I’ve lived in Brockley for just under 6 months at the time of writing this and it’s a fairly quiet part of London. It doesn’t have the commercialism of Peckham Rye, the [poshness] of Dulwich or the history of Greenwich but what it does have is independent coffee shops, lots of them. So during my time of redundancy, I decided to spend one morning in each place to see what working out of them would be like. As a non-coffee drinker, each place will be reviewed on atmosphere, WiFi quality, and quality of hot chocolate 😊.

Fred’s

Fred’s is a really small cafe opposite Crofton Park station with a green canopy. Although I didn’t walk around the place much it came across as a very child friendly not only because of the colourful plastic cups that were near the jug of water, or the high stack of wooden baby seats, but because of the outdoor play area and the large cartoon bear sculpture that guarded it’s entrance.

After ordering a hot choc and croissant, I found a place with a plug for my laptop, got the wifi password and waited for my drink to arrive. The corridors were very narrow with a larger section at the back which was full of people on laptops when I got there so I sat closer to the front. Hot chocolate-wise, it was quite sweet for my liking but getting the croissant for £1 was an awesome compromise. Crofton Park station is really close to a school so both Fred’s and Arlo & More (another cafe nearby), are full of mothers and prams on weekday mornings, so as the place filled up I felt the pressure to leave. Overall it’s a nice place with good wifi, unfortunately for me and anyone reading this who would like to use it as an office, it’s not quite the place for that.

Broca

This is possibly the most colourful cafe in Brockley, yellow on the outside with a purple door and blue and green text. Inside there was a wall dedicated to selling, vegetables which were transported from a farm in Kent, another wall with a shelf that had all sorts of organic and fairtrade products. I stared at the place in awe as I waited for my hot chocolate. The layout was very chaotic but I could see the appeal. I sat down right next to the toilet which in hindsight wasn’t the best place but there weren’t many free seats available. There were only about four people in the place but the layout didn’t allow for a large number of individuals.

Sitting on my large round table I saw a huge poster behind me of the cafe employees in gardening gear as well as a handful of pamphlets in the corner to my left advertising local events, the yoga and meditation ones stuck out to me the most. To be fair the hot chocolate was really good, it tasted of actual cocoa not sweet at all just the way I like it, and I spent the most amount of time there than I did in any other cafe,. Although I don’t think I would visit it again mainly because I can see it getting full really quickly, and I don’t fancy the smell of sitting close to the toilet again.

Bella Nova

Compared to the other two cafe’s this one was very spacious, it had tables laid out in rows like a restaurant and there was such a variety of things to purchase, from breakfast and lunch menus to milkshakes or freshly squeezed orange juice, although I only went for a hot chocolate and pastry I was really impressed with the options. I continued my routine of ordering, finding a place with a plug for my laptop, then testing out the wifi. Unfortunately, this wifi was the type that only allowed you to visit https:// URLs so that limited the sites that could be visited.

Bella Nova wasn’t close to any stations or schools so the cafe itself didn’t get too busy throughout the morning which is a perfect atmosphere for getting lots of work done. The hot chocolate was a little on the sweet side but I liked the artisanal touch in the form of a light chocolate Christmas tree on the top. It’s unlikely I would visit the place again to work but I would definitely visit it again in the summer for a milkshake.

Parlez

This is one of the newer establishments near Brockley station and it may look a bit empty from the outside but don’t let that fool you, out of the four this has been my favourite place to work in and I have visited it multiple times since. The place is incredibly large and has a great selection of breakfast as well as lunch and dinner if you want to visit there in the evening.  With every order no matter how small or large a jug of water is brought to your seat and although a few mothers with prams pop in from time to time, it’s not near a school so it doesn’t get as busy as Arlo & Moe.

Wifi works great here although you have to sign up with your email or social media before it can be used. There are so many seats available I’ve never felt pressured to leave the place, maybe move to a different seat but I that’s not a massive undertaking. Unfortunately, there are only a handful of tables with sockets so I make sure my laptop is fully charged before entering. Unlike the cafes mentioned above, you only pay when leave which is more akin to a restaurant but it works fine, I was still able to get a hot chocolate which, although not as good as the Broca, still not sweet and tasted very good.

For those who live in Brockley, I know there’s are many more coffee shops than these four but I’ve taken a break for the Christmas holidays and resume daily drinking of hot chocolate in the new year. Even those who don’t have jobs take holiday :). Places I’d like to visit for the next article include; Browns of Brockley, The Orchard, the Brockley Deli, the Brockley Mess, Hilly Fields Cafe and of course, Arlo & Mo.