What makes a Metro Top 50 cafe?

The ideal weekend morning involves one of two options. An early-morning trip to the markets for bread you can’t resist eating a chunk of, fresh eggs, avocado, fruit and coffee beans ground right there. Then all whipped up into breakfast enjoyed in bed, on the sofa, around the table or in the garden. Maximum admin, but with the added perk of being able to instantly indulge, during the soporific aftermath, in a nap.

The second option is to sleep in until an unrespectable hour, walk to a cafe and find your vision suddenly clear with the first welcome sip of espresso/cold brew/filter coffee. After agonising over which adventurous dish to order from an original and thoughtful menu, you take a moment to sit in companionable, hungry quiet with a newspaper. The chairs have backrests, the acoustics are soft and the music is at just the right volume. Food is served by friendly staff who get a vicarious kick out of presenting perfect dishes and who balance pride with demonstrable gratitude for your custom. They get it: you could be eating at home right now, or at the cafe two doors or two suburbs down, but you’ve returned to your local to be charmed once more. There’s no sense of being rushed out the door. More drinks are suggested and the conversation seamlessly evolves from sleepy to lively. The day has started in a way weekdays can never compete with.

The job of a good cafe is to make the second option forever more appealing than the first, and to be the ideal choice on weekdays and at lunchtime too. Our judges have spent months whittling down a list of more than 200 Best Cafe continue reading…