The best coffee in Camden

The best coffee in Camden is not on the high street. It is at a roastery inside Hawley Wharf that opens at 07:00, a coffee warehouse on Kentish Town Road, a plant-based café by Kentish Town West with its own Costa Rican supply, and a heavy metal record shop on Camden Road. Here is where to go for a proper cup, and when they open.

Camden Coffee Roastery, Hawley Wharf

Monday to Thursday 07:00 to 18:00, Friday and Saturday 07:00 to 19:00, Sunday 08:00 to 18:00. At 12 Castlehaven Road, NW1, on the Hawley Wharf side of the market, this is the one place in Camden where you can watch the beans being roasted. Camden Market’s listing describes an open-air roasting area, beans from Africa, the Americas and Asia, and a tasting table used for cupping and brewing workshops. It sells beans retail and wholesale and does brunch and bakes too. Come early, before the market opens at 10:00, and you will have it nearly to yourself.

Doppio Coffee Warehouse, Kentish Town Road

Weekdays 08:00 to 17:00, weekends 09:00 to 17:00. Doppio at 177 Kentish Town Road, NW1, is a coffee shop attached to a business that supplies the trade: wholesale coffee, commercial machines and barista training, per doppiocoffee.co.uk. That makes it the place to buy a grinder or a bag of beans and get honest advice about both. It sits at the Camden end of Kentish Town Road, handy for the walk north.

The Fields Beneath, Kentish Town West

Weekdays from 07:30. The Fields Beneath at 52a Prince of Wales Road, NW5, opened in 2012, and its coffee is sourced directly from a friend of a friend in Costa Rica, according to the café. It went fully plant-based in 2017, so everything on the counter is vegan. It opens 07:30 to 16:00 on weekdays, 08:00 to 17:00 on Saturday and 09:00 to 16:00 on Sunday. If you commute from Kentish Town West on the Overground, it is the obvious first stop.

Kossoffs, Kentish Town Road

Kossoffs at 259 Kentish Town Road, NW5, is an artisan bakery first, but it has baristas on the team, and everything from the bread to the pastries is made on site, per kossoffs.com. Coffee and a pastry warm from the bakery is the best five minutes on Kentish Town Road. Buy a loaf on the way out.

Ripe Kitchen, Primrose Hill

Ripe has served coffee, tea and brunch in Primrose Hill since 2014, and it runs click and collect, so you can order ahead and take your flat white up the hill without queuing. Primrose Hill’s cafés tend to be small, so takeaway is often the better plan anyway.

Greenberry Cafe, Regent’s Park Road

Greenberry at 101 Regent’s Park Road opens at 09:00 every day, and if you want to sit down with your coffee in Primrose Hill rather than carry it, this is the room. It is a restaurant as much as a café, so expect to be offered breakfast.

Raven Records, Camden Road

For coffee with a soundtrack, Raven Records at 24 Camden Road, NW1, is a heavy metal record shop with an alcohol-free bar that serves heavy metal coffee and occult-themed tea, according to its own site. Flick through the vinyl while it brews. It is closed on Tuesdays and opens at 12:00 most days, 11:00 on Saturday.

Why the market side is getting better

For years the rule in Camden was simple: walk away from the market for decent coffee. The roastery at Hawley Wharf has bent that rule. Because it roasts on site and runs cupping and brewing workshops at its tasting table, it is a place to learn as well as drink, and because it opens three hours before the market stalls, it is the calmest seat in Camden Market on a weekday morning. Kentish Town still wins on choice, though: Doppio, Kossoffs and The Fields Beneath are all within a short walk of each other, and all three are independents.

A coffee crawl that works

• 07:00: Camden Coffee Roastery at Hawley Wharf, before the crowds.
• 08:00: walk up Kentish Town Road to Doppio.
• 09:00: a pastry at Kossoffs.
• 10:00: back down to Prince of Wales Road for The Fields Beneath, or west to Primrose Hill.

Our tip: if you want beans to take home, buy them where they are roasted or sold to the trade. Camden Coffee Roastery and Doppio both sell retail, and both will tell you what suits your machine.