Qima Café and Pâtisserie, Covent Garden

Coffee with a story

Qima was founded by Faris Sheibani, whose business works with more than 7,000 smallholder coffee farmers. The coffee itself is the reason to come, served alongside pastries made for the café. Through the Qima Foundation, a sapling coffee tree is donated to a farmer for each cup sold, which gives an ordinary flat white a bit more weight.

The New Row café

This is Qima's second London site and a step up in scale from the first café near Warren Street. The design-led interior has won attention in hospitality design circles, and the café works for a slow breakfast, a mid-morning coffee or an afternoon pastry. Expect it to be busy at weekends. If you want a seat, come on a weekday morning or mid-afternoon, when the lunchtime and weekend crowds have thinned. It is just as good for a takeaway coffee to carry on to the piazza or the river.

Around New Row

New Row is a narrow lane of independent shops linking Covent Garden with St Martin's Lane, so Qima makes an easy pause between the piazza and the West End theatres. Dishoom and Blacklock are a few doors away for a bigger meal, and the National Gallery and Trafalgar Square are under ten minutes on foot.

Highlights

• Yemeni specialty coffee from smallholder farms
• Pastries made for the café
• Flagship of the Qima Coffee team, opened 2025
• On New Row between the piazza and St Martin's Lane

Good to know

• Contact the café on 020 7209 8200 or info@qimacafe.com for group enquiries.
• There is a second Qima Café near Warren Street.

Frequently asked questions