The Kitchen and Pantry

Wow, what a find. Seriously, if you think it is hard to find a coffee in London, try to find one at Portobello Markets in Notting Hill and good luck. Well you won’t need luck any more because I am telling you where to go! The Kitchen and Pantry. This place is just great. Lots of little pokey holes and corners, tables, benches, couches, and little tiny stools that fit just your coffee on them! They serve it all here, stunning crepes, and fresh juices evident from the massive baskets of fruit that decorate the counter. Treats and cakes in all descriptions and right there for you to really see. Great grab and go options, wraps, ice cream, milkshakes, oh and did I mention the coffee?

I ordered and espresso and although it came a little blonde, for London standards it was really very good. I feel that they over extract the shots a little too much here and if I had ordered a ristretto I think it would have been bang on. However, my espresso was surprisingly smooth and not at all bitter. I had to order a take away latte as well just to make sure they didn’t break my heart with terrible milk like I have found in so many places in London. But again, almost bang on. Great temperature and if they weren’t so busy at the time I think the barista could have taken the time to shine my milk a little more and push the limit. The one thing I find that is missing from the café culture is the enthusiasm from the staff. The love is lost. The experience is just a little more awkward if you order your lunch at the counter and the host doesn’t make you smile, you know? It's very important.
The kitchen and pantry has everything going for it. Great products across the board, you can buy the Café Torelli Arabica and Robusta blend and have it in beans or ground to take home. They have numerous other retail items that are also great too. And all the way from Australia, Byron Bay cookies! A while since I had seen them on a shelf. This café also boasts a lot of seats and plenty of room outside for lunch and also a bench seat for sippers and smokers. I was really stoked to find this place, London does not have enough cafes with character and this place was definitely somewhere to sit all day and watch the human salad that is in Notting Hill. One of the best I have seen in London.

Flat White

flat white noun /Austral. flaat whyette/ /NZ flet wyte/ 1 An antipodean style coffee which is served as a strong shot of espresso served in a small cup with textured milk; a damn good strong coffee.2 51.51 (51°30′) -0.13 (0°8′).flattie noun. colloq. flat white; I’m gonna smash back a couple of flatties bro /NZ/ mate /Austral./

I’m going to say something right now. This is possibly the best coffee I have ever had.
There, I said it and I’d say it again. I have been to this café on numerous occasions and never has my opinion faltered. So then, perhaps I have said it before, but always about this place. It is Flat White, it is owned and run by Aussie’s and Kiwis and if you are a coffee drinker and in London, do not leave without going here. I couldn’t say enough about this place to truly express how good it is. Other antipodean cafes in London which are excellent in there own rights still strive to meet the level of Flat White. Flat White offers two benches in the afternoon sun out the front and faces Berwick St Market in the vibrant heart of Soho. A perfect position to watch the human salad pass by. My espresso was a smack in the face and god damn it was near perfect. A crema so thick and rich that held it’s own and sat on that table telling me it how great it was before I even tasted it. My flat white needed introduction, a Rosetta fit for the queen herself and a taste that cannot be found anywhere else in London. You can really see the colour difference in both of these coffees that I assure you, you do not find in this country. It is the rich dark gold I long for! The milk has a sweetness to it that simply proved how well it was textured before it arrived to me. The kick ass baristas; that I could have hugged because I was so happy to see them, were working away on their La Mazocco machines and trusty old Mazza grinders. I have had the privilege of working with both choice pieces of equipment but these guys proved that it is the barista that kicks that final punch. Boasting a selection of naked portafiltas and showing how well done it all is. I need not talk about anything else but the coffee, but I will. Flat White also provides a basic breakfast and light lunch menu with fine ingredients and tastes to compliment their coffee and not the other way around. They are proud of where they have come from and even have ANZAC biscuits for sale. The music is fitting and I feel very much at home in this café. There is a constant stream of addicted Aussies and Kiwis that clearly visit often. They have all their ducks in a row here, including above all, the charm that comes with passionate Australian staff that really push the experience. I love this place so much it’s worth flying across the world just for a coffee and going home. No word of a lie.