Raphael’s Coffee Lounge

Always a friendly welcome and great service. L had apple juice and I had a cappuccino. We both had a lovely chocolate chip cookie.
It’s clean and well kept but perhaps the toilet needs a lick of paint.
I like this independent café and would recommend for snacks or lunch too.

Breakfast Review:
Today was a treat. I was recommended this place by a business colleague and thought it was worth trying out.
I didn’t realise it was a Greek restaurant and a café, but it appears that it is.
The interior is clean and spaced out well, with a counter at the front and a spotlessly clean open kitchen at the rear.
First off was ordering drinks, Orange juice ‘carton or fresh squeezed sir?’ The perfect question. I went for fresh squeezed, a rare treat. Coffee was excellent too.
Then came the breakfast: as near to perfection as you could get. One juicy plump sausage, 2 griddled pieces of bacon, mushrooms, perfectly cooked tomato, black pudding to die for, beans were served in a ramekin, (its a personal thing, I HATE beans on my breakfast plate), 2 eggs that personified the perfect egg. Proper toast made it even better.
The service was superb too, from the lovely lady taking the orders, through to the chefs cooking and the serving staff too.
Freshly squeezed orange juice, large coffee and Full English for just £10.40. Superb.
I think I have a new favourite :0)
⁹⁄₁₀ (another round of toast would have made it perfect!)

I really loved Raphaels when I visited it recently. I had been the victim of some road rage in the car park down the road but entering here was instantly relaxing and I loved the chilled out feeling. Often when cafés call themselves a ‘lounge’ you don’t feel comfortable enough to lounge, however here was the opposite. The atmosphere is laid back and the staff are friendly and efficient.
The menu is really well thought out and I love that they have classics alongside slightly jazzed up versions of things. Certain things with a twist caught my eye like the mezze lunch (but I’ll eat anything with halloumi in), the spiced hot chocolate and the salsa chicken hot wrap. They all sound delicious and not the same old thing you’d usually find in a café.
My toasted tea cake and cuppa really did the trick and it was inexpensive.

The biggest compliment to pay Raphael’s is that it should be able to avoid feeling the pinch of the hipper, more continental, booze-​selling Verdo Lounge opening a door away.
That’s because its sense of identity is already carved out; a loyal customer base — often making for busy afternoons — being testament to it.
While the majority of people frequenting the venue are silver-​haired ladies and gents, do not mistake it for a slow-​paced, tea-​nursing spot. Rather it’s evidence of people, with freetime during the day, who are in on the secret: Raphael’s offers a real bang for your buck amid a briskly efficient yet friendly service. It’s as if a New York diner has been bred with an English café; brollies but a swish counter, head scarves but blink-and-you’ll-miss-out-seating.
Hard scones and lifeless sarnies, this place is not. Indulgent combo milkshakes, huge salads and a (spoilt-​for) choice of cakes are among the fare on offer. It may all be enough to tempt Verdo patrons to pop next door. This Raphael, then, could remain the original master AND prove to have a hard shell.