Don't usually come past this way but had a project for the week in the area. Was on the hunt for non-Pret/Costa/Starbuck/Nero coffee and was really pleased to walk past this joint from Holborn station. They have good coffee and a nice selection of counter food. The breakfast menu looked good too (was perving at people's breakfasts - the poached egg with avocado on toast looked banging). I was always in a rush so could only get takeaway. I popped in every morning and the staff were always super friendly in a genuine way. One of them even walked around the counter to hand me my coffee when I was rushing with hands full while paying. They're also very good at upselling, I tried the charcoal bun/pastrami roll today. It was amazing. I'm a bit sad that I've finished my project around here now, but will definitely drop back in if I'm back in the area. The sign outside says The Espresso Room though? They still have the Free State Coffee artwork on the wall though. read more

Free State Coffee - Charcoal bun? Surprisingly light. - Cafes Near Me - London, XGL

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Vietnamese iced espresso? Yes, please! I'm now almost literally flying through my day. After dealing with a sick baby for a few nights and burning the candle at both ends, I believe this coffee was the only salvation for me this morning. So thank you, Yelp app, thank you. Instead of some perfunctory coffee from Nero, Sbux, Costa, Paul, et al -- I did a quick search and landed squarely on nearby FreeState Coffee. A short walk and I was in Viet coffee caffeine bliiiiiiiisssssssssss. Friendly guys, super cool reclaimed-esque decor, pressed juice, artisan coffee and plenty of space. If you are in the area, make this a coffee stop...and you can get some wings, too. read more

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As I know Agent Dale Cooper would agree, this was a damn fine coffee. I had the house blend (the listed notes of raisin I could actually taste, I don't think it was psychosomatic!). It was really good, slightly mild and not at all bitter like a lot of "good" coffees are. They have organic Alpro soy milk and almond milk available for 25p. I about fell over when the barista asked if I wanted it hot or cold! A little hot almond milk came on the side in a little creamer- class! A jar of brown sugar (with a spoon) is on your table. I love the style of the cups and the gentle atmosphere of the space. The barista was funny too! I would definitely go out of my way to come back. Be warned! There are no toilets here! (Run down to All Bar One if needed.) read more

Free State Coffee - House blend Americanos with a side of hot almond milk. - Cafes Near Me - London, XGL

I spend quite a bit of time around Holborn, what with my class and place of employment both being in the general area. As I was very happy to discover, there's no shortage of independent coffeeshops around, Free State being one of them. The buildings around Free State are currently being renovated, which makes it appear that the cafe is closed, but thankfully that is not the case. It's the largest cafe I've been in around here, with plenty of workspace and an extensive bar area that displays insane-looking baked goods (none of which I have tried yet, BUT only because I know that once I start I won't be able to stop and that will be bad for both my wallet and my waistline) and of course, coffee. Speaking of coffee, the lattes here are superb and well worth the price. Service is quick and really great - the same barista was working both times I've been in, and she's so friendly! There's also free wifi and pretty loud music, so Free State pretty much has it all. read more

Free State Coffee - Banana bread and an iced matcha. - Cafes Near Me - London, XGL

Friendly staff and fantastic coffee - breakfast from Freestate is often my morning treat/indulgence. I love their Vietnamese Iced Coffee, but their pastries are equally good. As a non-dairy milk drinker, they also offer almond milk alternatives, which is tricky to find in London (as opposed to soy). Expect queues in the morning though, so be patient and be prepared to wait a bit. Quality of coffee is excellent. read more

Free State Coffee - A delicious flat white to cure the misery of the tube strikes last week. - Cafes Near Me - London, XGL

In an area that has been dying for some decent coffee Freestate has recently opened up. They follow many other small coffee places that focus on providing great coffee, tasty sandwiches and a pleasant environment. There is a brew bar offering single origin drip coffees (made on Hario's V60) at the back. I tried an excellent Ethiopian Yirgacheffe and a very good El Salvador when visiting. All the coffee was sourced from Union Hand Roasted so good quality and nice with some variety, trying to break the dominance of Has Bean and Square Mile Coffee. The pour overs were prepared to perfection and served in very nice cups (have a look at the pictures). There is a good range of sandwiches (both hot and cold), some soups as well as salads and plenty of pastries if one is hungry. Free wifi is also available so could imagine sitting here for a while. Pleasant service and the nice decor (in a sense typical of this type of cafe but I do love the big windows, can imagine sitting with a cup and just looking out at London) of the place makes it a spot I will return to again. read more

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This coffee shop is now called "the espresso room". The coffee here is nice, had quite a lot of tables for sitting down, and has good background music. read more

Free State Coffee - Cafes Near Me - London, XGL

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Hey this place is pretty great! There is free wifi, lots of space, outdoor seating for when it's nice, friendly baristas, good food, and a large window for sunlight to come through. The prices are pretty reasonable. They also have cold-brew coffee. Their food selection varies from sandwiches to pastries to cake. There are a fair amount of outlets as well. On a Sunday, it was not too crowded so it made the perfect workspace. My only complaint was that in two hours I heard a ton of repeat songs so had to plug into my headphones. read more

Free State Coffee - Apricot pistachio matcha blondie - omg. - Cafes Near Me - London, XGL

This is a laptop heavy coffee place trying extremely hard to be cool. It is seriously monochrome in there. The coffee is really good though I don't remember passing three fifty for a latte before. The staff were at the friendly end of the cafe friendliness spectrum. Their cakey things look interesting. All good things, and I will be back the next time I forget how expensive their coffee is. read more

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Nice space near High Holborn. Can be difficult to get a table sometimes! I enjoyed a delicious Flat White.!!! The only thing is the service ... not super friendly but coffee worth sitting in for though . read more

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Good place to have a breakfast brunch with your friends here. A nice coffee place to stop by if you are near holborn. Coffee taste nice but seem not warm enough, nice music background, friendly staffs..lovely atmosphere. read more

Free State Coffee - Cafes Near Me - London, XGL

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Came here on my most recent trip in London on a recommendation by a friend. The cafe's decor is extremely modern with theatre seats and wooden tables. Pretty eclectic furniture. Ordered the latte because my friend swore that it was the best latte she's ever tasted. The latte was good but I'm not sure I'd say it was the best one out there haha. My friend and I were also OBSESSED with the lemon drizzle cake. We came here for breakfast pretty much 3 days in a row and just ordered the lemon drizzle cake with a latte every time. Can't complain. Awesome staff, nice decor, and good drinks -- thats all a cafe needs right? Oh and for lunch they make these little sandwiches and quiches that look amazing, a little too expensive for me though ! read more

Conveniently located not far from Holborn Underground station, Freestate Coffee is a little oasis in a bustling environment with good coffee and delicious food. Freesstate Coffee is a very nice little shop on a very busy street. I would say this is a beautiful, pretty artsy place with quirky furniture and friendly staff. When I went there, I was lucky and an old cinema chair was free by one of the tables. While sitting in my chair and looking out of the window, reading and drinking my very nice flat white, I noticed that some artist was painting coffee shop fronts on the wall. Interesting. I did not only have a coffee, I also had a delightful Pastel de Nata, or Portuguese tart or whatever they call them. It was really tasty, blending different flavours as it should be. Depending on your mood, you might find the music a bit too loud. But as I generally liked the music, I was fine with it. Overall, I am surprised how long it took me to come here for the first time. Freestate Coffee in Holborn is a great place with a good atmosphere and most importantly, also decent coffee and food. read more

Flat white is great, house made lemonade is very nice. Only thing that is not so great is too many people waiting in the line and music is a bit noisy when mixed with people talking.. read more

Free State Coffee - Cafes Near Me - London, XGL

Love the location, coffee, and the seats! Close to Holborn station, but located in relatively a quiet corner. There are power outlets and wifi - good place to sit and do some work. I had a soy latte and "pastel de nata" (if I remember correctly), which looked like a sweeter version of an egg tart, and loved both! Will definitely hit the place again. read more

A quirky little coffee shop that we popped into after walking around the British Museum. As a non coffee non tea drinker they only had a couple of options. Hot chocolate and juice/lemonade. I chose the hot chocolate and it was very good. Not too rich and not too sweet. The decor is really interesting with seats being recycled theatre seats which were super comfortable. Staff very friendly and even lent out an iPhone charger to a customer when asked. read more

Free State Coffee - Cafes Near Me - London, XGL

This place was absolutely packed on a rainy Wednesday afternoon--can seat about 20 and you may need to share a table if you are settling in. They take their coffee seriously (custom drip coffees) and use Union. Free wifi as well. Friendly service. It was really noisy--I think it happened to be the crowds of people popping in and sitting for coffee, cake and conversation. Doesn't have the work feel that other cafes in neighborhoods have--I think this is based on their locale. Also, warning--NO BATHROOMS! Key when you are drinking coffee and settling in for a while.....;) read more

I really want to like Free State: It's a lovely little coffee shop with a lot of character. I love the décor, the rustic wooden tables and beautiful geometric metal tables. They give attention to detail that creates a warm laid back vibe. The coffee also tastes great. Prices are okay. They have a lot of different coffee types and options. I love independents. ...and I want to give them a better review however: They completely forgot to bring one of our coffees even though it was pretty quiet, and the coffee was lukewarm/cool. I assume this is because they used cold milk or the frother isn't up it to temperature. read more

Dirty tables, had to clear one for us to sit at myself. Rushing, slightly aggressive or harried staff. Coffee took a long time to arrive and it came lukewarm to cold. I'm wondering if they delivered it to the wrong table and then retrieved it and gave it to us. Think this place is in need of managing. . I doubt I would return. read more

This place has food and coffee, but I would not go back for either. The iced chai lattes we ordered were so bad we didn't finish them. They just tasted like bitter milk. The croissant (hard and chewy) that I ordered to be warmed up was forgotten about before I asked a while later if it was still on the way. To be fair, he did apologize for the delay. However, It was not a busy day there, as there was only one other table occupied at the time. I also had an issue with payment. I tried to pay with credit card, but they didn't take AmEx. I then tried to pay with cash, but they don't take that either. Cash-free places are fine by me, as long as they accept all credit cards! Overall, everything was overpriced for the quality that it was. It's a place, but I definitely would not recommend it to anyone. read more

Good coffee and pastries such as raspberry pastel de nata!! :) very friendly staff and nice space read more

Free State Coffee - Pastel de Nata - Cafes Near Me - London, XGL

Not far from the Holborn station FreeState coffee is a fantastic coffee shop. It has eclectic interior with lots of little nooks to per on through out (but the space its expansive). The best aspect in my opinion is the brew bar- on the back wall- where different brews can be sampled. Food mostly consists of baked goods (pastries and such) but I believe they also offer small food- like quiches. I haven't had any food here so cannot speak towards its quality. read more

Free State Coffee - Cafes Near Me - London, XGL

We had a very tasty and pretty inexpensive breakfast here. The staff was friendly and helpful and made you feel welcomed. They are playing loud music which is nice but maybe a little bit too loud? I would definitely go back and try one of the pastries. read more

Free State Coffee - Cafes Near Me - London, XGL

Just minutes after sitting down I felt sooooooo stress free, and so peaceful. Good coffee, good vibes, friendly staff, reggae playing on the stereo. I have nothing much more to add. There's lots of nice seating and you can just sit and watch people pass by as they rush to and from work. read more

Another great spot for coffee in Soho. Loved the coffee. There isn't a lot of seating but I went during non busy hours and was seated just fine. Worth a look. read more

Great coffee. I went during a quiet time (early evening) so even though there's limited seating, it was a relaxing place to do some work on my laptop. I was able to sit there for an hour doing work even though I only purchased one cappuccino. Baristas were very friendly and cheerful. A nice alternative to all the Prets and Costas around here. read more

No question the best espresso I've had in London so far. Smooth, rich, just enough acidity to have a bright, fruity finish. Really just top notch. My wife's latte was also perfectly executed. The baked goods and sandwiches looked good but I didn't get anything so can't comment on that. Friendly staff, too. read more

Tried this for the first time based on great Yelp reviews. Very impressed with great coffee (flat white) and yummy toast! read more

Free State Coffee - Great toast! - Cafes Near Me - London, XGL

As an Australian I'm just another coffee snob. Thankfully I have free state to curb the homesickness. The coffee is absolute top quality and never disappoints. Free state also serves a variety of cafe food: sandwiches, muffins, cups of fruit. Again always good quality but sadly lacking in variety - my only complaint! read more

nothing bad at all to say about this nice and lively coffee place. had coffee here a few times now, prices are great for the area - they charge extra for soy/almond milk but that's okay regarding those milks are also much more expensive in store. only ever tried their avo toast, which was very very delicious! keep up the great work guys! read more

Coffee is good and strong but it's way overpriced. My small cappuccino was £2.80 and a large would have been £3.50. A cuppa is £2 (not a pot) and a mocha is £3.60. Prices are ridiculous. The atmosphere is cool but better off going to a Nero if you're concerned of prices. read more

Really good coffee (I had a white americano) crafted with love. Friendly service, relaxed atmosphere, free wifi. This is the kind of place you can sit in peace, working or reading, and enjoying a great cup of coffee. I will be returning. read more

The locaton is good (nice place to sit outside and watch people). I had an English breakfast tea, and they had some fancy complicated way of making it. The guy next to me told me that their tea was great, but I have to admit I thought it was really bad, really over "stewed". I still think the best way to make tea is in a pre-warmed teapot. I also had a coffee once, which was OK, just a bit too bitter for my taste. The pastries are out on boards on the counter, uncovered, which always makes me a bit nervous about dust and customers sneezing - they would be better off under cellophane. Sometimes the staff seem nice and sometimes not so friendly. I might go again, as its still a good place to hang out between meetings or whatever. read more

Had a flat white and a spinach and feta tart while I was there. Both were made perfectly and the staff couldn't have been friendlier. Looking forward to going back soon. read more