Notes Music & Coffee

A nice place for music lovers. You can enjoy it with the best coffee. The decor is also amazing.

Whow! what a find....
I was walking in the area on my way to a meeting in a miserable rainy day and decided to get myself a coffee. Got in and, I have to say, my first thought was "what a lovely place" but whow, a cappuccino to go £ 2.60? among the most expensive in London. I have to say it's worth every penny, it was the best coffee I had for a long time. Perfect temperature, great coffee and froth and they don't put chocolate on top of it!
Superb....
few days later I was in Charing Cross and couldn't resist to go back, and again, perfect coffee.
The staff is lovely, they also have a selection of wines and simple food. I'll definitely go back again and again.
Give it a go, you'll love it!

The place is good, not something special,really. The staff is nice.

Nice and friendly service.

This place is truly one of the best in London. Cannot describe how i enjoy myself every time I go there.

I was at the Notes Music & Coffee in Covent garden a month ago and I enjoyed my time even if the venue was almost empty (just us and two others clients).
Myself and my fiancee had two glasses of wine and a meat and cheese board to share. Everything was delicious altough not cheap and the service was friendly and nice. Good place for a pre-theatre bite or for a coffee with a friend, not the place to spend an entire evening in though!

I had to wait nearly 20! minutes for my cappuccino the other day! Not too impressed I’m afraid!

Very nice place to go for a quick drink and a sharing platter. It’s not the cheapest, but the staff are friendly and it’s in a great location.

Nice place to enjoy a cup of coffee with friends. Great atmosphere and music!

Notes Music Coffee is a wonderful coffee place and deserves to be rated among the best coffee shops in London. Staff are friendly, the coffee is good, and there’s always something interesting (The King’s Speech, Belleville Rendez-Vous) or just downright weird (a cartoon about a man’s dog which had fallen in love with him) showing on the TV screens which can sometimes cause one to sit down for far longer than one intends to.

The only problem – and, yes, I know that it’s entirely due to its great location – is that this place sometimes seems a little too frenetic and crowded, which means that you do occasionally get asked to leave or make way if there are other people waiting for tables (or intending to order more than you plan to). It doesn’t happen often, only towards the 6.45 pm mark when the more substantial food and wine menu comes out, but it’s just something one should note if you’re there around that time.

Lovely place with great coffee and fabulous cakes. Hish recommend it.

Just do not buy any merchandise as they don’t refund or exchange and don’t care even a bit. I found out the hard way when I spent £70 on a CD gift and the person I bought it for didn’t want that particular recording. The exact words for customer service was “We are not a library” and that it was my fault for making that choice of purchase.

GREAT coffee and fabulous cake. Friendly, knowledgeable staff too – highly recommended!

Victim of its own success???

Notes used to be the place which on one hand you want to tell your best friends about, on the the other hand you’d wish it stayed a secret to not to loose its great atmosphere.

Still one of the best coffees I have ever had in London, but the last couple of times I went it was crowded with annoying tourists and lacking its usual atmosphere. Maybe it was just bad luck and I shall have to wait until the tourist season calms down before I go back.

Many bookstores have a coffee shop, Notes Music & Coffee is the opposite, a coffee shop that also sells books and music. Inside it’s a big open space with lage tables, wooden benches and jazz&opera music, the atmosphere is really cool. I was lucky to attend to a Qype event, it was a coffee tasting and also a master class about coffee, the staff of NM&C have coffee inside their veins, they are friendly and truly wise.

One tip, if you go, don’t ask for an americano, ask for filter coffee and try it without sugar.

In my search for a really good coffee in London, I came two weeks ago to Notes, Music & Coffee while my boyfriend was left in the hands of a Brazilian hairdresser nearby, as I didn’t want to be a haircut witness.

I liked the decor and the staff, they were really nice and smiling. I loved to see the barista, handling what seemed Chemistry instruments. I had no idea what she was doing with those flasks, jars and test-tube like stuff, but the results was really good indeed.

I asked for the flat white in order to compare with Kaffeine. I found it a bit expensive (2.60, I think), but they don’t charge extra for soya milk, so at the end it was OK for me. Also I like the places where soya milk is free of charge, they win us, the lactose intolerant people. Although I think the one from Kaffeine was better, this flat white was really good and for sure I’ll be going back if I’m craving for coffee in Covent Garden. Oh, and the food looked delicious as well…

EDITED: I was one of the lucky qypers to attend the coffee tasting event. It was great, it just confirmed Notes as one of my favourite coffee places in London. I learnt quite a lot about filter coffee and although I prefer espresso based beverages, I’ll order filter coffee from time to time. You can’t imagine how different this coffee was from that offered in coffee chains. It seemed a completely different thing. I really recommend anyone that likes coffee to come here and ask them about anything. They are truly coffee geeks and very nice people too.

I wish I could give them more than 5 stars!

I found out about Notes a while ago and always thought it was a nice place to chill out. However, since the Qype coffee tasting session that Notes hosted, my appreciation has greatly increased!

The thing about coffee shops is, (and correct me if I’m wrong) most people just go there, order a coffee as a pick-me-up and don’t really think about what they are pouring down their weary throats. The guys at Notes change all that. They are so into coffee that to not think about where the beans have come from, how long the coffee is brewed for and how freakin’ hot the water even is, is comparable to a cardinal sin. They even have an ipad app to check that what they are doing is perfect. And their dedication is infectious.

Ben and his pals took us through the coffee tasting like we were drinking wine, not coffee – smelling and swirling and sipping with careful enthusiasm. They educated us as to what makes a good coffee and what makes a terrible coffee (hint: Starbucks!). I had no idea that some coffee shops serve coffee with beans that are up to 8 years old – whereas Notes only serve coffee with beans that are under 6 months of age. Much better.

I’ve come away with a keener taste for coffee and a venti-sized amount of respect for the coffee brewers at Notes. I’ll be back, and I’ll have it with no milk!

The evening of our event last week was my first ever visit and I have to confess, I was pretty impressed (even though I was, and am, off the coffo).

The first pleasure for a Luddite like I was to see reams of music for sale in a physical format and to indulge in a moment’s nostalgia; they also boast a very decent range of DVDs as well if you fancy some of that.

But we were here to learn and appreciate coffee and to be on the receiving end of some clear direction on how to achieve the ultimate results from the brewing process. Not only were the staff friendly, relaxed and helpful, they were also incredibly informative too. I wasn’t tasting, so it would be amiss for me to comment further on the results.

We arrived early and were chilling at the back and drinking a pot of one of their supreme teas, which they were refilling with generous abandon. As the venue is such a great hangout, it’s a shame they don’t have wifi. I was in and out like square dancer jeopardising my job with my QDL Twitter updates and even though they very kindly gave me the password, it would be cool if there was an accessible facility for all customers. Perhaps, though, they don’t want to spoil the serene WC2 atmosphere with a whole gaggle of laptop users…

UPDATE

I now know everything about coffee… well, maybe not everything but at least a few orders of magnitude more after the wonderful Qype event taking place at Notes and the great staff headed up by Ben taking us through things like how temperature and other things will affect the coffee. We had a very informative evening with Ben barely stopping to breathe while taking us through the aspects of making great coffee and Fabio adding in some technical details to complete our learning.

All in all it was a great evening with a lot of tasting different kinds of coffee (beans, brewing methods, etc.) and getting to know how to get the best flavour out of your coffee.

Remember, if you go to Notes Music & Coffee don’t forget to ask the staff any questions you might have about coffee. They are very knowledgeable, really friendly and happy to help you out with your questions.

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I’ve been a bit slow trying this place. I finally went and wished I had gone earlier. It’s such a nice little place with a very non-British interior and some great music playing.

The coffee is made on a fantastic La Marzocco machine with Square Mile coffee beans and is among the best in London. I tried the lemon cake which was kind of dry but the coffee and the ambiance of the place really make up for it.

I am quite excited to have a really nice coffee place in a more central location. I’d like to recommend it to all coffee lovers but at the same time I don’t want it to be so full that I can’t find a table next time I go there. Dilemma…

What happens when someone is really passionate about what they do? Great things like Notes Music & Coffee. The attention to detail shown at Notes is amazing and it makes for a great expereince. Filtered coffee made by the cup, you can’t get any fresher than that.

Ben the manager knows his stuff, from choosing a great roast to the finer points of the science that is the art of making coffee he can answer an question. He has also make sure his staff are also familiar with all things coffee related. The result is a fanatic cup of brew every time you visit with friendly welcoming service.

If you do decide to have your coffee at the cafe and spend a while, the atmosphere is relaxing and welcoming. Be warned though, you will be surrounded by great movies and music which you will be tempted to buy and take home.

I love the thick wooden tables, especially the large ones at the back which make for a great place for a group of friends to meet up, or for random encounters with strangers.