Amar Cafe — Restaurant in London

[ ] It was interesting to read all these glowing reviews for the recently open cafe. As a resident of Chelsea Green and an active member of the community I was looking forward to addition of a new coffee shop. In the interests of fairness I have tried to everyday this week to visit the cafe in order to give a fair review. My first observation is the price cheapest coffee is £2.80, which 30p more than the Green’s existing coffee purveyor. But for that extra cost one does get more choice. Taste wise I didn’t feel blown away, I have had better and lots worse. It’s subjective whether one likes or dislikes a coffee rather like appreciation of wine. The presentation and execution was faultless as was the expresso maker itself, a vision from future. The obligatory leaf pattern was presented in the expresso foam. Ticking boxes! A coffee shop should have an ambience, a creative atmosphere, the buzz of ideas and the frenzy of chat, here there are none of those things. Even being Covid safe and hygienically spaced you can still have good ambience. The pizza restaurant two doors down has ambience nearly 24/7!. Problem is this cafe doesn’t have any. It thinks it is too cool for school. It’s making all the moves but it might as well be another soulless coffee shop from one of the big chains. Characterless. It is an odd one as it gives off those ghastly pretentious vibes of the hipster coffee shop culture, but without any of the substance those places have. Which is really cynical, as this is not some little unique back street Mecca that coffee disciples from around the globe wish to visit. It’s the corporate wolf in sheep’s clothing. To be completely honest the staff were friendly enough,with only one exception. They went through the motions but like the atmosphere there was no soul. I didn’t feel comfortable here, it was almost like customers are an unfortunate untidiness in the sterile & cliched decor. Nothing about the atmosphere made me want to read there, or write, or sketch, or meet a friend, surely all the things one would want do in a friendly community based cafe. If you want Chelsea elitism and price tag to match this place is for you, if you want people, inspiration and community & a reasonable price, walk 10mins up the road to the cafe at St...

Amar looks cute from the outside but inside it's cramped, the seats are all hard wood planks and the latin music is too loud to carry on a conversation. It's one of those hipster places that calls stumps of wood "seating." There are outdoor tables and chairs which look nice, but it was raining the day I went so I can't comment. A latte is smaller than a normal small size - petite, in fact. Coffee is OK, but not worth the price, uncomfortable seating, loud music, and overpriced espresso. Chelsea Green is a cute area that needs a comfortable coffee shop to meet, chat with friends. A place that fosters community. Brutalist seating is intended to discourage people hanging out, a hold out from the early 2000s when people with no internet would stay all day and only order one coffee. Time...

To begin with, the coffee is great. It's not at a 'wow' level, but already better than a lot of specialty coffee shops. The vibe was great on a sunny day. I'm not a local to the area, but it looks like the place is frequented by locals. Before I came, I read the long comment where the reviewer thought this is another soulless, characterless cafe, 'the corporate wolf in sheep’s clothing'. This may not be a place where intellectual exchanges take place or where everyone knows everyone's name, but I did see people with books enjoying their own time, and customers chatting casually with the staff member over the counter, and young families having a great time. Just a suggestion - can do with a better...