Sunlit cafe room with timber tables, bentwood chairs and a long counter along the back wall

Corner cafe · Harbour Lane

Slow filter, a small kitchen and a table you can keep.

We brew one roast at a time, cook from a six-item kitchen, and leave the window seats unbooked so there is always somewhere to land.

Reserve a table Read the brew guide

Open from 7am on weekdays. Filter brewing starts the moment the grinder is dialled in — usually by quarter past.

Today at the bar

What is actually happening in the room right now

Three things people ask before they walk in: when we open, what is grinding, and whether the kitchen is still on. Here they are, without the phone call.

Opening rhythm

Doors & last orders

Weekday doors: 7:00am
Kitchen on: 8:00am – 2:30pm
Last filter brew: 30 min before close
Quietest stretch: Before 9am, after 2pm

On the grinders

Two coffees, no menu board

Filter — Mirador washed, cherry and brown sugar, light roast
Espresso — Harbour Lane blend, cocoa and walnut, medium
Decaf — same blend, sugarcane process, always on
Cold current — 18-hour steep, drawn from tap

From the kitchen

Six plates, cooked to order

Mornings — cultured butter toast, soft eggs, seeded bun
Middays — braised bean bowl, cheese toastie, market salad
All day — cardamom bun while they last
Dietary — gluten-free bread and oat milk at no charge

Brew bar guide

Choosing between filter, espresso and cold current

Every method on the bar uses the same two coffees. The difference is strength, wait and how long the cup stays interesting. Pick by what your next hour looks like.

Comparison of brew methods by cup size, body, wait time and best use
Method	Cup	Body & flavour	Wait	Best for
Pour-over filterSingle origin	350ml, served in a carafe with a tasting glass	Light and tea-like; acidity is the point, sweetness arrives as it cools	4–5 minutes, brewed in front of you	A long sit, a book, or anyone who says they do not like coffee
Espresso & milkHouse blend	Single 30ml, flat white 160ml, latte 220ml	Dense cocoa and walnut; holds its shape through any milk	Under 2 minutes at the hatch	Walking out again, or a quick second after lunch
Cold current18-hour steep	280ml over ice, or 200ml with milk	Rounded and low-acid, closer to stewed fruit than fresh	Poured from the tap, no queue	Warm afternoons, takeaway cups and the walk to the water
Leaf teaLoose, weighed	400ml pot, two cups' worth	Four leaves on rotation, one herbal and caffeine-free	3 minutes, timer on the tray	Sharing a table, late afternoons, anyone off caffeine

Not sure? Ask for a split shot — half the filter in a tasting glass next to a short espresso, at the price of the filter alone. It is the fastest way to learn which side of the bar you belong on.

The counter

Everything we serve, in one list

The board above the till is short because the list below rarely changes. Prices include takeaway cups; bring your own and the coffee comes down forty pence.

Coffee & tea

Oat, whole or decaf at no extra charge.

Pour-over filterCarafe and tasting glass£4.60
Espresso, single or double£2.80
Flat whiteOur house pour£3.60
Latte or cappuccino£3.90
Cold current on tap£4.20
Split shotFilter beside an espresso£4.60
Loose leaf potFour leaves on rotation£3.40
Retail bag, 250gGround to your method£12.00

Kitchen

Cooked to order between 8am and 2:30pm.

Cultured butter toastSourdough, sea salt, two slices£4.80
Soft eggs on seeded bunWith chilli oil if you want it£7.40
Braised bean bowlSmoked tomato, herbs, yoghurt£9.20
Cheese toastieThree cheeses, pickled onion£8.60
Market saladWhatever came in that morning£8.90
Cardamom bunBaked twice a day£3.80
Olive oil loaf cake£3.40
Soup of the dayFrom the chalk slate£6.50

Where the beans come from

One roast at a time, changed when the coffee tells us to

We buy small lots and finish them. That means the filter changes every few weeks and the blend stays put — so your usual tastes the same, and the thing beside it never does.

Green coffee arrives in sacks we can lift, from two importers who tell us the farm, the process and the harvest week. When a lot runs out we do not re-order it; we taste what came in next and dial the grinder again on a Monday morning.

Roasting happens off-site on Sundays after we close at 3pm, which is why the shelf is restocked on Mondays and why the retail bags carry a roast date rather than a best-before.

The blend stays still

Harbour Lane is three components held steady through the year so milk drinks taste the way you remember. We adjust the proportions, never the character.

Decaf is not an afterthought

The same blend, processed with sugarcane ethyl acetate, on its own grinder all day. Nobody has to ask twice or wait for a clean hopper.

Barista finishing a milk pour into a white cup on a steel counter — Dialling in the house blend before doors.

Cup of coffee and a saucer resting on a dark cafe table beside a notebook — Window seats stay unbooked, all day.

Good to know

The questions we answer at the counter most days

Practical answers, so you know what the room is like before you choose it.

Can I work on a laptop here?

Yes, on the long bench and the two back tables, where the sockets are. We keep the window seats and the four-tops laptop-free between 11am and 2pm so people eating have somewhere to sit. Wi-fi is open and the password is on the sugar station.

Is there room for a pram or a wheelchair?

The entrance is step-free and the main aisle takes a chair or a double pram. Two tables near the door have movable seating, so ask and we will clear one rather than squeeze you in. The accessible toilet is on the same level, past the counter.

Are dogs welcome?

Dogs are welcome everywhere except the bench seating along the kitchen hatch. There is a water bowl by the door and a tin of biscuits behind the till. Assistance dogs are welcome throughout, no questions.

What are the gluten-free and dairy-free options?

Gluten-free bread is stocked daily and swaps into the toast, the bun and the toastie. Oat milk is free of charge on every coffee. The bean bowl and the market salad are dairy-free as written, and the kitchen will tell you honestly when a shared surface means it cannot be guaranteed coeliac-safe.

Do you take card only?

Card, phone and cash all work. There is no minimum spend, no service charge added to the bill, and the tip jar is split evenly across the kitchen and the bar at the end of each week.

Can you host a group or a private morning?

Up to eight people can be seated together with a day's notice. For larger groups or a private hire, the whole room is available before 10am on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and the brew bar can run a tasting for ten. Send the date through the form below and we will reply with what fits.

Visit & private hire

Hold a table, or ask about the room

Walk-ins always come first, but we keep a few tables back each day. Tell us when you are coming and what you need, and we will confirm by email.

This week's hours

Monday – Thursday: 7:00am – 4:00pm
Friday: 7:00am – 5:00pm
Saturday: 8:00am – 5:00pm
Sunday: 8:00am – 3:00pm
Kitchen, daily: 8:00am – 2:30pm

Private mornings run before 10am on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, when the room is yours and the filter bar stays open. Choose Private hire enquiry in the form and include the date.