KURO COFFEE — Restaurant in London

Mediocre coffee paired with rude, unhelpful staff. More interested in talking to each other than making the space welcoming - I felt like I was intruding just walking in - weird vibes - clearly a toxic culture. The staff in the coffee shop stared at me but didn’t acknowledge me then acted like taking my order was a chore.

Before even going to the coffee shop; I visited their cafe next door. It was around 2pm and I hadn’t eaten anything so felt quite faint - I asked the waiter if it would be alright to work on my laptop whilst having lunch - he was so rude and so dismissive of me. He spoke to me like I was stupid and directed me to the coffee shop next door, assuring me they had seating.

I didn’t mind the zero laptop policy at the cafe, in fact the reason I asked was because I thought they may have a zero laptop policy anyway - I was planning to stay and eat regardless, but that interaction with the waiter was so bad of-course I didn’t stay. I should add that he also rolled his eyes and walked away from me to end the conversation, so I wasn’t really even given the choice to stay.

Back to the coffee shop - the coffee came in a beautiful cup however to my disappointment, it was burnt. I ordered a pastry which was delicious though. The lighting on ground floor of the coffee shop is low but upstairs has bright, natural lighting.

The seats are minimal and uncomfortable. The staff directed me upstairs for seating, yet when I went upstairs all the staff were sitting there doing work and again it felt like I was intruding on a private space. It was bizarre.

I wouldn’t have stayed had I been feeling well, believe me I didn’t want to, but worrying I would faint, I decided to sit upstairs, have the coffee and charge my phone (no plugs by the way, I used my laptop as a power source). I should also mention that after all of that, I didn’t even use my laptop because they only have one large table upstairs at the coffee shop which, as I previously mentioned was in use by their staff - all on their laptops funnily enough.

I won’t be returning, nor will I be recommending to anyone I know. It was clean, at least and I enjoyed the playlist.

Honestly, It’s a shame - I wonder if the owners know of the unwelcoming atmosphere and culture their staff have created - or perhaps the owners are just as rude and obnoxious? 🤷🏻‍♀️

Overall experience: 3.5/10 Staff: 1/10 Atmosphere: 1/10 Coffee:...

12:45pm, Sunday. 31/08/25 KURO COFFEE

Food & Drinks: my Latte had balanced taste, good coffee beans, thank you barista ☕️ and paired beautifully with banana cake. Recommend the banana cake 🌟 Flat White, "was too milky, couldn't taste the 'Kuro' in coffee".. in this particular serving ~ Iced Matchaccino; matcha was of good quality, however a conservative amount; tasted a little too much cream and milk. Though I've not tried myself yet; I believe the normal matcha may be a better choice here. Matchaccino greatly suited for those whom are starting out to try matcha.

Atmosphere: for a small coffee shop good outside bench seating upstairs, windows letting in natural light; seemed like a nice space to work/ light reading. Though, can be a little crowded since as it seemed to allow laptops on weekends - if you're more than two, it'd be better to just take away and sit out in the sun.

Service: Usually I don't mind a good coffee with a little sass or attitude, especially I understand Notting Hill can get quite busy and stressful when comes tourist szn. I can't help I'm excited to try KURO for the first time with my friends and captivated by the smell of grounded coffee beans☕️ and can be a little indecisive even if I agreed to confirming the order :')

It being a nice sunny Sunday early afternoon.. before heading to KURO Bagels which is lovely by the way ~ !

I had looked away for the mere moment after ordering to look once more at the ceramic tumblers..when she called out to me to pay I said after looking for the card machine and realised the payment screen "ahh sorry I forget I need to get use to the large touch screen payments" however, the lady interrupted my apology with a glare "you mean you forget to pay?!" in a discourteous undertone.

Yes, I may look young.. but sadly ignorant with technology as I work creatively offline. If I've upset the lady in some way, bc it either seemed like I was going to sit down (small shop; bench right next to tumbler shelf) or held up a potential queue for a minute.. I wish you well and hope you get some good night's rest after a long weekend of work🙏

Will try the matcha from KURO BAGELS next time, the atmosphere there is very inviting and the staff are attentive and patient 🫶 (^will...

There’s a blonde white woman working at this café who was extremely rude and disrespectful. After asking for my name which I assume she did because she didn’t want to try pronouncing it, she still called me by the drink name instead. I didnt mind if she wanna pronounce my name or not at all. BUT when I simply picked up my coffee without saying or doing anything and smiled to her, she rolled her eyes at me. I suspect this place may have issues with racial discrimination.

When I left a review on Google Maps describing what happened, instead of apologizing for their staff's rude behavior, the cafe responded by calling me "rude" and accusing me of "using racism as an excuse." This is deeply disappointing. To all non-white customers and anyone who genuinely stands against racism: I hope you to think twice before supporting this business. They are very typical.

This business just ignore the rude staff member’s behavior and turning it around to accuse the customer — who was treated unfairly at this café instead. Interesting. the person who made a racist remark is now accusing the person who felt discriminated against of misusing the word “racism”.

When their staff treated me with rudeness, I still responded with a polite smile. That was my return for their unreasonable behavior — a gesture of kindness offered voluntarily, because they certainly didn’t provide a friendly service.

After I described in detail everything that happened, they failed to explain their actions, and instead resorted to vague, ChatGPT-style corporate talk to accuse a customer who responded with kindness — attempting to provoke anxiety and distress in return. Maybe this is the culture of...