By Katrin Magnussen
Two things I adore are a decent cup of coffee and a comfy seat, preferably with a bustling street view, from which to drink said beverage. This is why I was excited to check out F Mondays, a sorely needed café (and a potential place to work remotely from) in an otherwise barren stretch of Brixton Hill.
Sunlight streamed in through its large front windows, a handful of lap-topped-up patrons sipped on their drinks inside and a selection of sweet and savoury delicacies displayed on the counter….promising stuff!
The friendly staff explained that the food on offer is made locally, that Wifi is underway (“Virgin is always slow!”) and they open at 7am Mon-Fri. Amid the prerequisite sweet offerings such as chocolate shortbreads and brownies, there is a rather ingenious ‘breakfast bun’. This is in fact a pretty ‘rosette’ made from egg and bacon; and yes I rarely put the words ‘pretty’ and ‘bacon’ together.
Coffee, ah yes, there was decent coffee. I had a cappuccino, frothy and flavoursome (£2.50). However, where F Mondays comes into its own is with their hot chocolates (£3.00)made from Amelia Rope chocolate and in tantalising flavours including Pale Rose, White & Sea Salt, and Dark Mandarin. There are also bottled juices available, from Crude Juice (£4.50) and small complimentary carafes of water on each table.
So you have the drinks, friendly staff, early opening and food. What about the seats? Sadly, this is where you let me down, F Mondays. The café is achingly hip with its IKEA-style, flat-pack furniture, minimalist atmosphere and indie music playing, so perhaps comfy seating should not be expected. However, the small, hard stools with pointy corners are downright painful to sit on. I quickly dispel any pre-conceived ideas I had about working remotely here, or even sitting by the window leisurely drinking my coffee and watching people scurrying past outside. I get my loyalty card stamped (buy six coffees – get one free, good idea) and ease myself back into the cold. I might be back, F Mondays if you invest in some cushions!
F. Mondays is open 7 days; Mon-Fri 0700-1600, Sat & Sun 0800-1700. You can find them on Twitter & Instagram @fmondayscoffee and on Facebook as F. Mondays.
I was really looking forward to trying out the coffee in this place, so I ordered an espresso and paid close to £2. Sorry, but this is not the West End or Hoxton and the coffee is clearly overpriced. It eventually arrived after 5 minutes waiting and was probably the worst espresso I’ve ever had. It was sour and I couldn’t finish it and so I left half of it in the cup. Very disappointing and a real pity! If you want to drink great coffee head over to Opus on Acre Lane. It only costs £1! Yes, £1 plus the atmosphere is nice and chilled as well.
I completely agree with the comment about the furniture, there are no seats with a back which makes it very painful for me to sit down, for that reason I have been put off even entering that cafe! Also, to call that stretch of brixton hill as ‘barren’ is wrong. Just because it’s not filled with hipster cafés or vintage shops does not make it redundant!
[…] longer lives in Brixton as she travels so much for work, she still has a connection here through F Monday on Brixton Hill where they are the only place in the UK to serve her chocolate as hot […]
F Mondays is great, the coffee, cake, staff and atmosphere make a welcome change from the high-speed attitude and turnover in the village. Long may F Mondays and their approach continue.
Brilliant to see another independent. Great staff, and the food and coffee here is second to none in Brixton! You simply have to try the brownies and the Ham and Cheese toasties.
Welcome F.Mondays.
This place is the best thing to happen in Brixton, let alone the Hill, in years. The staff are so friendly…they actually have a chat when it’s often hard to get a smile in other places in the village. Coffee is REALLY a good and the ham and cheese toasties have made my Sunday’s ever since they’ve opened…it’s actual real sliced ham not the fake stuff from packets. Yes, the seats are small…but they look good…drink the skimmed options and you should be ok!!
Seriously?? I got a coffee from this place when it just opened, over the holidays it was. The coffee was very poor, Macs or Burger tastes better!! This was a straightforward black ‘Americano’ – so no place to hide the coffee taste behind all the froth and sugar or chocolate in a hybrid. I like to see good businesses survive, and as you say, this quarter of Brixton Hill needs another café, but really, very poor show indeed.
Hi Mark,
We are disappointed to hear that you got a bad coffee from us. We strive to serve great coffee every day and we care about peoples experience with us. Please, if you feel like visiting us again tell us about your previous experience and we will make doubly sure that your coffee is up to our high standard. If you like your coffee black we are doing Aeropress now, which gives a much cleaner taste and far better flavour than Americanos in general.
Hope to see you soon,
Ken.
BYOC (Bring Your Own Cushion) perhaps? They could keep customer’s cushion there for people. Like they used to do with bottles in wine houses in the past.
Will be interesting to see if they make anything of the front pavement area for seating in Spring and Summer.
The other cafe nearby uses their outside seating area as a car park! – which has always put me off going in there. Good luck F•Mondays!