Poppy / 12 April 2025 / Categories: Food & Drink, Coffee Shops

Marchesi Italian Haute Patisserie Coffee House since 1824

Gents this one is for the ladies

Who doesn’t love a bit of haute patisserie? And who doesn’t love Italian ice cream in the winter? This is my friend Valerie’s favourite coffee shop in London and there are lots of reasons why she loves to go to Marchesi. We absolutely love the people watching first off. It’s a place for couples. You see lots of people couples have a quiet tete a tete. In the back it’s the kind of place you’d never be noticed. I always imagine it as a secret rendezvous Brief Encounter style which always adds a little intrigue to the experience every time I go.

The shop is probably the most exquisite of its kind in London. Not like the Prada pop up at Harrods this is old world tradition and charm. It’s slow and the waitresses in their green pinnys are eficious yet polite ensuring everything runs with the upmost precision, the kind of precision you expect at the Ritz for afternoon tea.

The most noticeable and overwhelming sensory experience the moment you step over the threshold is the lingering aroma of freshly roasted coffee that dances in the air. It’s a thing. You actually notice other customers breathing in the whole experience. It’s a bit like when you see one person yawn, you yawn too. So it creates this kind of wave of everyone soaking up the atmosphere which is pretty amazing.

It’s an absolutely exquisite shop and cafe. There’s another one Fait Maison salon de the at the bottom of Berkeley Square trying to do the same thing but it’s just not a patch on Marchesi around the corner on Mount St. I’ve been to both and for the same money one is bone china and fresh flowers the other looks good on the surface but more I’d say for tourists than local residents.

I am always saying to Valerie let’s get ice cream or do you know where to get ice cream around here?

If you are looking for ice cream in London they serve delicious Italian gelato in a cup or a cone all year round.

I love an ice cream even in the winter and surprisingly not many places you can get one without a good 10 minute walk towards Oxford St and Bond St tube.

And FYI if you are looking for a blow your socks off Easter egg for someone the display of handmade Easter eggs is out of this world. I wanted to buy one but was afraid to ask in case the price was too high and I’d have to say yikes that’s over budget which in reality it probably was.