You are unlikely to find another spot in London that does as good food as it does coffee. Ozone is the perfect fix for a casual work meeting or catch-up with friends. With a Shoreditch location right next to Old Street Station, it's the neighbourhood coffeehouse that attracts startup/freelance workers and an alternative crowd on weekdays, and the East Londoners on the weekends.
This country is always looking for a good brew. The national drink aside, there is a high demand for specialty coffees. There is no shortage of coffeeshops in London and they come in all colours, shapes, and sizes.
Though, there are only a few specialty coffeehouses that also do very very, very good food. For those seeking a brilliant bite with an exceptional cup of coffee, find your way to Ozone Coffee Roasters. I am hesitant to call this spot a café; the respect it has for its coffees warrants a more respectable appellation - i.e. coffeehouse. The food at Ozone is also so exquisite that labelling it as simply a coffeehouse is somewhat reductive. Ozone did not read the London-wide memo that you can either be very good at coffee or very good at food, which is great news for us really.
The effort Ozone places on what goes into its cups and onto its plates makes it one of a kind.
What Ozone offers
Ozone sets the bar high for brunch places. Founded in 1998 in New Zealand as a roastery and café, Ozone came to London in 2012 and established its two-storeyed roastery stronghold and coffeehouse-restaurant on Leonard Street, Old Street. With the perfumes of its freshly roasted specialty coffees wafting far and wide, and coffee lovers getting wind of it, Ozone quickly expanded and since 2023, has 4 locations in East London.
Beyond coffee, Ozone became viral on social media for its zero-waste practices. it was recently ranked on Betaway as the world's 5th most popular independent café as per social media impressions. The ricotta served with its omelettes for example is made in-house by curdling waste barista milk. Spent coffee grounds are sent to Kelmarna Gardens as compost, and sourdough offcuts are used as panko breadcrumbs in the kitchens or milled to make house crumpets. There is a reason why Ozone Coffee managed to obtain the elusive B Corp Certification that recognises businesses for their exceptional social and environmental commitment.
Putting its sustainable philosophy aside, Ozone is simply very very good at what it does. Their cappuccino is so powerfully fragrant it is almost like a flat white at most places. The strength of their coffee is likely derived from the quality of their house blend. The beans used are freshly roasted and full of heady nutty aromas. They also have a mouthwatering range of coffee beans with differing origins, levels of roast, and flavours you can purchase from their counter or their online store.
If you are serious about coffee, you'll find that Ozone will be able to match your seriousness.
The food at Ozone is equally as memorable. I rarely say this, but everything on the menu is great...
Though, to pick a few dishes, the top 3 would be their XO chilli poached eggs and labneh with sourdough, their lamb mince with pickled shallots and whipped feta on ciabatta, and their panfried mushrooms with onions and old Winchester on toast.
My personal favourite is hands-down the XO chilli poached eggs and labneh. There is an incredible amount of flavour and texture in that small bowl. The heat of the chilli is balanced by the creamy labneh. Just when the chilli is getting a little too overpowering, the runny yolk of the poached egg will help mellow everything out. The bowl is a beautiful mess of labneh, chilli, and soft egg that is perfect for dunking slices of chargrilled sourdough into.
Top tip
With the recent expansion of Ozone, word of its norm-defying brilliance is quickly spreading in East London and beyond. The Shoreditch location draws crowds on weekends, and is never empty on weekdays. Though, it is usually quite easy to find a table on weekdays, save for the occasional 5 minute wait for a table.
A top tip if you'd like to grab a table without queueing is to arrive before 10am on the weekends. For early risers, Ozone opens its doors at 8:30am on the weekends and 7:30am on the weekdays, and seats are easy to find in the early morning. If you're in the area, and would like to just get a coffee, you can always skip the daunting dine-in queue and head straight into the Ozone to their till where you can grab your coffee to-go. A coffee to-go from Ozone can be part of a nice Sunday morning routine which continues with a gentle meander towards the nearby Columbia Road Flower Market.
If East London is a little too far from home, a taste of Ozone can be delivered straight to your door in the UK if you join their coffee subscription. Freshly roasted coffee beans (whole or ground) can be sent to you on a weekly or monthly basis. You can sample their single origin range or choose from their blends. A word of caution is however necessary: once you have subscribed, it is hard to stop it - who can bear to end regular deliveries of quality specialty coffee...
- rise and grind, it's coffee time!
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