Notes Coffee Roasters & Bar | Trafalgar Square — Restaurant in London

Genuinely disappointing experience this past Saturday. Notes of course is well-known for speciality coffee and I look forward to coming here for a drink when I'm in town. Sadly this time was a flop.

I ordered a V60 and at the point of doing so said "I'm happy to wait" because I know this is a bit of a faff to make in a potentially busy shop. Always happy to wait for a good cup, well made. My drink came quickly enough, coffee in a small carafe and a suitably heated mug. From the off it was obvious the coffee wasn't right... no clean and crisp looking brew but rather a muddy dusty liquid with grounds in the bottom of the carafe. No need to taste it... a v60 pour over shouldn't have boulders and fines in it.

I waited until the bar was empty so as not to embarrass anyone in front of a customer and mustered the courage to asked them the awkward question of making my drink again and they kindly obliged without hesitation. A few minutes later, I was given another drink and it was much better but sadly the carafe had not been cleaned sufficiently and it still had grounds in it. I care about coffee and this is genuinely the first time I've ever had to send a drink back in twenty years so I sadly didn't have the confidence to send it back twice in one sitting so I just drank it. Regrettable... the silt lingered on my tongue until I brushed my teeth that evening; distinctly unpleasant.

I was able to see the drink being made the second time around and I observed the coffee mid-brew, being stirred and agitated with a take-away coffee stirrer stick... I suspect it was this practice which punctured the filter the first time and left me with solids in my liquid so to speak.

Upon setting the second cup down with me, the staff member apologised and said "sometimes we have issues with the grinder". Whilst this is no doubt true, the grinder didn't put grounds in the drink and serve it to me, nor the grinder wasn't responsible for cleaning the carafe (!)

All told, the staff were very pleasant but the baristas who made the coffee were not capable of making the coffee in this method nor were they able to discern that they'd done a bad job.

One bad brew won't deter me because everyone has a bad day but two in a row on the same day doesn't bode well.

If you're a coffee fan, I'd swerve Notes and opt for another local place instead. Black Penny round the corner is much...

Sometimes you encounter a place that makes you wonder if a marketing agency has opened up your subconsciousness to create an experience just solely targeted at you.

Laid back coffee shop? Check. Old jazz records used as coincidental decor? Check. James Bond films playing on the TV? Check, check, check (Doctor No, at the time of visit, in case you were asking). Really this place couldn't be designed to appeal to my tastes more if I'd be asked the write down a list of exactly how I'd like to populate a coffee shop. Well, maybe some sofas would have been nice.

But take my personal taste aside - after all, unless you know me, this information will be of little use to you - and what you've got is a damn fine entry into the canon in a part of London where chain coffee shops are ten a penny and a really good coffee shop are considerably rarer.

Situated a hop, skip, and jump from the National Portrait Gallery, Notes manages to be quite unobtrusive yet equally appealing to anybody who wants a daytime meeting or a relaxed bottle of wine or a silky smooth coffee in the evening. Given the amount of cultural references around, it feels somewhat reminiscent of an independent cinema bar, which is no bad thing.

This isn't to say Notes is without criticism. I may have been joking about the sofas but the seats and tables are a little austere and not necessarily designed with comfort in mind, while the service to the tables does err somewhat between languid and scatty at times (in a venue a little larger than a front room, I counted at least three wrongly delivered orders).

Don't let that detract you, though, from the main reason you'll want to visit Notes - exceptionally good coffee in central London at reasonable prices in a venue that your soul won't have visited a thousand...

Some friends and I visited Notes whilst attending the Feast of St George in Trafalgar Square. I'd seen this coffee shop recommended on Londonist this week, and added to my "to visit" list. When everyone decided at pretty much the same time that they needed caffeine, I suggested Notes.

Only a short walk from Trafalgar Square, I was surprised it wasn't busier - I just wonder whether the queue of people waiting to go into the theatre a couple of doors down was putting people off as they were blocking the entrance as we approached.

The decor inside is nicely retro and in keeping with the age of the building. Some might call it hipster, but I would disagree.

The Scottish guy behind the counter was friendly and welcoming and took my order of a flat white quickly. The small selection of cakes and pastries looked really tasty, but I'd already eaten at the Feast.

The seating layout is a mixture of two and four person tables, will a couple of long communal tables.

My flat white arrived in the usual smaller cup (does anyone else believe a flat white should be as large as a latte?). I didn't note the origin of their coffee, but from the amazing flavour I would take a guess at Ethiopian.

The almond croissant my friend bought looked really good, with a good amount of almond paste through the middle.

I lovely little independent coffee shop barely a stone's throw from Trafalgar Square. Price-wise I would say it was on a par with the...