Club 3. Soho

Piccadilly Circus

Kiss the Hippo (Soho)

Bliss Bites

Craft Beer Co (Covent Garden)

Kiss the hippo

Situated just off the south end of Carnaby st. and deep in the heart of media production land, this glass fronted pine clad coffee shop is one of small chain Kiss the Hippo’s quieter locations. Conversations about new Netflix commissions, the merits of different streaming platforms and which Genre has the greatest re-invigoration potential surround you. A beautifully light and airy coffee shop with lovely light is centred around an Island Bar which dominates the room, seating space is limited with small island tables around two sides of the room.

The Coffee

From their Rare and Acclaimed series - a Geisha from Peru.

They say - Pineapple cubes, fruits and a generous Acidity.

Drunk as a pour-over Filter, I say: A delicious coffee, not sure about the pineapple cubes but definitely a delicious fruitiness, a balancing richness with a light lasting acidity, another delicious coffee and a location which I will return to again if I find myself needing caffeination when in the West-End (Central, as I understand it is now being called).

About Kiss the Hippo

We’re Kiss the Hippo, London‘s most innovative and sustainable specialty coffee company. We roast organic, planet-friendly coffee at our state-of-the-art roastery in London, then send it out to discerning coffee drinkers across the UK and beyond. 

We opened our roastery in 2018, and from day one it’s been a hub of sustainable innovation. Since then, we won the UK Barista Championships twice which is a humble reflection of our perfectionist ethos. Kiss the Hippo's ultimate aim is to be regarded as the superior coffee brand of its era.

Things to note: Beans from their own roasters can be bought on site.

Bliss Bite (oak and smoke)

A quick-ish walk through Soho and across Oxford Street took us towards Charlotte st and lunch at Bliss Bite. Bliss Bite has one of the highest ratings for barbecue food in central London (4.9 at time of visiting) and so expectations were set high. What met me was, I must admit, not what I was expecting. The external of the restaurant feels like a/n other Charlotte st cafe or restaurant, no Faux Americana or Nashville rock roll here. The internal to the restaurant continued this slightly confusing feel the interior gave feelings more of a Mediterranean or middle eastern restaurant rather than on serving smoked barbecue food. But as it were to turn out, don’t judge a book by it’s cover, and anyway why should every ‘smokehouse’ have the aesthetic of Born in the USA era Springsteen?

The Food

Beef Burnt Ends with White bread, coleslaw and Pickles.

Matching the environment and aesthetic, the food was not in anyway what I was expecting. The Burnt ends come more as a deeply rich stew than naked burnt ends, the sauce they are covered in more of a gravy than a traditional Barbecue sauce. Again, do not judge; different is not worse. These are delicious. Smoky, beefy burnt ends which can be cut with a spoon, the gravy so abundant with flavour it would be the best ‘Bovril’ in the world if served in a mug. The acidity of the pickles, sweetness of the bread and creaminess of the coleslaw all play their part in making this a lovely and balanced little meal. The portions aren’t massive but make for a perfect lunchtime treat.

craft beer co.

Satiated and feeling happy from rich beefy goodness I headed south towards Covent Garden upon whose North side you will meet Craft Beer Co. This chain has done a lot for the craft beer scene in London and is still one of the only places in the west-end to find a really great and unexpected beer. I always find myself gravitating back to this great little bar with it’s many many UK and international guest beers on both Keg and Cask whenever I find myself in the beer waste-land of the west end.

The Beer

CASK Pub and Kitchen, Indie Rabble and Anspach and Hobday - Iconic Tonic, 5.6% West Coast IPA (Cask).

This collaboration brew between the original Craft Brew co pub - Cask, Indie Rabble from Windsor and Bermondsey’d very own Anspach and Hobday was not new to me, in fact I returned to Craft on this CFB club adventure in the hope it would still be on, having sampled it first a few weeks prior. An absolutely delicious west coast IPA, made only better by being served on cask. Malty and a lovely creamy cask body followed with a big punch of west coast hops. I really do hope that this is here to stay and that one of the breweries involved decide to make it ‘core’. An absolute belter of a beer.

The Coffee

Bliss Bite

Burnt Ends

The Beer

Craft Beer Co