Freud Cafe Bar Gallery

Cafe at Freud's Furniture Shop, 198 Shaftesbury Avenue

8 / 10 from 1 review

Address
Freud's Furniture Shop
198 Shaftesbury Avenue
Covent Garden
London
WC2H 8JL

Map

History

Telephone
020 7240 9933

Region
Covent Garden

Nearest Station
Tottenham Court Road
0.20 miles

Category
Cafes & Tea Rooms

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Freud Cafe Bar Gallery serve a variety of fresh sandwiches, salads, soups and refreshments. The cafe still remains open after the furniture shop has shut.

All In London Review

I can’t see why you wouldn’t come back again and again...

So, after twenty-five years the cafe-bar-gallery that is Freud remains one of London’s heroes having retained the style that has always separated it from the after work officers clubs and the neon signed cocktail bars. In fact, it does have its own neon sign but we’ll allow a little neon because below it all turns industrial cellar and installation space.

It’s tucked out of sight on Shaftesbury Avenue in the centre of Covent Garden’s tourist trap, however the affordable food and drinks combined with its hiding place beneath the street keep it true blue London, a witness to scenes that have come and gone. You do feel that history, but as the weekly art installations replace each other its clear that it doesn’t look back at itself too much. Some things never change though and the blackboard that fills the wall is one of them. Lists of cocktails are chalked over it, the exotic meeting the classic (Manhattans) and the ubiquitous (mixed flavoured mojitos). Poured strong and charged low at about £7.00 a drink, I can’t see why you wouldn’t come back again and again...

Along with the intricate likes of spiked lychee juice and alcohol infused butterscotch there’s a bit of a collection of bottled beers from around the world and well priced wine, while the toasted sandwiches and cakey bits and pieces check the cafe side of it. You could say it has hints of a lot of different places, New York’s LES, a touch Parisian etc... But given its longevity it has every right to say that it was the one that inspired the rest of them and might just continue to.

Reviewed by T.A.O
Published on Jul 12, 2011

Best For

Who fancies coffee and cocktails in London?

Is it a café or a bar?

This quirky basement café near Covent Garden has been going strong for almost 30 years. It’s not surprising: there’s a huge cocktail list with drinks under £8, cheap salads, soups and sandwiches, free newspapers and good, strong coffee. It certainly stands out among the recent wave of trendy barista-led establishments, in a very good way.