Cafe Parisien

This has been my regular coffee and sandwich place for the past decade, with excellent fresh baguettes, paninis and their famous heated spicy chicken wraps! Staff are always friendly and service is quick.
Much better quality coffee than in the coffee house chains. Prices remain relatively low (especially for Richmond) with only very occasional increments.
Outdoor seats are great in the summer, but there is also an almost secret, small upstairs room overlooking the passers by in busy central Richmond.

My boyfriend and I were on our way to the Natural History Museum, and we were considering whether we wanted to make a detour to the Oxford Street area to visit our favorite sandwich shop. However, by the time we walked the five minutes through the center of Richmond, we decided it was too cold for detours, and we wanted to hit up a place in Richmond, and the nearest place was Café Parisien.
The menu offers a variety of cold sandwiches, paninis, the standard coffee selection, and lots of pastries. I ordered the spicy tuna with cheese panini and a cappuccino. The sandwich was grilled to perfection, and had just the right amount of chili sauce to make the sandwich pop. The cappuccino was good, but I wasn’t a huge fan of the cocoa powder sprinkled on top. However, the sandwich and coffee combination were a winning combination overall.
The best part? The price. We got two paninis, my cappuccino and a coke for 10 quid. Sure, the paninis are a tad small, but with the price, you’ll have enough money leftover to buy yourself a nice dessert.

Café Parisien looks like it’s been cut out of an old side passage in Paris, and plonked in the middle of urbane Richmond, London. Finding it is easy, in fact, it sticks out like a bacon roll at a Bar mitzvah. Which is good, considering the culinary delights it has on offer. And what a place to people watch: get yourself a seat upstairs or on the pavement outside, and the people of Richmond are all yours.
Food is pretty good, though this venue is best left to hurried work meetings, afternoon tea or coffee or midday snacks. Also check with the person at the till for their daily specials. And for couples, Café Parisien is the perfect place to make or break your relationship because it’s quiet, thoughtful and just like a sneaky cigarette on a rooftop somewhere: a good break away from life’s hustle and bustle.