Costa Coffee

I have fond feelings towards this Costa. It is probably the one I have visited the most as it’s nice to sit in the window and watch the world go by!
They have the usual array of cakes and sandwiches and coffees available.
This site gets very busy due to its central location so you usually have to queue. You can also struggle to find a seat at times. Saying that, the trays and rubbish is usually cleared away quickly!

My goodness! This place has been here for an an age and wasn’t even listed on Unilocal!How remiss of me! I have to say, I hadn’t ever stopped in here until Thursday evening… I wanted to make a Skype call and have a cup of tea, but was a little bit out of the way of my usual haunts, so decided I would pop in and give it a go.
Located in the second floor of Waterstones, I hadn’t ever thought to use it just for tea and coffee. My trip to Iceland taught me about how nice coffee shops in bookstores can be (if only Iceland had Unilocal!), so I was warmed to the idea. Firstly, it’s considerably quieter than a normal tea or coffee shop, which is pretty nice actually.
Service was pretty damn good too… One poor lad, no working card machine and a queue of people. He was polite, helpful and ensured that the usual standards were met despite the challenging conditions. I ordered a pot of Twinings speciality tea (a steal at £1.95) and found a table to get settled in.
The place was relatively clean and tidy, but could have been better. Again, with one member of staff and a manager trying to manage the fought — it was understandable — but with the branch being so busy, you would have thought that there would be more hands on deck.
The cake selection looked pretty good and it’s of note that there are GF options available too. I wouldn’t call this a hotspot for tea and coffee (especially with the amazing range of independents in the City), but if you’re looking for a quiet hideout and somewhere to chill, there are certainly worse.