Moonstruck is located on the South Lambeth Road, a short walk from Stockwell Tube. You'll know you've arrived when you spot the olive green shopfront. Light streams in through the large front windows when the sun is shining, which it was intermittently during my visit. Inside, the main room is tastefully decorated with muted colours, statement lampshades and mid-century furniture. There are about six small tables, some placed alongside the bench that runs along one wall of the cafe.
The shelves near the window have a selection of newspapers and coffee magazines, in case you're in need of reading matter. Owner Liam Clifford was previously at Rosslyn Coffee, where there's also a nice newspaper and magazine display!
The coffee is from Plot, a great roaster based in East London. There were a couple of people ahead of me in the queue, which gave me time to peruse the coffee menu displayed on the back wall above the coffee bar. In addition to the usual espresso-based drinks, Moonstruck offers a house filter coffee, a guest pourover, guest espresso and then various coffee flight options with the guest coffee. I went for the full coffee flight, which, during my visit, featured the Lunada coffee from Colombian producer Alex Bermudez, released by Plot to celebrate Moonstruck's launch.
The flight consisted of the Lunada coffee brewed as a pourover, an espresso and as a mini flat white (aka a piccolo). I always love trying the same coffee brewed in different ways and the Lunada tasted delicious in all three. A washed thermal shock coffee, it had juicy and sweet peach flavours, especially in the filter coffee. But the sweetness also came through beautifully in the espresso drinks. All three were impeccably brewed by the friendly, knowledgeable baristas, headed up by Alexa Lee.
If you're looking for something sweet to accompany your coffee, Moonstruck has a selection of baked goods to tempt you. One of the baristas recommended the cardamon bun but as it was Easter Sunday, I had to go for something chocolatey and went for the babka.
Moonstruck sells various retail bags of Plot coffee beans. I ended up buying a different Colombian coffee, which I've been enjoying brewing in my Kōno dripper at home. Meanwhile, perched on a shelf that runs along one wall was an exceptionally well curated selection of decaf coffees from some top UK roasters. It turns out that these are ready and waiting for Moonstruck's celebration of decaf, which runs from today (9 April) until Sunday 14 April. If you've been meaning to visit Moonstruck and especially if you're a decaf aficionado, this week would be a great week to stop by. Check out their Instagram to hear about other events including in the basement art space.
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