The Best Coffee Shop In England Was Just Crowned, And It’s In London
If you’ve ever queued outside Rosslyn on your way to work, there’s now official proof it’s worth the wait. The independent City of London coffee group has been named the best coffee shop in England and one of the top 20 in Europe, after placing 12th in the inaugural 100 Best Coffee Shops in Europe rankings.
More than 5,300 cafés across Europe were assessed by a panel of 250 coffee experts alongside over 240,000 public votes, with Rosslyn emerging as London’s highest-ranked café.
A win for London
The award is a major win not just for Rosslyn, but for the Square Mile, which has quietly become one of the capital’s best destinations for speciality coffee. While neighbourhoods such as Shoreditch, Soho and Hackney often dominate conversations around London’s café scene, Rosslyn has built its reputation in the heart of the City.
Founded in 2018, the business has grown from a single wedge-shaped café on Queen Victoria Street into nine locations across the City of London, serving tens of thousands of coffees every week while remaining independently owned.
Rosslyn is one of London’s coffee gems. I personally love the nod to The City with the FT front page pin-up.
Joseph, Brand Partnerships Manager
What sets it apart
James Hennebry, Rosslyn’s co-founder and CEO, said the recognition was especially meaningful given the area’s history. “The City of London has one of the richest coffee histories in the world, dating back to the 1600s, and we’ve always wanted to help London become the number one city for coffee in the world again.” He added: “We’ve never been interested in chasing trends. We seek to make great coffee and look after people, and that’s it.”
Rosslyn was one of only four UK cafés to make Europe’s top 20 and now qualifies for the World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops awards, due to be announced in March 2027. The company has also earned a reputation beyond coffee, becoming a certified Living Wage employer and campaigning for fair pay across the hospitality industry.
To celebrate the award, Rosslyn is inviting Londoners to its original Queen Victoria Street café, where visitors can claim a free coffee while the team marks the achievement. For City workers, commuters or anyone planning a coffee crawl this summer, the capital’s newly crowned best café may already be on your route.
