Nagare Bankside - Review - Southwark - London - The Infatuation

"Nagare Bankside makes most other coffee shops look like amateurs having a mess around with a French press. Coffee-lovers pull up chairs at the siphon bar, earnestly watching the skillful baristas work as if they’re witnessing Mark Rylance doing a bit of Shakespeare. Dried flowers and envelopes embossed like love letters are sold as merch, earth-toned aprons hang just-so on brass pegs, and dark wood tables with sprigs of flowers are kept laptop-free for achingly chic catch-ups and contemplative coffee-sipping. This is what reaching peak coffee shop looks like. Unlike its sister spots in Spitalfields and Soho, this Nagare location has a Japanese-inspired bakery counter, which is excellent and shouldn't be ignored. photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch video credit: Sinéad Cranna video credit: Sinéad Cranna photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch Pause Unmute Food Rundown Egg Salad, Nori, Sea Salt Butter Roll Egg salad isn’t the sexiest sandwich filling. It just isn’t. But at Nagare it gets a reputation reset, feeling particularly decadent stuffed inside a sweet, almost cake-like buttery roll. PlayMute video credit: Sinéad Cranna Matcha Bagel With Wakatake Matcha And Truffle Honey Butter A satisfyingly chewy bagel—know that the crust is thinner and less crisp than a NYC-style bagel—with earthy matcha notes that don’t overpower. There’s a choice of spreads and we like the contrast of truffle honey butter best. photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch L’Ambre Cream Bun We recommend this l’ambre earl grey-infused cream bun to anyone who wants dessert but doesn’t have much of a sweet tooth. The tea does a good job of tempering the sweetness and the bun itself is soft and springy. photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch Pearl 40 Bagel Before you start wondering who Pearl is and how you can congratulate her on turning 40, let us explain. Nagare has a signature ‘Pearl 40’ drink and the same flavours—jasmine pearl tea, vanilla—are used in this substantial bagel along with mochi. It’s a pleasant, fragrant mouthful. But we find the glutinous mochi makes this too heavy. We prefer the non-filled, flavoured bagels. photo credit: Sinéad Cranna" - Sinéad Cranna