Soho

So when we ventured off around the world to see and experience new things, no-one told us that good coffee would be so hard to come by!

Correct me if I'm wrong but if you spend a month or so buying the odd coffee from a cafe you might expect the staff to recognise you. You might even get lucky and they might remember what sort of coffee you drink. When you get your coffee there's a pretty good chance it will be .....well....good.

I'm afraid to report however that this isn't the case in London. Not only can you go the same cafe every day for a week and still not be recognised (there's only three staff) but the chance of them remembering the type of coffee you ordered two minutes ago is slim. The chance of them giving you what you ordered seems even slimmer. No sugar means NO SUGAR!

All of this might be OK if the coffee was any good but it's not. It's enough to make you do what the rest of the population does – revert to tea or beer.

So, just when almost all was lost we acted on a good tip. We visited Flat White, a cafe in Soho established and staffed by similarly desperate Kiwis. Apparently flat whites (the ones we all know and love) are a Kiwi/Aussie thing. You can't buy them here. Not that this really matters because the Flat White is far more than just a place where they serve coffee differently.

First of all, when you walk in, there is a bit of Ponsonby about it. It's one of those little narrow cafes with one too many tables pushed into it. You know, you have to climb over someone's lap to get to the bathroom out the back, past the F+P fridge and through the beaded curtain. OK I might be exaggerating slightly but you get the drift.

Secondly, you walk into the Flat White with your accent on your sleeve and there is an assumption that the people behind the counter know you already. You order, they look up, try to figure out which part of Auckland you come from and then, when they can't place you they get back to making coffees. If you don't know them you'll probably know someone else in the cafe. It's chocker full of kiwis.

Finally the coffee is good. It's real coffee. None of this "single shot of espresso watered down with gallons of milk" stuff. The flat whites are prepared with a silver fern 'drawn' in the froth (you know how it's done). It's a shame to spoil them by drinking them really.

Needless to say, we will be going back.

In a strange way, the best thing about Flat White and its presence here, is that even though we're half a world away and enjoying the adventures that we are being presented with, it's nice to know that there is a touch of home just a few tube stops away.