Coffea

I visited this coffee shop not long after it first opened and was not very impressed. I ordered a hot chocolate and it was ok, but very watery. I like my hot chocolate thick and creamy — to be honest, who doesn’t — and it was distinctly flat. However, it was literally the first week and there was a very disorganised feel, so I decided to reserve judgment.
This week, I decided it was time to eat there. It can get a bit dull, oscillating between Tesco and Boots for a decent sized not too expensive lunch. I got a meal deal, which was a sandwich, a pack of crisps and a can. The sandwiches were reasonably priced, especially if you takeaway, nice flavours and very well filled. It’s always vexing to get a sandwich that’s more bread than filling. I got a chicken salad sandwich, which was very nice apart from the tomatoes, which were a bit watery. Perhaps a little salt, or some riper fruit would have been in order. However, this was all for £3.50, and I should say that all the crisps are fancy thick crisps. No Walkers here!
So, there’s still work to be done, but generally good. I will return!

Coffea is a new café that has opened under the large railway arch which leads to Granary Wharf, occupying the building that used to be Jaldi Jaldi.
As I work very close by, and am always on the lookout for an alternative working lunch (I’ve eaten as many grim Boots sandwiches as I can face over the last few years), I decided to try it out.
Firstly, I’ll poin out straight away that I haven’t had any coffee here yet. Ridiculous I know, when the place is called Coffea and I like coffee.
The food consists of sandwiches, salads and various cakes. All of them are freshly made, and seem to be of a pretty high quality. You can get a fairly basic sandwich in a meal deal, or something a bit fancier for a little more. They also do a good selection of salads, which range from light and healthy, to dripping with melted cheese.
Also, if you are partiuclar a fan of guacamole, you will like this place, as they put their (presumably) home made guac in practically everything!
The large selection of cakes look amazing, but I have not tried anything more than a muffin yet.
The staff are very friendly and helpful, and the manager/​owner (not sure which) has even asked me if I had any comments, as he’d noticed I’d come in quite a few times.
The building itself is very nice — several tables and chairs and a fairly relaxed atmosphere. There is usually some unobtrusive music in the background, but overall it is pretty quiet.
However, this brings me on to the only negative point — the food and drink costs more to eat in than to take away, to the point that it sometimes I have taken away, when I would really have preffered to eat in. I’m not sure if this is some sort of legal requirement? Some places seem to do it and some do.
So a very good choice for a working lunch, and somewhere I have been back to several times in the short time it has been open.