St Ali

It was on an otherwise miserable rainy Thursday morning - the first in January - when we finally made it to this much lauded spot that has been on the hit list for a VERY long time.

The deco inside is brilliantly thought out -it's spacious and on two floors with bare brick walls, chunky dark wooden tables, a living wall of plants and skylight above the huge espresso machine (the first in the UK apparently!).

Top marks for presentation - milk came alongside the jugs of coffee in little glass bottles on individual trays - but I must say I was somewhat disappointed by my coffee. I think this was more to do with the fact that we opted for filter rather than my preference of espresso based flat whites or americano's as well as perhaps slightly overly high expectations having read so much about the place.

I also felt it slightly lacked a cosy buzz and for some reason didn't have that wondrous smell of coffee lingering in the air.

The lunch / dinner menu looked AMAZING though so I am definitely going back for that.