nave to moving the pews away completely and setting out tables and chairs for customers.
Making cappuccinos for morning commuters might appear a bit frothy for the Church of England, an institution meant to be saving souls from earthly desires. But those City churches serving drinks and snacks from their sacred spaces beg to differ, as I discovered at eight of them that have adopted the holy roast (there are 58 Anglican sites, including 10 remains of church buildings, across the Square Mile).
St Botolph without Bishopsgate sets out banners to draw passing trade from the busy Bishopsgate thoroughfare to its Good Coffee Kiosk. Once at the counter, a sign makes clear that all the profit from your purchase will support the church’s various missionary activities, including help for the homeless and a primary school it helped to build in Angola. And the coffee is of a standard good enough to give the nearby corporate chains a run for their money.
At the other end of the scale, St Mary-le-Bow and All Hallows by the Tower have developed their operations into fully licensed restaurants, offering breakfast and lunch dishes plus artisan wines and craft beer.
More openings are planned, notably St Botolph without Aldgate’s new café and working space, due to be completed next to the main church building later this year. However, some have tried and failed.
What these places have, which is hard for corporate marketers to recreate, is a sense of spirituality while you sip — a place of quiet and calm with uplifting decoration. The highly devolved nature of the CoE, giving vicars considerable autonomy over their parish activities, means that each of these sites retain a different personality. All still offer religious, as well as barista, services. Some separate the two, while others encourage you to sip while you worship.
After pounding the streets for a day, I found what I thought was the perfect purpose-built café area in a side room of St Bartholomew the Great, a rare example of Norman architecture in the City that just celebrated its 900th birthday. But those using the space were staff. St Bart’s had once served coffee, but stopped because the management could not attract enough business, one of the group lamented. “It was a shame because the lemon drizzle cake was delicious,” he said.
Host Café at St Mary Aldermary
69 Watling Street, London EC4M 9BW
Good for: Freshly baked cakes and snacks
Not so good for: Finding a table. It’s a popular haunt
FYI: Flat white, £3.10. Open Monday–Friday, 7.30am–4pm
The most established of the City’s church coffee houses is Host Café in St Mary Aldermary, launched in 2012 as a ministry to local office workers. The Grade I-listed space was packed with people in suits the Tuesday afternoon I visited. I learnt a lot about the family of the couple gossiping next to me.
As well as refreshments, you can pick up beans, brewing equipment (to order) and Host-branded reusable coffee cups. The coffee — supplied by east London roastery Mission Coffee Works — is good too, offered in a range of options from cappuccino to matcha with coconut, almond, oat and soy milk, as well as the traditional cow variety. You can enjoy your brew in a pew and gaze up at the ornate vaulted ceiling.
Caffè Espresso at St Margaret Pattens
43-45 Eastcheap, London EC3M 1JA
Good for: A break after visiting Monument, a few minutes’ walk away
Not so good for: Pollution (it’s beside busy Eastcheap) or bad weather days (all seating is outside)
FYI: Flat white, £2.90. No pastries, only pre-packaged cereal bars. Open Monday–Friday, 7am–3pm
From the Middle Ages to the early 20th century, pattens were worn under shoes to lift shoes and dresses above the mud of the street. Their manufacture was once a thriving industry in this corner of the City, and St Margaret was where the patten-makers thanked God for their good fortune. I could have done with a pair of these when I came here for coffee, expertly served from a cart by the church steps — a sudden downpour forced me to run for cover. There is a full range of coffee options, using Illy beans, and alternative milks. But food was limited to a few cereal bars when I visited.
The Cosy Coffee Corner at St Mary Woolnoth
Lombard Street, London EC3V 9AN
Good for: History buffs and architecture fans
Not so good for: Large meetings
FYI: Flat white, £3.20. Open Monday to Thursday, 7am–4pm; Friday, 7.30am–3.30pm
This Queen Anne-era building, designed by the renowned Baroque architect Nicholas Hawksmoor, was where the slaver-turned-priest and writer of “Amazing Grace” John Newton was rector. This year is the 250th anniversary of Newton penning his globally famous hymn, and the building is now home to Imprint Church, a Thursday and Sunday lunchtime worship service created by a group of musically talented students from Leicester.
The Cosy Coffee Corner is tucked into an alcove by the front door and you are encouraged to bring your coffee inside, which is just as well as the seating outside, while lovely in the sun and surprisingly quiet given its location on top of Bank Tube station, is rather cramped. Plus when Imprint’s worship band play, the sound is sublime.
Byward Kitchen & Bar at All Hallows by the Tower
Byward Street, London EC3R 5BJ
Good for: Breakfast and lunch, with a fully licensed bar available
Not so good for: The venue is a little difficult to find, hidden behind the church in a walled garden
FYI: Flat white, £3.20. Open daily, 9am–5pm
This “hidden gem” (according to TripAdvisor) is a glass box in a seventh-century church’s graveyard, just west of the Tower of London. It has a fully licensed bar and restaurant, with daring breakfasts — chorizo hash or Indian-style menemen — as well as the “classics”, such as full-English fry-ups, and croissants). Lunch options are less adventurous (fish and chips, burgers and pasta) but looked well made, judging from the plates leaving the kitchen when I entered. You can also, like me, just pop in for good coffee and homemade cake.
The Italian maître d’ was polite but abrupt. It was lunchtime and busy, so I had to sit outside in the cold, at a table next to the graves. However, I was kindly provided with a blanket.
The Wren Coffee at St Nicholas Cole Abbey
114 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 4BJ
Good for: Ambience and a quiet space to work
Not so good for: Thursday lunch meetings. The Wren Coffee closes from 12.45pm to 2pm on that day, when the church runs its weekly service
FYI: Flat white, £3.60. Open Monday–Wednesday, 7am–4.30pm; Thursday, 7am–12.45pm and 2pm–4.30pm; Friday, 7am–3.30pm
My flat white here was creamy smooth, the food selection would rival an artisan bakery chain’s and the merchandise — beans, drippers and coffee filters — is high quality. The Wren sources its beans from Caravan Coffee Roasters and teas from the Brew Tea Co. But the operators do not shy away from the fact that they are also in the God business — a large selection of Bibles and modern Christian writing is spread along one wall. Six people were hunched over laptops, while half a dozen other groups chatted at other tables when I dropped by, but there was ample spare seating. It should also be noted that The Wren’s proximity to FT headquarters Bracken House makes this the de facto coffee shop for the Pink ’Un.
Café Below at St Mary-le-Bow
Cheapside, London EC2V 6AU
Good for: Breakfast and lunch
Not so good for: Early meetings on Mondays and Fridays — the café opens later on those days
FYI: Flat white, £3.50. Open Tuesday–Thursday, 7.30am–2.30pm; Monday and Friday, 11.30am–2.30pm
The mark of a true Cockney is to be born within the sound of the bells of St Mary-le-Bow, but that would be difficult today given its location in the centre of the City, next to the retail hub of Cheapside. The Café Below, in the church’s crypt, is an oasis away from the noise of the streets; it’s library-quiet, in fact, and pleasantly cool on a hot summer’s day.
The service was second to none, possibly because I was the only person there on the Wednesday morning I visited, and every table was jollied up with a jug of flowers.
I’d advise coming here for something more substantial than a flat white. The lunch menu varies according to the season, offering interesting starters and mains options (smoked mackerel pâté with caraway blinis and Korean gochujang chicken were among the options on the day I visited). Sadly, the coffee was a little bitter, the milk not very creamy.
The Good Coffee Kiosk at St Botolph without Bishopsgate
Bishopsgate, London EC2M 3TL
Good for: The soul
Not so good for: An afternoon caffeine hit — the kiosk closes at midday
FYI: Flat white, £2.50. Snacks limited to Divine Fairtrade chocolate bars. Open Tuesday–Thursday, 6.30am–noon
St Botolph was a seventh-century English patron saint of wayfarers, and his name was given to the four churches at the entrance to the City’s ancient gates. This one is a stone’s throw from Liverpool Street station, but a funny thing happens when you step off the main drag of Bishopsgate and into the churchyard — you can hear yourself think. Sitting on a bench, I am soothed by a gently babbling fountain and a blackbird chirruping in the trees. A perfect place to unwind, with the added benefit — as the chatty barista at The Good Coffee Kiosk explained — that all the profit goes to good causes, and the coffee beans (from Reading-based Kingdom Coffee, “coffee with a conscience”) and snacks are Fairtrade-approved. My flat white felt like the best I had tasted on my tour, rich and smooth, but perhaps it was the sense that it was doing a bit more than perking up my morning.
Coffee-Bike at St Paul’s Cathedral
Warwick Lane, London EC4M 8AD
Good for: Experiencing a London landmark
Not so good for: Quiet contemplation. Also, the coffee is disappointing
FYI: Flat white, £3.70. Open Monday–Saturday, 9am–4pm
The crypt space of St Paul’s (which, unlike the upstairs, is free to enter) was once a self-service restaurant, but the pandemic put paid to that. Now a couple of young people serve cappuccinos, lattes, flat whites and pastries from a cart (the customer service could be improved — my server was glued to their smartphone). Once I had my drink, however, there was plenty of space available, and by sitting under the nave I could enjoy the heavenly music performances from the cathedral choir, rehearsing above.
What’s your favourite church café in the City — and further afield? Tell us in the comments below. And follow FT Globetrotter on Instagram at @FTGlobetrotter
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