Monocle Cafe - Marylebone

Directly opposite the super trendy Chiltern Firehouse, just off Baker Street is Monocle café. If you are a celeb spotter this may be a good place to hang out, if you can’t get a table over the road! Monocle is first and foremost a magazine; “a global briefing on international affairs, business, culture and design” a world edition, printed in English, with its headquarters in London, but with links to Japan too. The café opened in 2013 and is a place to grab a coffee, pick up the latest edition of the magazine and meet fellow readers (according to the website) but you know that wasn’t the primary reason for my visit….

Pictures of all the dishes are up behind the counter, in a slightly more classy way that the standard greasy spoon set up. And on that rather global style menu is something called a ‘German breakfast’. For £5 you get a selection of breads, ham, cheese and a small salad. Having done a little research, this seems to be the way of the traditional German which surprised me a little, not a German sausage in sight! A slice of rye bread, dense with a nutty flavour and 2 slices of sourdough were fresh and tasty. 2 big slices of quality ham are a natural companion to the mild Emmental cheese, all of which makes for a good value, if not very exciting brekkie! Friends I dined with sampled more interesting choices with the beef katsu sandwich (£6) receiving satisfying nods of approval.

The Allpress brand coffee is the most popular choice on the menu however; west-end hipsters in bowties as well as regulars from the Japanese community sup the strong Arabica flat whites. At £3 a cup it isn’t cheap (compared to the well-priced food options), but it’s made well and hits the spot.

The verdict
Interesting concept café with a well-priced menu, but the German breakfast isn’t very exciting.

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