Last Thursday, as with the day before, I had an appointment in the City. As I was only 10 minutes away from Long Lane, and as I was hungry, I thought it would be an opportune time to check these places out.

I've heard that those living and working near Long Lane are supposed to be exceedingly fortunate because of their proximity to Austrian cafe Kipferl and coffee shop Dose, which are located right next to each other.

Dose
69 Long Lane
London EC1A 9EJ

I heard about Dose through bellaphon, who seems to discover all the great coffee places as and when they pop up.Lunch consisted of a sandwich (milano salami, goat cheese, sun blush tomato, basil and rocket on wholemeal, £3.50) and a misordered latte. I had ordered a flat white, but somewhere along the hustle and bustle, I was served a latte.

Latte art

I didn't realise that they had served me the wrong beverage, although I did find myself thinking that this was the milkiest flat white I had ever drunk, and wondered why everyone I'd read raved about their coffee. I did think it was a nice touch that I'd gotten a posh glass as opposed to the coffee cup I was used to.

Latte with incredibly delicious sandwich in background

Now, onto the sandwich. The sandwich was incredible. The ingredients complemented one another perfectly, and the bread, the bread! It was amazing, especially when toasted. This was most definitely one of the best sandwiches I have ever eaten. The only other times I've had this reaction to sandwiches are when I've eaten Rootmaster's bread, LSE's paninis and Pret-a-Manger's Parmesan avocado sandwich (only available at the now-closed Singapore branch).

Dose's La Marcozzo


Incredibly cheerful menu

Rather innovative way of displaying the daily food menu

Talk about coffee table books

The main problem with Dose is that it's small, and there are no real tables. It may have free wi-fi, but I guarantee you that if you choose to stay in here for any period of time, with your laptop perched on your lap (the crates which make up the tables are the same height as the box-chairs), you will undoubtedly suffer from a pretty bad backache before long. I had originally come in here with the intention of reading Time Out, but, given the lack of space, pretty much ended up eating, drinking, taking some photos and then leaving, all in just about half an hour.

Still, I'll definitely return soon. Firstly, there's the flat white I have yet to try. Secondly, that sandwich was amazing!

Kipferl
70 Long Lane
London EC1A 9EJ

I'd first heard about Kipferl last year when I came across it was when it was nominated as one of London's best independent cafes by a member of The Guardian's reporting staff. Being a big fan of the now-closed Wiener Kaffehaus in Singapore, I decided that Kipferl definitely merited a visit, in spite of the distance from my office. Unfortunately, the day I visited, they had run out of apple strudel, the main reason why I decided to try this place out. Instead, I opted for a kaesekrainer (sausage with Emmental cheese) and bun, and sachertorte combination. The sausage was very good, but I didn't like the sachertorte. I'm sure it had nothing to do with Kipferl itself, as I don't generally like sachertortes anyway.

This time around, the apple strudel was still available. I opted for a takeaway, and promptly devoured it within five minutes. This wasn't because of its great taste. It had more to do with the fact that it was a small portion, probably as long as my hand, and about two inches wide. As far as strudels go, it was okay. I didn't like that it was cold (I prefer my pastries warm), but this wasn't Kipferl's fault.

Will I be returning to Kipferl any time soon? Probably not. At £2 per tiny slice, the strudel's a little on the expensive side. I would, however, return for a sausage lunch.