I can remember a time when ‘good coffee’, to most people in
this country, myself included, meant anything made in a drip filter. Espresso
was something wildly exotic that you got in other countries. ‘Bad coffee’ meant
anything instant made from dried jarred powder and boiled water. We have come a
long way since then, and the quality continues to rise in London. Even in
Islington (or maybe, being on this side of the road, Haringey). The takeover in
recent years of London’s quality coffee scene by a band of mostly antipodeans,
combined with admirably obsessive coffee nerds from around the world, means
that ‘bad coffee’ now means anything from Starbucks, Costa Coffee or the like,
and ‘good coffee’ means something sourced and produced with loving attention to
detail, usually by a coffee-fanatic of some kind and sometimes the holder of a
special Oscar-style coffee-award. Some wonderful places have opened up, such as
Prufrock in Leather Lane, which is staffed entirely by coffee champions but
still has a welcoming and un-snobbish atmosphere. 
When I heard that the coffee revolution had spread to Stroud
Green Road, I made the scenic walk under the Finsbury Park railway bridge to
check it out. I can now not-very-exclusively reveal that the rumours are true.
Vagabond is a cute little place on the corner with a pleasant whiff of
coffee-geekery about it. I want coffee made by a coffee geek. I can make normal
coffee at home. Another thing I liked about it was that it felt more ‘Bohemian’
(pretentious word but you know what it means) and less like ‘gentrification’ (even
more horrible word) than the nearby Front Room Cafe and Boulangerie Bon Matin.
There are bags of coffee, coffee paraphernalia, and great coffee-related
photos, all over the shop. The coffee itself is the real thing, the good stuff,
‘Has Bean’ coffee, with nicely-executed ‘latte-art’ on the milk options. If I
lived around the corner I would come here every day. As it is, I’ll just have
to think of some nearby places to write about so I can stop by for a fix
afterwards. 
Vagabond
Unit 20, Charter Court, Stroud Green Rd
London N4 3SG
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