The ICA Café Bar

Study spot requirements:
Plentiful seating: There is space both up some stairs near the bar, and on the main floor. The tables and chairs reminded me of a cheap elementary school gymnasium, but there were plenty of them.
Locally owned: Well, maybe on a grander scale. The point of this criteria is to weed out any chains or businesses with poor practices, and a place that was «founded by a group of radical artists in the 1940s and exists to challenge the foundations of contemporary art» definitely qualifies.
Relaxed atmosphere: Relatively, yes. The place is big enough that I can’t see the staff hovering or really caring how long you’re there. The crappy furniture would be modern and simple in another environment, maybe, but I sat downstairs, and the crappy furniture with the backdrop of walls in need of a painting, industrial doors and awkward architecture made it feel more like a basement.
Quality coffee: As I visited in the evening, and didn’t need to do that much work, I had a beer, so the jury is out on this one.
Snacks: They have a full menu with burgers (including an eggplant and zucchini mess) and snacks and desserts. I had that mess, and although the cheese was different from the menu, and the sauce wasn’t there either, the creation I was handed was pretty tasty and was served on a toasted, delicious bun with really good chips.
Price: Being in a gallery in that location, the prices were a bit more than you’d expect to pay for the same stuff elsewhere, but you can take a break and browse, so you have that benefit for the higher prices.
Wi-​fi: Free and fast, and with tons of outlets for charging.

The ICA Café is one of my favourite places in London for a spot of wifi-​surfing. Its large skylight and white walls ensure the Café is reliably bathed in natural light. Add in the artsy atmosphere, and this is a perfect place for a bit of engaging in a bit of Internet-​assisted alternative thought.
The bar itself is pretty decent too, serving a small range of bottled beers, tea, coffee, cake and more substantial food like burgers. The staff are friendly and the service quick. A great place to escape to from the London hubbub.

Since there’s no general ICA entry, I’ll just add a review to the café and talk about everything else anyway… The food is good, the staff are reasonably prompt — aside from the café there’s a 2 screen cinema, generally showing indie and/​or foreign films, most of which I’ve seen here have been very good (e.g. Kitchen Stories); there’s a couple of art gallery rooms and a theatre where I’ve seen a couple of gigs of varying quality (Black Kids — ok-​ish, The Fields — Excellent, The School Of Seven Bells — shoot the sound guy, couldn’t hear a thing over the keyboard)

The Tuttle Club runs from 10am-12.30pm at the ICA café on a Friday. It is a great hotspot for media types who congregate with their laptops and sit in comfort with a coffee, beer or glass of wine in hand. Whether the majority are working or Unilocaling is unknown. There is certainly a busy conversational vibe. Rubbing shoulders with photojournalists, editors, marketing directors and designers can never be a bad thing. Everyone seems happy, approachable and it is common for strangers to start up conversations. In fact a gentleman name Lloyd wandered around and positively encouraged socialising.
The cakes are pretty good but the icing to sponge ratio on the cup cakes is insane. (Check the photographic proof tomorrow) Apart from this oversight or comedy gaffe, this airy, bright café full of professional media folk enjoying themselves and networking is great.

On a rare Friday off, I was able to pop into the ICA café on a Unilocal Office Hours meet to say hi to the Unilocal gang. The Institute of Contemporary Art is situated on The Mall, smack bang in the middle of touristy London but it’s easy to walk past it if you didn’t know it was there. Thanks to Laura N for pointing out this intimate little café.
The only barrier would seem to be a rather officious front desk. After being disappointed earlier this week with the lack of a Soup Nazi experience at Nin Com Soup, the frosty greeting at reception more than made up for it. Fortunately, I ran into Chris R just outside, who had run the gauntlet of the front desk already. The ‘Tuttle Club’ seems to be the ‘open sesame’ to the ICA on a Friday morning.
I arrived to find the Unilocal gang beavering away on laptops. Free wifi, nice cupcakes and networking opportunities with other web-​savvy British companies make it an ideal base.
I enjoyed a chance to chat and catch up with Unilocal buddies new (welcome Linzi M and Ciaran R) and old, finalise plans for the Thorpe Park Unilocal Day Out and watch the horsemen out of the big windows. Interesting that strangers were up for a chat and we were able to spread the Unilocal lurve a little further.

The ICA Café is a work-from-homer’s paradise and a rather unknown little gem among a mass of tourist traps.
Skylights and windows overlooking the Mall provide a well lit loft-​like atmosphere and the trendy modernist styling makes me feel like I am sitting inside of an Ikea catalogue.
It’s usually filled with internet-​types, mooching off the fast and free wifi, sipping their black teas and espresso shots, obsessively checking their twitter pages, and typing a million words a minute. But whether you fancy a glass of wine, a pint of beer (5 on tap, may I add), or like me you come here for your weekly cupcake indulgence, this is a fantastic hidden spot to spend an afternoon with your laptop and a large online to-​do list.