Bea’s of Bloomsbury

Here is a great place to have coffee. 

Beas’s is on Theobalds Road in Bloomsbury in London and is a combined bakery and coffee-shop.   

I was walking to my next meeting and I wanted coffee and I wanted to feel like I was having coffee, not sit in a chain-cafe with a cellophane-wrapped brownie.   I wanted Hemingway in Paris, not Joe Ordinary at Heathrow Airport.  Well, the Van Rijn subconscious good taste kicked in as I passed the door of Bea’s.

Beas is a combination bakery and coffee shop.  Literally.  The front of the shop is a coffee/tea cafe and the backroom is Bea’s bakery.  The bakery room is raised up a couple of feet but entirely open.  You can see everything and watch the bakers at work.  When I was there they seemed to be making meringues the size of small trucks.  I do not know how they get the air-con to work with two such different environments but they do and the coffee-shop in front is comfortable.

Bea’s has lots of glass shelves holding lots of cakes.  The wall’s are a gray-blue-green wallpaper with a floral overprint that looks oriental.  The overall effect is modern but somehow very comfortable.  The room is long and narrow. split about equally between the counter and table space.  At the end of the counter they have a large and bulky coffee machine that looks like it was converted from a piece of Bugatti chassis.  It has more brass than a steam train.     

The staff are welcoming, the display’s are good, it is easy to see what they are selling.  As a man that works for me, I like the simplicity and ease of service.

Coffee and Food 

The important things first.  They make a superb cup of coffee.  Without exaggerating I can say it was the best coffee I have tasted in recent years.  I am really particular about the coffee I drink (look for a coffee posting soon) and this was the best.  Secondly the food.  I did not have any of the cakes but they look inviting and inventive.  Some of them are mini-works of architecture.  However the sandwich of the day was Chicken Caesar and that was just excellent, really tasty.  The service was quick too.

So I asked about the shop.  They are a cake shop and sell all manner of cakes large and small that Bea makes (more about Bea in a moment).  They also make cakes to order, and I suggest you look to their website for that.  They also run the coffee shop. 

They do not have a big menu, except for the cakes, which seem to run to several pages.  But from my experience what they do they do well.  They sell coffee, tea and hot chocolate (the chocolate is Valrhona, the French gourmet chocolate) some sandwiches of the day, some soups and some stylish and original salads.                     

Good atmosphere 

Everything about this place was good.  The tables are nicely spaced, the acoustics are good and the ambient noise not too loud, the atmosphere (aided by the bakery at the back) is pleasant and unhurried.  If I had one criticism it was that it was a little untidy, with pieces of cardboard boxes stacked against the counter.  Still, it was the end of lunch, which I guess is their busiest time, so maybe they had not caught up yet.  

Bea’s is also a little sexy.  When you see people who are really good at their jobs and mesh together well, handle the work elegantly and without strain, there is something sexy about that competence.  I do not know how politically correct they are at Bea’s but I can see it, and it’s my blog, so I can say it.

Bea’s works on a summer’s day and is cool and laidback.  It is the kind of place where, if it was hammering a thunderstorm outside, you would just want to sit and drink coffee until it was over.     

I looked on their website and found out a bit more about them.  Bea’s is the inspiration of Bea Vo, who is the founder/head chef.  She has a CV of culinary expertise as long as your arm.   She has four businesses running in the shop:

The Bakery, both retail and bespoke cakes (bespoke cakes, that fits right in on this site)

The Coffee shop

A cookery school, for anyone who enjoys good food

A corporate food service. 

Their food is home-made and locally sourced wherever possible.  They operate a green business and they source their coffee from independent roasters.  They call the coffee machine “Enzo” and pride themselves on making great coffee.  What clinched it for me was when I left there was a man sitting in the sunshine at one of the outside tables, wearing shades and drinking a cappucino.  Perfect.  

I took the picture above from their website.  Next time I go I will take some pictures and post them.   Beas’s has style, go try them.

If any of our readers know Bea’s and want to comment, please feel free to do so, it would be interesting to get more impressions of this fun coffeeshop.

Details:  

Bea’s of Bloomsbury 

44 Theobalds Road,

London

Tel:  44 (0) 207 242 8330 

www.beasofbloomsbury.com