An afternoon pottering round the furniture warehouses of Hollywood Exchange, and if you want something better than the coffee coloured water IKEA serve or the smell of Subway eeks you out (perhaps that's just me) then Costa is your only option.
It is bright and clean, with a good outdoor space that would be pleasant if it wasn't freezing, and it was surprisingly buzzing. It wouldn't be somewhere I would choose to go for a coffee but I suppose everyone else was like me and the overdosing on sofas had made them thirsty.
Look, it's a chain. You get the usual Costa menu. They have nice looking sweet streets, but boy is it slooooow. Really slow. I've never seen such a lack of urgency in barristas before. The queue took ages, and by ages I'm talking almost 20 minutes for a takeaway. I almost gave up.
In the end yes, I got what I wanted, but even for a chain in an industrial estate this place is soulless. If you are having an affair or a bad hair day and don't want to see anyone you know it's perfect. Not if you are in a rush. read more