Three Monkeys

Visiting this West End icon for the first time immediately took me back to standing in my Grandparents spare room staring at Grandma's antique cupboard as a young kid, desperately fighting the urge to rip open the prized doors and explore the exciting world I was certain existed beyond the timber veneer. I felt many parallels to my imaginary world of years past when walking into this little maze of a restaurant. Between the little nooks that lurk in every direction and the unique memorabilia that line the rustic walls, it is easy to be captivated by the history of this long standing local haunt.

  
Today we were once again in between meals and simply keen for a caffeine and potential sweet fix. The potential didn't linger for long - one glance at the large and attention demanding sweet cabinet and we were sold. In an attempt to be slightly "good" we opted to share a Greek shortbread or kourabiethes as these are a personal favourite of mine so if I see a good one I usually can't go past a taste. 

When we arrived the queue was around 5 deep, with most tables in the near vicinity already full, leaving us slightly concerned about how long this "quick stop" would actually take. I ventured from my accomplice to get an early jump on the table hunt and was surprised to find the true expanse of their setup meant that even in the height of business there were plenty of seats inside or in the back courtyard. I opted for a slightly rickety old chessboard table inside to soak up the atmosphere. 

The coffee arrived quite quickly given the number of customers and obviously hadn't been rushed through as it was well made and a great temperature. Thankfully our biscuit also arrived at the same time but was slightly lacklustre on the plate. Overall, the coffee was tasty, well made and hot - as we like it and the biscuit satisfied our kourabiethes craving well. This historic place is a fun visit and one you can happily pop into the old faithful book. 


Food - 3.5/5
Coffee - 3.5/5
Atmosphere - 4/5