I am heavily influenced by Monocle, I believe that Monocle is more than just a media. It is a lifestyle. Given the opportunity to visit the Monocle Cafe in London, as an avid follower, I had the urge to check out the cafe myself.

Nestled in the Marylebone neighbourhood, the Monocle Cafe embraces the classic essence of Monocle - simple, hipster, diversely global and refreshing.



The interior is noticeably narrow. Extra seats are available on the lower ground, however the entire cafe is designed in a minimalist fashion that you won't feel cramped up despite the lack of space. They have a basic menu and a typical range of coffee selections.


On our table, we had chicken katsu sandwich, Scandinavian breakfast, flat white and latte to start our day. Overall the food was great, the coffee was average and the service was acceptably fast. This place is a cafe for everyone. Whether you're with friends for a meet-up or a writer looking for a caffeine fix, it fits those moments you're looking for. And, definitely, it makes every Monocle fans feel at home.


Location:
18, Chiltern Street, London

Opening hours:
Mon-Wed 7am til 7pm
Thu & Fri 7am til 8pm
Sat 8am til 8pm
Sun & Bank holidays 8am til 7pm

Price range:
£3 - £10

Out of the States, you can only find this in UK & Japan. I woke up super early for this, as I was not keen to queue for it...

Expect to see other pastries along the way too..

Their pastries are so pretty, I wish I had room for everything!

As I visited the cafe in London, I picked the Paris-London.

Frozen S'mores (£7.20)

This has got to be my favourite for the day!!! Torched, soft and fluffy marshmellow wrapped around Tahitian vanilla ice cream that's still frozen inside... Every bite is super heavenly!

Cronut of the Month : Mandarin Jam with Valhorna Tivara & Milk Chocolate Ganache (£4)

Did not really like the cronut in London as compared to NYC - was not as flakey... It just had the texture of a donut more like it.

Paris London (£7.50)

Earl grey mousse and lemon curd - no ladies can resist lemon curd! At least the people that I know.

Likes: Very "Instagrammable", picture worthy, beautiful pastries, convenient. Will definitely be back for pastries

Dislikes: Not cheap - a standard pastry would cost you at least £6 each, and even more if you dine in. Cronut is not as perfect as New York's version. Will definitely not order the cronut again

One of the things you have to do in London, is to have an afternoon tea. If you love afternoon tea and Disney at the same time, here are two afternoon tea in London that you shouldn't miss.

This was the only tea room available in Fortnum & Mason at point of visi, without a booking and the queue wasn't particularly long.

The afternoon tea set, not the best but it was OK for an affordable session! Not too many things on the plate like the usual afternoon tea spread for those who just wants the scones!

*Reservation is recommended.

Fish and Chips

Some photos which were meant to be posted long ago. W's afternoon tea set is probably different now. Nevertheless, their tea set is beautiful!

 Still not very good at coffee, but at least I didn't find it diluted. It was alright but not something to shout about.

Pretty little cakes at The Tea Room, Harrods London.

Don't know what Rose Tea they served but it was just sooo good. Being biased but tea in London is always good :P Especially when they use the entire bud instead of dried shattered leaves which you can barely tell how it looks like!

No tea is complete without some scones!

Scones with clotted cream. The texture of the cream is SUPER smooth! It was served chilled, so much so that I thought it was ice cream.

Cake Selection

If you haven't booked any famous tea places in London, this is the place you can go for last minute afternoon tea experience. Instead of paying 70 quid per pax, 40 quids is enough to feed two person. Of course you don't expect as much, but still anything in Harrods serve decent quality. But be mindful that you're not paying hotel prices, so don't expect hotel standards.

Who needs a real rose when you can have the ice cream!!!!! Real roses will DIE!

The lady who served me said I could pick as many flavours as I want. The one in the middle is the "main" flavour; pistachio gelato. It's probably the nicest Pistachio flavoured gelato I've tasted!!! The rest are just all mixed flavours I can't recall what's what.

Amorino can also be found in a few other countries. Click here for all countries.

Very thinly prepared "pancake" (crepe) and generous amount of nutella topped with banana slices

There are so many choices to pick from - from sweet to savoury with over 20 choices (or more!). Avocado, nutella, banana, strawberry, cheese, bacon, too many to even remember all of it! It is freshly made and served hot - it is so good it melts in the mouth! If you're not one with big appetite do order one to share. One portion is pretty huge and filling. I'm not quite sure of the savoury pancakes (the combination doesn't sound right to me), but the sweet pancake, something with nutella is definitely the right choice if you can't decide. I didn't pay much attention but I remember they do serve other types of desserts too, like ice cream.

 Lynette insisted that Pinkberry's frozen yogurt is the best!! I... have no absolute idea what Pinkberry was until she told me! The first thing in my mind when she mentioned frozen yogurt was Tutti Frutti... which wasn't really that great. 

 But I have to agree with her that Pinkberry is AWESOME!!! You get to try the flavours before picking it.. The coconut seems OK too but I ordered the strawberry and mango. Maybe I'm not a fan of coconut that's why I think it's just OK.

And why do I agree that it is good? It's really, really light and flavourful. My favourite would be the strawberry. Unlike Tutti Frutti which is slightly thicker (like ice cream), Pinkberry is light, smooth and refreshing...

The frozen yogurt comes with toppings as well, with a little extra fee. Topping includes chocolates, fruits, nuts, cereal, depending on what you like. I... prefer plain yogurt. I can't remember the price of it but it's not expensive. Probably costs less than £3 for a small cup. Actually the small cup is quite huge... Ask for two flavours if you can't decide, it'll amount to the same price anyway. 

 Mino Japanese Restaurant, the one and only decent Japanese cuisine in town.. Apart from sushi and sashimis they do serve desserts as well. They have different promotions from time to time, currently they serve free green tea ice cream for every check-in with a photo. 

 Just show it to them and you'll get it. Easy? Someone taught me how to make green tea ice cream, perhaps I'll write up about it one day, it's really simple but I'm not sure if it works. ^_^

 Coconut ice cream in a coconut shell. Interesting? I mean, having the idea of the ice cream in the fruit itself. Creative! The ice cream is very rich in coconut taste, and it has little bits and pieces of the coconut in it. Someone even mentioned to me that it totally reminds her of the ice cream she had in Bangkok. I've never been to Bangkok, maybe when I do I'll definitely say something about it.

Tiramisu ice cream!! Initially I thought it was going to be "just another tiramisu cake". It does look like a cake, but it's actually the ice cream. It's just like a frozen tiramisu cake, instead of the soft and fluffy cream it's ice cream. I like the idea of it actually, the ice cream is very strong in coffee taste. Yummm

To add on, they are currently doing a 15% off promotion for students so long as you flash your student ID. :)

The Mad Hatters Tea Party

5 Orange Grove,

BA1 1LP Bath

United Kingdom

012 2546 6733