Kahve Dunyasi Turkish chain’s flagship store in W1
Time Out (UK) December 15, 2011, p. 34
Guy Dimond

Kahve Dunyasi is a huge coffee bar chain, with 200 stores in Turkey. If you imagine Starbucks melted into a mid-range chocolatier, you’re on the right track. This first London store is heavily branded in the US way, rather than charming in the Anatolian way ; but once you get over the shock of stepping into a huge cafe decorated like a chocolate box, its appeal becomes obvious. There are great cakes and coffees – and it’s all really cheap.

About half the entrance room is dedicated to chocolate and pastries. A long counter displays an orgy of chocolates and chocolate desserts: truffles, chocolate-coated marzipan and chestnuts, Turkish delight, novelty chocolates. A glossy cabinet behind the till displays neat rows of perfectly-formed macarons. It’s all just too choc-tastic, and the ones we tried – a brownie and a mosaic cake – were both excellent, and a bargain at less than £3 each. The loose chocolate truffles are even more competitively priced, with most at £2.95 per 100g (our selection of eight perfectly decent truffles came to the princely sum of £1.59).

The coffees are another strong card in their hand. The Turkish coffee was strong, dark and bitter, as it should be; and the huge mug of milk coffee with salep, a thickener made from a type of orchid root that’s popular in Turkey, was rich and viscous, like a good hot chocolate.

The sandwiches are not great, and the service was a total shambles on our visit. But with prices like this, great chocolate, coffee and cakes and a location so close to Piccadilly Circus, we didn’t see anyone complaining.

Kahve Dunyasi 200 Piccadilly, W1 9HU (7287 9063/www.kahvedunyasi.com). Piccadilly Circus tube. 8am-9pm daily. Meal for two with drinks and service: around £16.