How To Spend a Day in Bermondsey, London — A Local's Guide

Bermondsey is a stone's throw from top London attractions, like the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and Borough Market. The South London neighbourhood is also a worthy destination in its own right, with top-notch food, art, culture and even a beach (sort of!). I've lived here since 2012 and these are my favourite things to do in Bermondsey.

Best Bermondsey Specialty Coffee Shops — A Local's Guide

Bermondsey's connection to coffee dates back to the 19th century, when its warehouse complexes stored coffee and other goods. More recently, the southeast London neighbourhood has become a top specialty coffee destination, with a mix of local coffee shops and top-notch roasters. I've lived in the area since 2012 and today I'm sharing my favourite Bermondsey specialty coffee spots.

Best Specialty Coffee Shops in London — A Local's Guide (Updated 2026)

I've been writing about London's first forays and then larger leaps into specialty coffee since I started this blog in 2007. This London specialty coffee guide, first created in 2017 but regularly updated with my latest discoveries, now includes over 150 of my personal favourite coffee shops, based on my own experiences from Crouch End to Clapham, Dalston to Deptford and beyond.

Where To Eat and Drink on Bermondsey Street (Updated 2026)

Bermondsey is one of London's best neighbourhoods for foodies. Yes, I'm biased: I've lived in the area since 2012. Nicknamed 'London's larder', Bermondsey is home to bustling Maltby Street Market and Spa Terminus, where you can sample everything from kimchi to comté. But if you're looking for a restaurant or bar, look no further than Bermondsey Street. And if you're looking for a guide to the best places to eat on Bermondsey Street, you're in the right place.

14 New Specialty Coffee Shops To Visit in London

The past two years have been among the most challenging for hospitality businesses, including specialty coffee shops, in London, and around the world. Keeping a specialty coffee shop in business in London is difficult even in normal times, let alone during a global pandemic, which has felt like a game of snakes and ladders with constant changes of rules, snap lockdowns and general uncertainty. 

Unfortunately, some coffee shops have had to close permanently (please come back, Black Swan Yard!), but it's been encouraging to see how many new — and often exciting — cafes have opened in London in the past couple of years. 

The Caffeine Chronicles: Lantern Coffee (CLOSED)

UPDATE: Lantern Coffee has now closed permanently.

While working from home during the past year, I've sought solace in my lunch-break strolls around Bermondsey and Borough, often stopping for food or coffee. Bermondsey has an abundance of specialty coffee shops and roasters including Monmouth and Watch House are based here (Pact too, although you can't normally visit). 

One of my regular lunchtime haunts was Black Swan Yard, but upsettingly, it was recently shut down by the landlord with almost no notice. I hope they'll be back but in the meantime, I found myself on Mill Street, down by the Thames, where I happened upon Lantern Coffee.

The Caffeine Chronicles: Black Swan Yard Coffee (CLOSED)

UPDATE: Unfortunately, Black Swan Yard is now closed permanently.

Most of my Caffeine Chronicles posts are about specialty coffee shops I've discovered recently. Not so with Black Swan Yard Coffee, which is one of the closest coffee shops to my home and one I've visited even more frequently while working from home during lockdown. Somehow, though, writing about the Bermondsey coffee spot has always eluded me, even as it's changed and adapted over the months and years, so I thought it was high time for a post.

Finding Comfort in Comfort Food at the Provisioners' Foodslut Residency

Things could be much worse, but I've had a tough few months, with work busier than ever — I work for a scientific journal so it's been non-stop COVID-19 research. And unfortunately, all of the six holidays that I had booked this year happened to fall during times when London and its UK were under more restrictive COVID-19 measures. 

My last hope of getting a proper break was the two weeks I had booked in November, initially to go to Thailand, then I thought I might manage Italy, before eventually booking  a last-minute trip to Athens, with a family trip to Devon as a back-up. 

My 'plan C' was to use my annual leave to visit lots of coffee shops and restaurants in London — I really feel for everyone working in the hospitality industry at the moment, and want to continue to show my support. And then, of course, the 'not-a-lockdown' second lockdown put paid even to that.

Mid-Week Supper at Bermondsey Larder (CLOSED)

Update (4 Nov 2020): When I visited this restaurant during its soft launch, it retained its original name, The Dairy, but it has since been renamed Bermondsey Larder. I've updated this post accordingly, but some of it photos reflect its original name. Update 2: Bermondsey Larder is now closed as the hotel where it was located has brought dining in house.

Like many people, I was a fan of Robin and Sarah Gill's The Dairy in Clapham, but I didn't make it over there often enough, which filled me with huge regret when it closed permanently this summer. But to my pleasure, it has now reopened in a new location in Bermondsey. 

I'd actually been running past its new home, inside the attractive new Bermonds Locke aparthotel on Tower Bridge Road, while it was being created and jumped at the chance to take advantage of its soft launch.

At Legare, a Neighbourhood Italian in Shad Thames

Shad Thames, a historic Bermondsey street one block from the Thames and just east of Tower Bridge, is on my regular running route and I often walk through on my way to the river. Earlier this year, I'd spotted a new Italian restaurant in the Cardamom Building — which used to house a branch of WatchHouse until it moved a few doors down — but kept forgetting to look it up. By the time I found Legare online, London had gone into lockdown.

The Caffeine Chronicles: WatchHouse, Maltby Street Roastery

I've long been a regular at the WatchHouse coffee shops, the first two of which opened in my neighbourhood on Bermondsey Street and Shad Thames. And what with one thing and another, I've been spending more time than usual in Bermondsey this year. While the Bermondsey Street WatchHouse — based in the former watch house of St Mary Magdalen churchyard — has been closed for a refurb, I spied a new member of the family, located at the top of Maltby Street, near the titular market.

Restaurant Review: Flour & Grape, Bermondsey

Antico, the Italian restaurant at the southern end of Bermondsey Street, was a neighbourhood favourite and although I was a more frequent customer at 214, the gin bar in the basement, I was sad to hear that the restaurant had closed. But rising like a phoenix from the, er, flour, its successor Flour & Grape soon filled the carb-heavy void. With a simple menu focusing on pasta and Italian wine, as its name suggests, fans of Borough Market's Padella will find a lot to like at Flour & Grape. Better still, you can book — a particularly important feature on a cold Tuesday evening in late December.

I met a friend for an early supper at Flour & Grape the week before Christmas. Bookings are only for an hour and a half, even at dinnertime, but we had a lot to catch up on and although the restaurant was busy, it wasn't full, and the kind staff gave no indication of wanting to hurry us along. 

As I'm less interested in the 'grape' part of this restaurant (Flour & Juniper would be my first choice), I ordered the Bermondsey G&T (when in Bermondsey...), with my favourite Jensen's gin and Bermondsey Tonic Water (a reasonably priced £6), while my friend went for one of the other cocktails, a spritz (£6.50).

We then devoured the food menu, which consists of a variety of small plates (priced from £2 for olives to £7 for the salumi plate) and eight different pastas (£7–10). We decided we would share three starters and two pastas, and then order a third pasta if we were still hungry. Had we skipped the starters or been hungrier, we would definitely have gone for three pastas — and don't get me wrong, our plates probably would have been cleared in any case.

To start, we shared the burrata, salumi and the baby gem salad, all of which were tasty and came in generous portions. The burrata was particularly creamy and although 'baby gem salad' sounds a bit boring, this one came with a tart dressing and plenty of parmesan.

Then came the main event. We went for the bucatini cacio e pepe, which, like at Flour & Grape's competitor, was the standout dish for me. Oodles of pepper, copious cheese and perfectly al dente pasta. A close second was the rich, flavoursome beef short-rib ragu, served with pappardelle. I thought the two pastas made a perfect pair. Our third choice (or mine, at least) would have been the roasted pork shoulder tortelloni — one for next time!

We did, however, find room for a scoop of hazelnut gelato each, which we enjoyed greatly. The special gelato of the day was tiramisù, but I generally prefer to keep my coffee and sweet treats separate.

Although it was a busy night at Flour & Grape, the service was excellent and there was a lively atmosphere in the restaurant. The Bermondsey Street Italian is dead. Long-live the Bermondsey Street Italian!

Flour & Grape. 214 Bermondsey St, SE1 3TQ (Tube: London Bridge or Bermondsey). Website. Instagram.

Long Weekend in London: A Local's Guide

As I have to fit my travel plans around a full-time job, I often spend only three or four days in any one city, and I spend a lot of time researching and planning the perfect trip. My agenda usually includes a few key sights and some fun places to eat, drink and, especially, caffeinate. I’ve produced various ‘three days in…’ or ‘four days in…’ city guides, but it’s been a while since I compiled a guide to my favourite places in my own city, London.

At Pique-Nique, Bermondsey, a Chicken Coup

I've been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Pique-Nique, a restaurant specialising in rotisserie chicken from Bresse in Eastern France, for almost a year. The sister restaurant of the excellent Casse-Croûte on Bermondsey Street, Pique-Nique is located just around the corner in the historic, mock-Tudor shelter in Tanner Street Park. I signed up to their mailing list some time ago, but a little thing I like to call the day job prevented me from securing a table during their sold-out soft launch over the weekend. Luckily, my brother and his wife scored a table for the three of us on Monday night with a 50% discount on food.

As we walked to the restaurant, the heavens opened but we didn't mind much because the park offers excellent dog-spotting opportunities. The restaurant itself is small, elegant and very much in keeping with the original design. It's just as lovely inside with about 30 or 40 covers spread across small, marble-topped tables, bar stools and a larger, farmhouse-style table, which would be great for groups. The interiors are gorgeous, and the space is bright and beautifully designed.

Like at Casse-Croûte, the menu is brief, with three starters (all at £8.50 or £9.50) and three mains (£18.50–£22.50) on offer. The entrecôte sounded great, but where was the celebrated chicken? We then realised we had skimmed over the Menu Autour du Poulet de Bresse (£38), which directed us to the board above the bar for further details. 

Our server explained what this entailed, but I'll admit that I wasn't paying as much attention as I perhaps should have done. The take-homes were that there were five chicken courses followed by a pudding. This seemed a tad indulgent for a Monday night but we decided to go for it (and with the special menu, everyone in the party has to opt in, presumably to prevent the non-poulet-consumers feeling too hard-done-by).

The drinks menu focused on wine, of course, and my brother and sister-in-law enjoyed a couple of different well-priced reds, but I went for a Jinzu G&T (£8), which was lovely and citrusy.

Then the food began to arrive. Courses one and two were, thankfully, small: chicken liver pâté, served with freshly baked bread, and a chicken croquette with onion jam. I've never liked pâté, but I figured that this was the perfect time to try it. Although I could have done with some more bread — we shared one small baguette between the three of us — it was creamy, rich and delicious. The croquette — bone-in — was also very tasty.

The next course was more challenging for me, my decade of vegetarianism coming back to haunt me. A consommé with asparagus came served with a skewer of offal: the comb, gizzard, heart and sweetbreads. The comb wasn't really my thing, but the others were incredibly flavoursome, even if I did have to work up the courage to try them.

Next up was the chicken breast served with the creamiest, most gorgeous mashed potato I've ever had (it usually comes with morel mushrooms, but they catered to my mushroom misgivings and served mine sans morille), followed by chicken thighs with a green salad. I thought the breast and thighs were both excellent, although my brother was a little less impressed with the thighs, which weren't quite so juicy and tender.

None of us had room for a pudding but it was hard to resist the call of the chocolate moelleux, which my sister and I both had, and which was incredibly rich, oozed with molten chocolate and came served with hazelnut ice cream. My brother's blueberry soufflé also got the thumbs up.

Even without a soft-launch discount, the autour du poulet menu is good value, given the quality of the food and the experience. We felt that it was a bit of a shame there wasn't a simple roast-chicken-and-mash option on the menu — because some nights require comfort food rather than six-course meals — but I'd like to go back to try the steak and the breakfast menu. And I'm sure this won't be my last adventure all around the chicken in six courses, either, especially as the park is only ten minutes' walk from my home.

Pique-Nique. Tanner Street Park, London, SE1 3LD (Tube: London Bridge). Website. Instagram.

The Caffeine Chronicles: Chapter 72

A few weeks ago, I took a day off work to indulge in my two favourite Cs — coffee and cinema — and although I already had a couple of coffee spots on my itinerary, including the [H]AND by Has Bean pop-up, I spotted a promising new coffee shop a little closer to home. Chapter 72 on Bermondsey Street occupies the space vacated by patisserie Southerden. They serve coffee from Bristol-based Extract Coffee Roasters and quirky coffee cocktails in a cosy, intimate cafe.

I've been into Chapter 72 a couple of times now and was impressed with the quality of the coffee; my brother, who works just around the corner, also sung the praises of the cafe's coffee. The coffee menu consists only of espresso-based drinks for now, so I had a piccolo (£2.50) on both visits. 

The first time, they were technically still in soft-launch phase, so it was even more noteworthy that the piccolo, made with Extract's Original espresso blend, was so smooth and well-balanced. Second time round, it was just as good. I just think they need to get some piccolo-sized cups!

The seating area of Chapter 72 runs along the wall opposite the very tactile coffee bar, with a combination of low stools and comfier bench seating. A dark wooden structure reminiscent of Tudor (or at least mock-Tudor) beams cuts through the centre of the cafe — if you're taller than me (not difficult) you may need to mind your head as you pass through to the back room. 

I think the best seats in the house are next to the front windows, of course. Bermondsey Street always presents some particularly fine people-watching opportunities.

If you're in the mood for something a little harder, the cocktail menu includes seven coffee cocktails, all priced at a reasonable £8; there are also a few wines and beers on offer. The Fake News Flat White has a catchy name, but the Chapter 72 Old Fashioned sounds more my kind of drink. Most of the others involve Tia Maria, which, despite my love of coffee and cocktails, isn't my favourite liqueur. 

I could be tempted by the Dark Arts Negroni, however. I haven't been to Chapter 72 for cocktails yet but they were serving a sample of the Netflix + Chill (Tia Maria, espresso, milk and popcorn syrup) at the True Artisan Café section of the London Coffee Festival this year.

I've long been fond of some of Bermondsey Street's other coffee shops — in particular, Black Swan Yard, Watch House and Hej — but it's always good to welcome another to my neighbourhood, especially one that transforms, Cinderella-style, at cocktail o'clock — and of course, precisely when cocktail o'clock begins is a matter of opinion...

Chapter 72. 72 Bermondsey Street, London, SE1 3UD (Tube: London Bridge). Website. Instagram.

The Caffeine Chronicles: Crol & Co

When the betting shop on the corner of Dunton and Lynmouth Roads closed down earlier this year, I crossed my fingers that this part of Bermondsey would finally get a more interesting proposition. The shop is on my commute home from work so I was able to follow the redevelopment in real time and before long, it became apparent that I was in luck. Crol & Co opened its doors at the end of September and when I stopped by last weekend, it was already looking lovely. Isn't the font on the windows particularly awesome?

The Caffeine Chronicles: WatchHouse, Tower Bridge

NB: Since I wrote this post, WatchHouse's Tower Bridge location has moved a few doors down to 37 Shad Thames, while its original location is now occupied by Italian restaurant Legare.

WatchHouse on Bermondsey Street, which celebrates its second birthday this month, is a contender for one of the prettiest coffee shops in London. Located in the octagon-shaped former watch house building of St Mary Magdalen churchyard, it combines rustic walls and 'bread pegs' with chic monochrome floor tiles and lovely posies on each table. The coffee is good but the café's tiny size means that tables can be hard to come by.

The team have now opened a second location on Shad Thames, a historic street just to the east of Tower Bridge. Continuing the theme of interesting historical buildings, WatchHouse II is based in the Cardamom Building, which, funnily enough, was used to store cardamom in days of yore. These days Shad Thames is home to an assortment of cafés, shops and restaurants and it's a great place to go for a wander, although gets busy at weekends.

The new WatchHouse is, thankfully, bigger than the original location and although it shares some design features with the original — the bread pegs and flowers, in particular — the design is more minimalist, with white walls and dove-grey wooden booths that form the majority of the seating. Only the espresso machine stands out on the counter, a bold black bespoke La Marzocco machine with golden text.

I've been to the new café twice since it opened earlier this month and have had two cortados, both of which were prepared well, with good latte art, and tasted great too. The coffee itself, as at the original WatchHouse, is a Brazilian espresso blend from Ozone. There aren't any hand-brewed filter coffees on offer, but there was a single-origin (I think) batch brew filter coffee, as well as various drinks, including Sandows cold brew — perfect if you show up after your Sunday morning run and are in need of cooling down!

And then there's the food. Although the Bermondsey Street WatchHouse serves breakfast, light meals and sweet treats, the menu is greatly extended over at Shad Thames. When you enter the café, you are greeted with a long counter displaying all manner of pastries and cakes. As I was in the Cardamom Building, I decided to go for a cardamom bun, which was delicious. 

I did have a bit of brunch regret, though, as I saw various egg/avocado/sourdough dishes being carried out of the kitchen. The poached egg and avo on toast looked particularly good, but the pancakes and French toast also sounded delicious. The bread comes from two Bermondsey suppliers: The Snapery and The Little Bread Pedlar. And yes, brunch runs until 3 pm at weekends and there are a few cocktails on offer too. Fear not if you've missed brunch, though, because WatchHouse stays open late — the full evening menu will launch in the near future.

The first time I visited the Cardamom Building, it was extremely busy given that it was only the day after launch, but the staff were friendly and welcoming. The Tower Bridge location means that there is a nice mix of tourists and local workers and residents. It also means that you may have to wait a few minutes for your coffee or for a table, but it's well worth the wait.

WatchHouse. The Cardamom Building, 37 Shad Thames, London, SE1 2YR (Tube: London Bridge or Bermondsey). Website. Instagram.