Bea B.
Yelp
Their website isn't yet up and the place smelled faintly of paint during my visit there today, so I'd venture to guess that Cafe Aida is still pretty new. There were also at least three to four folk behind the cafe counter at any given time (one bloke was mainly on the shop floor talking to customers and checking the alarm system that kept randomly going off), so that made it seem as if they weren't sure how to staff for a Saturday as they probably haven't yet been open too many consecutive weekends. There were only a few more customers than employees, so that should tell you how 'busy' the workers were.
Having just come from drinking an espresso at Present with still time to kill before my rendezvous with ramen (and fab company), I popped in to Aida on a lark as the sandwich board out front read something like 'coffee and cake-3.50'. I'm glad that I did. Aida is an attractive store with beige brick walls and high ceilings. I wondered what the space had been in a former life. To the left of the front door are three tables, two of which looked like retro, Formica-topped tables, each decked out with lovely, fresh tulips and a drinks menu. Beyond that along the left wall stands the cafe counter. I ordered a flat white (2.45) from a friendly young woman who then gave me a choice of beans to be used. There were three choices from light to dark roast. I chose the darkest roast (a blend, if I remember rightly), paid (I had the option of paying afterward), and took a seat. While waiting for my drink, I was digging the store's musical selection as it could have come from my own CD collection. I remember hearing something probably off of Morrissey's Vauxhall and I, Gary Numan's Cars, Roxy Music's Avalon, and The Verve's Bittersweet Symphony. It was sort of like listening to England's greatest hits.
Beyond the cafe space is the women's clothing and shoe section of the store. Downstairs is the men's section. I only vaguely looked around the thoughtfully laid out women's clothes as they didn't seem to be my style. I'll be honest, I was really only there for the coffee. I spied some funky heels made in Spain for around 200 quid a pair, so, therefore, out of my price range. There were a couple of almost floor-to-ceiling, totally sparkly-clean mirrors breaking up the women's section in such a way that I almost walked into them thinking I could walk through them as if they weren't even there. Oops!
This is a nice-looking, high-end joint with staff that know how to make a great flat white. The music was stellar. This place will undoubtedly do a good trade.
*Free Wi-Fi!
