When I first walked into the starkly decorated Lounge I thought I was back in Seattle -- downtown Seattle, that is, at one of the many hi-tech drink-it-n-run latte factories. But then I spotted the full bar and the cushy furniture and knew I was in no ordinary hi-tech coffee bar. In fact Lounge seems to be more of a nightclub than a coffee bar, although in the daytime it can definitely pass as a savvy city centre lunchtime cafe complete with espresso machine. The barista was very friendly and had no problem with my order of a macchiato, as it's one of the choices on the coffee menu. Ah, yes, it does my heart good to find these occasional oases of espresso intelligence in England. As I waited for my coffee I took in the details of the place. Although the full bar had no hand pumps it did offer Leffe, white Hoegaarden, and Budweiser Budvar, along with a small list of wines and an attractive lunch menu which caters to nouveau pescavegetarians like myself. The choices include various sandwiches and lunch items prepared with ingredients like smoked salmon, goat cheese, pesto, sun-dried tomato, vegetarian sausages, caramelised onions, cajun chicken, olives, chutney, ciabatta, parmesan, buffalo mozzarella -- in other words, all sorts of mouthwatering things that, in a perfect world, everybody's kitchen would be stocked with. Good ambient music with a touch of Euro-dissonant jazz wafted through the room, matching the decor perfectly. | ![]() |