Archived on 6/5/2022

St David Coffee House makes “Best 9 Coffee Shops” - Evening Standard

anon5422159
27 May '16

An article in yesterday’s Standard:

St David Coffee is a wonderful little place with a great atmosphere and probably the best flat white in Forest Hill.

Much deserved mention in the Standard.

RachaelDunlop
27 May '16

Well done, St David’s! I do love their coffee but can’t work in there so it doesn’t feature on my regular roster.

thirstforwine
27 May '16

Why can’t you work there?

StDavid
27 May '16

Thanks again for this xx

anon5422159
27 May '16

@StDavid no problem Sian - glad to have you onboard.

RachaelDunlop
27 May '16

It’s just a personal thing. Most of the tables are too small for laptop and coffee and notebook. They’re also a bit too close together for me to entirely forget my neighbours. And I’m always conscious of people coming and going. I can work almost anywhere but this space just don’t work for me. Which is bad luck for me because they make the best coffee in FH, hands down.

anon5422159
27 May '16

Their table by the window is my favourite for working - I quite like being surrounded by the buzz of people when I’m otherwise zoned-in on my laptop.

Provided people keep their kids at bay, that is.

StDavid
27 May '16

We are just about to take over the downstairs basement flat - building stairs from our shop down into the basement - this will be starting end of June we hope for more seats, lap top space & all that sort of stuff -

RachaelDunlop
27 May '16

I’m normally the same, @anon5422159, I find the white noise in cafes really conducive to concentrating. I’ve worked well in St David’s when I’ve had that table, it’s a peach! And when it’s only half full. But at other times - no. It’s just me and I don’t know why, I’m not normally so fussy. If I were a knit-your-own-yoghurt type I’d say the energy in there doesn’t resonate with mine. :wink:

RachaelDunlop
27 May '16

Now that IS good news!

anon5422159
27 May '16

Excellent news! :grinning:

Baboonery
27 May '16

Well done Sian and the team. Deserved.

My favourite table is the one in the corner by the kitchen, with the big sturdy chair, looking out over the shop.

StDavid
27 May '16

Hahaha thank you! The overlord seat of St David’s!

Londondrz
27 May '16

I just have to say, it is a coffee shop, not a work station.

RachaelDunlop
28 May '16

I agree. However, what I do is work while I eat. I don’t think people should hog tables for hours on end. Just for me, I need to be able to do both, which is why St David’s currently gets less of my custom than some other coffee shops. That custom entails me buying lunch and coffee and having one hour’s dedicated writing time.

Baboonery
28 May '16

I’ll hope to be occupying it in the morning, if I leave myself enough time before my train.

Londondrz
28 May '16

Sorry, that came out wrong as I had not included the smiley. My bad :grin:

RachaelDunlop
28 May '16

You made a fair point though.

Londondrz
28 May '16

Guilty as charged then, I certainly do it. Most of my meetings are in coffee shops. Easy to recognise me at the end of a busy day, I am the VERY wired guy in the corner drooling slightly :dizzy_face:

jrothlis
28 May '16

St David’s makes me happy to live in Forest Hill. It is the highlight of my morning commute to pop in for an insanely delicious flat white every day. I hope they last for ever.

StDavid
29 May '16

Thank you!! Your so kind :kissing_heart: Will see you in week day mornings xxx

TomAngel
1 Jun '16

Indeed - well done St Davids’ - I wrote my novel in there! It’s part of Forest Hill’s marrow

starman
2 Sep '16

How strange. The article is gone. Even did a search on the ES site.

weepy
4 Sep '16

Love St Davids … perfect little nook with gr8 good and coffee !

Please fix your door - it drives me mad .!

Elisa_Arias
18 Sep '16

Is this space open yet?

StDavid
20 Sep '16

End of this month - it will be ready by the 30th of not before! X

Londondrz
21 Sep '16

The iced lattes are great. I had seven the other day. :dizzy_face:

StDavid
21 Sep '16

This is so funny! My member of staff text me at the end of the day & said ‘you won’t believe this but some guy had 7 iced latte today!’ So now we know it was you!! :joy::joy:

Londondrz
21 Sep '16

And it doesnt end there. I enjoyed them so much I went home, ground some beans and made another in my Aeropress. I then ground a lot more beans and started a new cold brew. I have not slept since! :dizzy_face:

starman
21 Sep '16

@StDavid… thought you’d like to know I have friends from Auston, TX in town and they made a special trip to FH just for your coffee.

My friend is a real coffeenista. He secures his beans from a number of sources around the World. He tailors his brew method to the bean. I have had him painstakingly make coffee for me with a Hario V60 and a Syphon (totally worth it but I’m too impatient myself). And yet on his first visit to your shop he thought it was one of the finest coffees he’s had around the World.

Thought you’d like to know.

StDavid
21 Sep '16

Good lord! You must have been bouncing off the walls!!

StDavid
21 Sep '16

Ah wonderful! thank you for this that’s really made my day! We put so much time & energy into our coffee & I’m glad he appreciated it! Xx

Londondrz
21 Sep '16

Nope, coffee has little effect on me. Happy to sit down at 10pm with a nice Sertao Natural after a day of hitting the coffee’s before going to bed.

TomAngel
8 Jan '17

St Davids is fantastic - and where the bulk of the Life Assistance Agency was written. However, I drink tea, so the coffee chat leaves me cold!

anon5422159
24 Jan '17

I’m in St David at the moment and just checked out their new basement area - brilliant for laptoppers and people looking for a quiet little nook with great coffee:

RachaelDunlop
24 Jan '17

That looks amazing. I could definitely work in that space.

StDavid
24 Jan '17

Hay sorry I was a little dazed when you were in earlier!! Thanks for the shout out xx

anon5422159
24 Jan '17

Yikes … I think I was also quite dazed when I left and I forgot to pay you! :sweat: Will be back tomorrow to do so… and to eat more of your cake. And to pay for it :flushed: Apologies!

StDavid
24 Jan '17

Haha no worries at all xx

starman
25 Jan '17

Great news. Tracey Ullman’s show returns to the BBC next month. Why is that great? I’ve been trying to recall a comedy sketch someone did about an IT consultant working in a coffee house. And because of the leads for the new Ullman season I now remember.

Here is App Guy!

Seems to be more of these about these days.

Londondrz
25 Jan '17

I was int there this afternoon, quite a few people working away. Never understood the attraction myself, I go to coffee shops to get away from work.

starman
25 Jan '17

If I worked from home all week I’d be inclined to seek some social interaction and a change of venue once in a while as well. I’ve one friend locally who does it often. I guess that challenge for these guys like @StDavid is too ensure some middle ground. I’m really looking forward to seeing the expanded venue, but I have been turned off a couple time because perhaps one too many tables are taken up by people working off laptops.

I still go as my Austin, Texas coffee nazi friend thinks they have one of the best poured coffees in the Western World.

I’m a member at Picturehouse Central and one great benefit is access to this amazing bar/cafe with views looking down Lower Regent Street. Except everytime I’ve dropped all the window seats are taken up by one person with a laptop out and a cold cup of coffee.

Londondrz
25 Jan '17

That is something that bugs me. Table for 4 people taken over by one person and a laptop meaning that groups will come in and have to leave as there is no seating.

RachaelDunlop
25 Jan '17

I might hog a table for two with my laptop but would always avoid taking a table for four. The new space in St David has tables for four or more so if it was me and my laptop by ourselves, I’d use the long counter at the back. It might get a bit weird if it gets crowded, though!

The reason I use coffee shops for working is that my home is my other workplace, where I revel in my domestic duties. As a dyed-in-the-wool procrastinator, I can always find something that needs doing other than sitting my butt down and doing some writing. I have to relocate myself somewhere where cleaning the fluff out from behind the toilet doesn’t suddenly seem more appealing than the writing.

anon5422159
1 Feb '17

Congrats @StDavid - another mention - this time, Londonist:

anon5422159
8 Feb '17

12 posts were split to a new topic: Music in St Davids basement

divya_m
9 Mar '17

I was in the area visiting some nurseries ahead of our move next month. Stopped by for a coffee and cake and I must say the flat white was spot on and the lemon polenta cake was absolutely divine.

anon5422159
8 Mar '17

@StDavid makes a lovely velvety flat white :thumbsup:

Pauline
9 Mar '17

Welcome to our hood.

AndyS
10 Mar '17

Saw your comments “next door” in response to Mr ViewHill or whoever. Good work!

starman
15 Mar '17

As I was quite early for my train (or late depending o perspective) I popped into St Davids for my morning coffee as an alternative to On the Hoof.

Music. Lovely and definately at the right level. Disconcerting though was the tables of singletons almost all with heads in laptops. No couples. No families. No chit chat. Felt more like that a cafe in the middle of some oh so trendy Hoxton hot desking office. Not so much a community based coffee house. But maybe that is a morning thing.

That said. Coffee sublime. Must buy the beans next time but I doubt I could recreate that Flat White at home.

RachaelDunlop
15 Mar '17

I’m happy to report the last time I was in meeting a friend for a coffee there were plenty of other people doing the same, and there’s quite a few young families in for lunch most days. But still room for the singletons with their laptops, of which I am occasionally one.