The Caffeine Chronicles: Iris & June Review

I had heard great things at Victoria-based coffee shop and café Iris & June, but I'm so rarely in the Victoria area — it's a bit of a faff to get there from Bermondsey. On Saturday, though, all he stars aligned: I went to a lunchtime screening of American Sniper at the Curzon Victoria, which is just around the corner, and Iris & June was the perfect brunch spot.

Iris & June is on a quiet street, near the back entrance of House of Fraser. Inside, the décor is gorgeous: all clean white lines, and pops of mint, blue and grey. There are plenty of tables for drinking-in, and although it was a little dimly it, I did visit on a fairly brutal grey winter's day.

After nabbing a table, I went to order my coffee and food. Refreshingly, Iris & June serves hand-brewed coffee made with an Aeropress or a V60, but I opted for an Aeropress brew (£4) with the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe variety from Ozone that they were serving. Sandows Cold Brew was also on offer — maybe in another season or two! I love Acme's colourful cups at best of times, but I particularly liked the mint and grey combos resting on top of the La Marzocco.

The coffee was great — I always like a good Yirgacheffe — fruity, full-bodied and just what I needed to perk me up before a two-hour war film. It didn't hurt that it looked so great in the Acme cup and saucer. I may have found my new Instagram profile picture!

There are probably lots of nice breakfast and lunch items on sale at Iris & June, but if I'm honest, I didn't look any further than the fancy breakfast sandwich (£5.90) that immediately caught my eye: fried egg, sausages, homemade tomato relish and rocket on a crusty brown roll. It was massive but so tasty that I had to eat it all. It would have been rude not to.

If you're in the vicinity of Victoria or St James's Park, do stop by Iris & June: it's a lovely café.

Iris & June. 1 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG (Tube: Victoria or St James's Park). Website. Twitter.