Ozone Coffee Roasters, Shoreditch EC2A: Cafe of the Week

Ozone Coffee Roasters, Shoreditch EC2A

Ozone Coffee Roasters is my new favourite brunch spot. This huge, 120-cover cafe in Shoreditch is an ambitious offering from New Zealand roastery, Ozone Coffee. Like the equally swish Allpress and St Ali (now Workshop) before it, Ozone's size and bells-and-whistles fit out is testament to how seriously the Antipodean coffee companies are taking the London cafe scene.

Ozone being a New Zealand import, I took along my two favourite Kiwis, A and R, to put it to the test. 'They've got Kiwi Marmite!' was the first, but by no means last brunch-time cry of delight from A and R.

The cafe occupies two floors of a former industrial building, hidden away on Leonard Street just behind Old Street tube. We ate on the ground floor, an expansive space designed by the same people as Riding House Cafe, with a big bleached-wood counter and espresso bar in the middle, copper pendant lights and turquoise and white brick booths.

We piled into a booth, with more cries of delight for the squishy Kiwiana cushions on each bench...

Ozone Coffee Roasters booth and NZ air force cushion

The coffee, roasted on site, was unbelievably good. The flat whites were smooth and full-bodied with a luscious crema and my long black with soy had hints of vanilla and hazelnuts. It was as rich and complex as a good red wine.

Upside-down flat white, Ozone Coffee Roasters

 Everything on the brunch menu sounded delicious, including organic porridge with candied pistachios (next time!). I plumped for baked eggs with halloumi, lentils, chickpeas, tomatoes and labneh. Here it is...

Look at that sunshine yellow and golden Halloumi crust and know that when you break into it, there'll be a baked egg and a tomatoey chickpea and lentil stew waiting inside. If I was nitpicking, the egg could have been a tad runnier and the Halloumi layer, while delicious, tasted of generic mature cheese rather than Halloumi in particular. Nitpicks aside, it was delicious and I wouldn't hesitate to order it on a future visit. V had the meat version - a similar cheese topping but with braised mince and a baked egg inside. The ragu was rich, sweet and winey - it was incredible, like being allowed to eat lasagne for breakfast.

A's oven-roasted tomatoes and slices of creamy avocado were served on a wooden board with rounds of sourdough. I didn't try this one, but she looked pretty happy. R's egg's Benedict came served on two dense bubble and squeak cakes with a silky Bearnaise spooled over the top...

Ozone Coffee Roasters, eggs Benedict

I'm hugely impressed by Ozone Coffee Roasters and if I still lived in east London, they'd be prising me out of those booths with a broom every Sunday. Tube engineering works allowing, I'll be heading back for more brunches there and I know a Kiwi or two who wouldn't mind a repeat visit either. Nice one, New Zealand.

Ozone Coffee Roasters, 11 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4AQ
ozonecoffee.co.uk

(Photos 1 and 2 copyright Adrienne Pitts)