Discovering quirky independent coffee houses in London thrills me every time and I always like to support them, even if I’m not particularly thirsty! Last weekend in Islington, while wandering in the sunshine I stumbled across Maison d’etre, a tiny pretty little café serving Nude Espresso finely brewed coffee, chilled iced coffees and homemade ravishing looking cakes.

The décor like many one-off cafes is stylish retro with embroidered cushions and mismatch crockery and little vases of colourful handpicked flowers on each table. Located on the main road moments away from Highbury and Islington station, it is a convenient and bright venue and I’m sure supplies many early morning commuters with their caffeine kick.

Hip youngsters glug coffee at the tables while clicking away on their Mac laptops and listening to music. We sauntered in after a lunch at a restaurant nearby, grabbing coffee for our stroll in Highbury Fields. We tried a classic cappuccino and an iced-coffee (which seemed to be flying off the counter in the unusually hot weather). The friendly barista handed us two delicious looking beverages: the cappuccino was light and fluffy with a rich but sweet taste to the coffee… I usually spend hours drinking a cup of coffee but I couldn’t make the Maison d’etre cappuccino last more than five minutes despite wanting to savour every mouthful. The iced coffee was great too, a lovely white and brown marbled effect which tasted as good as it looked, milky and cooling with a strong espresso flavour a brilliant option for summer afternoons.

On a quest to supply Islington with the best brewed coffee and home baked cakes, Maison d’etre are succeeding. Round the back they have a garden where you can listen to records and relax while sipping the perfect cappuccino.

Visit the website here.