Well-renowned venue for live jazz, jazz cds and jazzed-up coffee.
Jazz up your afternoon coffee break with a trip to Ray’s shop and café on the first floor of Foyles’ bookshop on Charing Cross Road. The coffee here is exceptionally good for an in-store café, there’s free wireless access and there are as many jazz and blues cds as your little ears can take, but most importantly is the soothing sound of jazz that persistently punctuates the air. Merging with the powerful aroma of freshly brewed coffee that wafts throughout the store, the atmosphere here is cool, contemplative and calm. The café also plays host to a live jazz band - a bunch of jovial and highly accomplished musicians, squeezed in between a load of heaving CD shelves, who regularly play for free to a relaxed pack of coffee and tea drinkers. While you’re here, take the opportunity to browse the store’s extensive collection of jazz and world music. If you spot something you like, snap it up - you’re unlikely to find such a good range anywhere else in London.
Best for:
Jazz cds and live music, soothing sounds and comforting smells.
Did you know?
Ray's Jazz Cafe was once located on a street just off Charing Cross Road. Facing closure it was saved when it relocated to Foyles.
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