London Blend: Daisy Green, Marble Arch

Dean Nicholas
By Dean Nicholas Last edited 130 months ago
London Blend: Daisy Green, Marble Arch

Bananaphobes would be best advised to avoid Daisy Green. The yellow fruit is everywhere: printed onto deckchair fabric, piled into arrangements on the tables, propped up (in banana bread form) on the counter.

The proliferation of bananas, not to mention deckchairs, should indicate that Daisy Green isn't your normal cafe. Eschewing the clean minimalism or rag-tag retro furnishings that seem to characterise most new coffee shops in London, DG goes balls out with colour. The first hint is outside, where a patch of fake grass and a pair of deckchairs are wedged into the small patio. The theme continues downstairs, where the walls are daubed with colourful graffiti by the artist Shuby.

Fortunately the focus on ambience hasn't deflected attention from the coffee, which was typically good, as you'd expect from an Antipodean: Prue Freeman, the Australian owner, has been driving a van around London's street markets for the past three years, serving up frozen yoghurt. This new venture marks the first permanent base for her quirky tastes, and being just a short walk from the masses of Oxford Street, is well worth a pit-stop if you're in the area.

Daisy Green is at 20 Seymour Street, W1H 7HU.

More of the capital’s great coffee shops on our London Blend map

Disclaimer: We review anonymously and pay for all our meals/drinks.

Last Updated 15 May 2013