What!? London quality independent coffee shop in the middle of Surrey!? What is the world coming to?
This place CLEARLY doesn't fit the style, decor, and the patrons who regularly ply up and down Station Approach in West Byfleet, but I DON'T CARE! It's clientele are obviously younger, hipsters who live in Surrey and yearn for a bit of London's great coffee scene near their place of abode.
The decor inside is a mish-mash of design favorites (see attached picture), and quirkly items - like a drum-set cymbal lamp, and old school whiteboard (that actually does rotate) that display's the fine selection of coffees at Taylor's. Nothing on this street is really all that independent, except for the JJ's Diner right next door. But this, this is a case study in the hopeful revival of the great British high street.
Two flat whites, a flip through the Independent on Sunday... Oh, the coffee... Never did a flat white taste this good. It's from organic beans that are roasted on Brewery Road in Woking. WHAT!? A local roastery in Woking?! GET OUT! The flat whites are of an equivalent standard as the coffee shops in East London, but let me say, that there is something better about this coffee now that I know it's is independently roasted, it's not "Union" coffee, nor do I have to travel into London for a great place with a great atmosphere. I was slowly twitching to move back to London, but this place gives me one less reason to move back. I'll never need to sit at home on a Saturday morning trying to read my Monocle magazine with a cup of cafetiere coffee ever again. Taylor's you might have just saved my sanity. Kudos. See you next Saturday. read more