Cafe Pop

This review appears in the The List's Eating & Drinking Guide 2009 – in the shops now or buy online.

As bubblegum-bright and bubbly as its name suggests, Café Pop just manages to toe the line between sweetly cute and saccharinely twee. A funky pop art mural loudly adorns one wall of the small deli cafe, while a huge frosted glass image of Sixties icon Twiggy stares seriously across the room from behind the counter. The furniture is all stylised moulded plastic chairs and tables in bold silvers, whites and pinks, and pop music hums from the stereo. Aesthetically it perhaps tries too hard, and feels a bit cramped, but the atmosphere is laid back and a hit with students and young West End hipsters. The words ‘yummy’, ‘scrummy’ and ‘dee-lish’ are peppered over-eagerly across the menu, but they don’t lie – fluffy scrambled eggs on thick white organic bread or Belgian waffles with wild berries and honey is simple, fresh fare done smartly and at very reasonable prices. There are some charming individual flourishes too – the tongue twisting Café Pop Top Five Chart Topping Sandwich Specials selection, listed on a string of vinyl records dangled from the ceiling, is a particularly nice touch. Between the Happy Mondays Hot Halloumi sandwich, Jimi Hendrix Eggs Experience and the Dylan Dog, there’s surely something to suit everyone’s eating and listening tastes.

• High point: Great music
• Low point: Slightly cramped