There's a rather large Morrisons in this shopping center, and I'd always passed Esquires, assuming it was awful because of its location. I stopped in last week and was pleasantly surprised by the friendly staff, decent, strong coffee and the really nice seating options.
Study spot requirements:
Plentiful seating: Tons. There's a large table that would seat 8, bistro-style tall tables, regular-style 4 and 2-tops, arm chairs, couches and benches. The space is quite large and nearly all of the seating is close to a window, with prime people-watching possibilities if it suits your fancy.
Locally owned: No. This is a small American chain, I guess. They have 5 shops in London and a couple dozen sprinkled in 6 countries.
Relaxed atmosphere: The atmosphere mimicked a decently-sized Starbucks, basically. The staff walked around occasionally to clear, but weren't at all bothersome. Actually, on a side note, an obviously crazy, possibly drunk man walked up to me while I was there reading and screamed "What? You need all of this fucking space?!" because... I was sitting at a table? I'm not really sure what the issue was, the place wasn't crowded, but he was angry that I was there. Then he sat down at the table, after making a few more remarks, and started talking really loudly on his phone. Then he hung up and started hollering about the "disgraceful war down there in Yugoslavia" when he found out I'm studying, well... war. An employee actually came over, nonchalantly, with a bus tub, and suggested that the guy move to another table, and tried to persuade him away. They were unsuccessful and were cussed at, too, but I thought it was quite nice of them to throw themselves in the fire with me. Like I said, friendly staff. After the guy left, the employee came back to apologize for the inconvenience. Cutie.
Quality coffee: My Americano was strong and tasty. They have the regular assortment of coffee drinks, really... like a Starbucks. One little thing I did like was the option of simple syrup along with the other standard sweeteners. Small thing, but good to know if you prefer your coffee iced. They also have little bottles of loose leaf tea to smell to decide which kind to get. Those were two little touches you don't get at most chains.
Snacks: Pastries, cakes, cheesecakes, cookies, those kinds of things
Price: Coffees were in the £1.50-3 range, with a medium Americano at £1.80
Certainly, this isn't the most charismatic or interesting place you could go to get a coffee, but it was a nice experience for setting-up camp and getting some work done in a place with plenty of space. I feel like you could sit there for a few hours without any strange looks, and the coffee is a little less costly than elsewhere, so you could do it with more caffeine (or less guilt), too. And they're open past regular business hours, which is a good find in the neighborhood.
Mon - Wed 6:30AM - 8:30PM
Thurs, Fri & Sat 7:00AM - 10PM
Sun 8AM - 8:30PM read more
