Art cafes in London

There are ordinary cafes, the cafes that people don’t stop talking about (cough – the Dusty Knuckle – cough) and then there are ones you keep to yourself. You know the ones I mean. The cafes you kind of want to tell your friends about because it's so great but you don't, keeping it to yourself, you selfish little cafe goblin.

People-watching is one of the greatest things living in a city provides, it's no wonder the sheer amount of people who settle down with a beverage and do exactly that, but cafes can offer so much more. How about choosing a cafe that provides light entertainment? Be it art, music, film or history, I’ve selected a few London art cafes that put culture vultures straight in the action.

So when you are done sipping and the conversation has flatlined, your laptop is out of charge, the tea’s gone cold, and the cake’s reduced to crumbs, you can rise from the armchair you've embedded yourself in and continue your day doing something cultural.

Cafe Oto

Take a daytime stroll past this Dalston institution and you’ll spy a lowkey cafe and bookshop. But come 5 p.m., the tea guzzlers and coffee breathers are kicked to the curb to make way for sound checks.

As night falls, Cafe Oto transforms into an experimental listening room, where anything non-mainstream goes. Emerging jazz artists, ASMR sets and even a solo-bubble-wrap-act perform to a crowd of no more than 150 music lovers.

The eccentric venue is a single space, with no green room for the artist to hide away. There is a charm in the mismatched chairs, steamed-up windows and static reverb. Low ceilings make for an intimate listen as the furniture creaks along with the music.

You’ll spot it by its tirade of guests spilling into the streets for a cigarette during a set break. Tickets are free but they regularly sell out. Early bird, as they say.

Dalston, E8 | cafeoto.co.uk

South London Louie at South London Gallery

Sandwiched between Peckham and Camberwell, Louie is like the side dish to South London Gallery that might secretly be better than the main course.

It's high-ceilinged and full of natural light, with the tables kindly laid out so you feel comfortable eating alone. It's a great place to plug in, sip a coconut matcha latte and pretend to work while you scroll through the depths of the internet.

Brunch is from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and serves a rotating menu. Highlights include oyster mushroom toasties, cardamom buns and coffee championed by Redemption Roasters, a prison-based roasting house. Its intimate bookshop is a firm favourite of mine while the jasmine-scented garden is ideal for a bit of London escapism.

And like Cafe Oto, this spot also comes alive after dark. A weekly supper club entices arty folk and foodie folk alike to taste a range of natty wines and small plates. And while you're there filling your belly, you may as well nip down the hall and fill your eyes too.

Camberwell, SE5 | southlondonlouie.com

Arthouse Crouch End

The mention of visiting a cinema cafe might make one quickly rethink why they didn’t bring their own snacks to the screening. It's hard not to imagine the slightly stale over-salted popcorn, the old machine coffee and the XL Tango Ice Blast you may be hungrily tempted to invest in that will take you through the journey of salt sweats, a caffeine kick and a sugar crash, all through the course of a two-hour film.

But the cafe at Arthouse Crouch End is not like other cinema cafes.

Like the cinema itself, the Arthouse cafe is independently run, unpretentious and warm. Its screenings of foreign and indie movies attract a familiar film-loving community. The cafe is full of character, with handwritten signs detailing the soup of the day and the jumble of tables are sweetly adorned with fresh flowers. With vegetarian quiche, salads and vegan sausage rolls on offer, watchers can have a light bite before savouring a hunk of homemade lemon drizzle cake and heading in for the film previews.

Haringey, N8 | arthousecrouchend.co.uk

Abney Park Cafe by Sabel

Stoke Newington’s Abney Park is a neglected Victorian burial ground and one of London’s Magnificent Seven garden cemeteries. At almost two centuries old, it is full of nearly as many graves as it is of trees, and those left standing continue to be crumbled away by ever-encroaching greenery.

And no, it's surprisingly not that creepy. It is actually very calm, and cool, and one of few places in the city where the sound of birdsong is louder than the traffic.

Any wobbly feelings you may have of ghosts and ghouls are swiftly removed by the constant stream of dog walkers, baby pushers and lycra-wearing runners. That’s gentrification for you. But then what do you expect in Stokey?

Its newly opened Abney Park Cafe by Sabel is run by a Hackney-based husband and wife duo that champions seasonality and fresh ingredients. Sit outdoors in the wild or take a perch inside where the walls are plastered with the artworks of Archie Proudfoot, a friend of the owners.

The food has been well received, with breakfast, brunch and lunch available weekly. Menu items include aubergine galette and a smoked sea trout salad, to name a few. Looking for a niche, memorable date? It may be the only time you can eat a goat's curd, slow-roast fennel and tapenade sarnie and sip on an elderflower lemonade in a Gothic graveyard.

Stoke Newington, N16 | abneyparkcafe.com

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