14 April 2014

The Caffeine Chronicles: Hej Coffee Review

The London Marathon meant that while I wasn't exactly trapped south of the river yesterday, but it was definitely easier to stay on the right side of the Thames. Luckily, it was a beautiful sunny day and I had a new purveyor of coffee to visit: Hej Coffee in Bermondsey Square. Hej, which, of course, is the Swedish for "hello" first appeared on my radar last September, when they ran a coffee cart on the square during the Bermondsey Street Festival, as Fika & Folly, their former identity.


Now, Hej's coffee shop and barista training academy is finally open in the green building in the corner of Bermondsey Square near Tower Bridge Road. Excluding Monmouth's Maltby Street outpost, Hej is now my closest independent coffee shop and it's a welcome new addition to Bermondsey.


Inside, the café is light and airy, and it's impossible to ignore the Scandi touches in the décor, including the moose on the wall, which has been upcycled from an old tractor. The big windows let in a lot of light and offer a gorgeous few of the blossom-filled trees in the churchyard and even of the Gherkin.


Hej are starting to serve food but it was a little early for lunch so I just ordered a macchiato and one of the "everything" cookies, which involved chocolate chips, pretzel, marshmallow, peanuts and all sorts of other goodies. The salted caramel blondies also looked amazing.



Although my macchiato was a little wet for a "dry" mac, the coffee was really good — smooth and rich. They get their beans from Sweden, naturligtvis, and they have the most beautiful purple espresso machine. I'd love to see an Aeropress or pourover on the menu too, but for now I'm more than happy with the macchiato. Oh, and it goes without saying that the cookie was awesome. The sweet treats are all around £2 and my skinny mac was £2.10.



Hej Coffee. 1 Bermondsey Square, London, SE1 3UN (Tube: Bermondsey or Borough). Website. Twitter.

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous13:36

    I've heard a bit about this cafe, although not had a chance to visit as yet. I understand that the furniture is made from recycled coffee beans! Hil.x

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    1. It's definitely worth a visit. Interesting too about the furniture!

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  2. I went last weekend and loved it. They sell flowers now as well, which really brightens up the square. It was almost like being in the south of France.

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    1. The flowers are lovely and the outdoor tables in the square are great for people-watching!

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