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There are a whole host of excellent speciality coffee shops in the City of London these days but somehow it's taken me a decade to visit  Host Cafe , which opened up inside the Church of St Mary Aldermary in 2012. In my defence, it's closed at weekends and I'm blessed with very few free weekdays in London. And when there's been a church on the site for over 900 years, what's another few months? The main entrance is on Watling Street — a road that's more ancient still, once forming the south-western border of the  Danelaw (as Dave Jameson would be very pleased to tell you) — but you can also enter via Queen Victoria Street.  The Gothic-style church is beautiful inside with high ceilings and impressive plastered vaulting. The cafe is located near the entrances: the coffee bar is set up next to the pulpit, with various sets of tables and chairs clustered nearby, with bench-style seating as well as sofas. There are also seating options in the courtyard outside. Or ...

I never could get the hang of Wandsworth. Like Southwark, it's a London borough and a district, which confused me. And in any case, that part of south-west London is poorly connected to my part of south-east London. All of this is a long-winded way of saying that it's taken me much longer than it should have to visit Story Coffee 's Wandsworth location. But I'm very glad I did! It helped that I was meeting a friend better trained on the District Line than me. Besides, the sun was out and a lazy, alfresco brunch-time catch-up was just what the doctor ordered. I caught the train to Wandsworth Town, and made the short walk past all the eateries on Old York Road to the Ram Quarter, a newish development that combines some of the period features of the old site with some shinier glass buildings. There are a few places to eat, with a new branch of Friends of Ours  coming soon. Story Coffee is closer to the Wandsworth High Street side of the Ram Quarter. It has a large outdoor ...

Since I put together my London brunch guide a few months ago, I've been drawn more than ever to speciality coffee spots that do a mean brunch. The perfect example of this is  Brunswick East  in Dalston, which serves creative, Australian-inspired brunch dishes alongside its coffee offering. I enjoyed my first visit, a few weeks ago, so much that I went back for more last weekend! Brunswick East has been around since 2015 and there's also now a second location (Brunswick East Bakehouse) in Hackney Downs. The original is just a few moments from Dalston Kingsland station, tucked away in Stamford Works, just off Gillett Square. There's a large courtyard seating area, which you need to walk through to get to the main entrance. If it's a sunny day, come early if you want to secure an outdoor table (or you can book ). I ended up sitting inside both times: the shape of the building divides the space into several semi-separated seating areas. My friend and I sat near the back so...