Penny Blood's Black Book – My Independent Guide to London - Penny Blood's eclectic collection of favourite places in London to drink coffee, eat cake, have tea, eat out, buy clothes, watch movies, kill time, read Voltaire, quote Baudelaire and write this blog.

I use Foyle’s as my own personal lending library, buy and take back later and it has a great cafe too. Far and away the best bookshop in London, it’s an independent version of what Borders used to be. I think it’s accurate to say that Ray’s cafe is the central meeting point for anyone coming to Soho. Situated in Foyle’s bookshop it serves all kinds of healthy food and cakes, coffee, tea and other drinks. Its pouring with rain outside and it’s a handy place to find myself as I have the whole book shop attached to browse through. Although Ray’s is a favourite, I generally avoid it as I went to college at Central Saint Martins next door and it was our unofficial canteen, too many college people still linger here and I believe you will find ‘small talk’ under my list of ‘pet peeves’. Although it’s a bit of a melting pot being in the centre of town, it’s spacious with big wooden tables and window seats and it’s a great place to come if you don’t want to leave in a hurry, great to meet people or hang out all day with your laptop.

http://www.foyles.co.uk

Foyle’s (Ray’s Jazz Café), 113-119 Charing Cross Road, London, WC2H 0EB
020 7437 5660
Monday – Saturday 9.30am-9.00pm Sundays 11.30am-6.00pm (Public holidays 11am-8pm)

For what it’s worth I thought I’d mention Hatchard’s on Piccadilly, it’s a large scale bookshop but has been around since 1797 which by the way is a very long time. It has lovely sweeping staircases and portraits on the walls and a huge selection books.

http://www.hatchards.co.uk/

Hatchards, 187 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9LE
020 7439 9921
Monday – Saturday 9.30am – 7.00 pm Sunday 12.00 – 6.00 pm

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