The Caffeine Chronicles: Wild & Wood Review

The cronut — a rather sinful love-child of a croissant and a doughnut — has recently crossed the Atlantic and made its way to London. I had heard that the Holborn coffee shop Wild & Wood was offering Silician lemon cronuts, courtesy of Cocomaya, and as I'd been meaning to visit Wild & Wood for a while, I decided to wander over this afternoon.

Wild & Wood Coffee, New Oxford Street.

Wild & Wood is at the Holborn end of New Oxford Street, an unlikely location for a good independent coffee shop, perhaps, given its proximity to the hoards of Oxford Street and the British Museum. Inside, it is kitted out with antique church furniture and wood-pannelled walls, which means it feels a lot like Monmouth's Covent Garden branch (Monmouth also provide the coffee). There are a handful of small tables inside and, at the moment, a few more on the pavement outside. It's a cosy place, although sitting inside would probably be nicer in winter than on a hot, sunny day like yesterday.

I'd already had a delicious custard doughnut at St John's Maltby Street outpost after my run yesterday morning, so technically I didn't really need a cronut today, which was lucky because Wild & Wood were all out (they are getting more on Monday). They had various other cakes — also from Cocomaya — but I stuck to my double skinny macchiato. It may well be the prettiest macchiato I've had in a long time. When it comes to crockery, I alternate between minimalism and older, flowery designs, and Wild & Wood used a cup with smooth, clean lines, and a suitably flowery saucer.

Double macchiato at Wild & Wood.

The coffee was good. A little more milk than I usually prefer in my double mac, but then I'd been saving room for the cronut so it didn't matter too much today. When I went to pay, I was surprised to find that my coffee was only £1.30, which is cheaper than Nero et al., let alone most of the premium coffee bars.

If you're near Holborn and in need of coffee, especially if it's a weekend and the nearby Espresso Room is closed, you should bear Wild & Wood in mind. It fills a useful gap in the coffee geography of WC1, and the coffee is rather good.

Wild & Wood. Unit 19, 1 New Oxford Street, London, WC1 A1BA (Tube: Holborn). Website. Twitter.