Croydon Coffee: Matthews Yard.

This week I searched for a nice coffee place in my home town of Croydon.

By “Searched” I mean google searched, Iv’e found that if I put my location into google maps and search for what I’m looking for aka “Coffee shop” it can sometimes bring up hidden gems that you might not have spotted on foot.

Google maps advised me that by surrey street market there is a little coffee shop which is somewhat of cultural hub called Matthews Yard. As we all know the internet doesn’t lie so I convinced my dear friend (and fellow blogger) Allan to join me in my search for coffee.
With a rough idea of where it was and the maps on our phones as a back-up we walked through the market. Commenting on how affordable the food is, a bowl of Bananas for 50p? 5 Avocados for £1? Why don’t we shop here? Seriously how good are Artichokes? That sort of thing. 

A right turn down a little pathway and we spot the church shown to me by Google maps. A little hard to see at first but as we walk towards the church we see the sign for Matthews Yard and some outside seating.

The door looks a little like the back door of a studio, being slightly hidden away I thought it might be one of those empty places where the staff look at you like you’ve walked into someones house with mud on your shoes, but that wasn’t the case at all.

We open the door and had a look around. Exposed brick painted white, real wooden floor boards, that beautifully shambolic urban industrial look that wouldn’t look out of place in Shoreditch.

There is a closed bar to our left which is a BRGR & BEER serving homemade burgers and craft beers in the evening (From midday on Friday and Saturday) I make a mental note to come back when it’s open because it looks like an awesome place to have a beer.

There is a menu full of yummy breakfasts and light lunches along with the normal coffee choices and a variety of loose leaf teas. The staff were friendly and the place has a relaxed and (Dare I say it) somewhat hipster feel. 

There are also wonderful cakes on display, I go for a slice of Lemon drizzle and a Flat white, and Allan has an Espresso.

The cake was moist and very lemon-y and the coffee was lovely, quite a strong flavor but as I adore coffee that’s alright by me.

The eclectic use of what could be your grandmothers crockery with the rough but homely feel of the place makes it feel almost like a student house and the flyers and notices for events happening there add to that community feel.

It turns out there is loads going on in here all the time, Poetry, Art, Board game evenings? Google was right: this is a community hub!

There is a small art gallery in a room just off of the cafe area so after finishing our coffee we go to have a look, the exhibition is currently #StreetPOP by artist Bareface.

A mixture of pop art and street art (Think Roy Lichtenstein meets Banksy) this is nice contemporary art. The exhibition is on until the 4th of October but if you fancy one of these Bareface pieces on your wall then get down there quick because the majority we saw were already sold.

As well as all of the events, exhibitions, and workshops going on seemingly all the time, Matthews Yard is also home to the performance space Air balloon, Croydon radio, and it’s own theater… and to think I’ve been going to Starbucks these past three years.

Thank you Google maps.