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Rhythm & Brews is Chiswick's first (and so far only) vinyl cafe. It opened last October next to Turnham Green on the site of the former Arlington Pharmacy at the end of Wellesley Road. According to chiswickw4.com it's owned by Ann Khoshaba, a fashion designer who ran the Cinnamon Cafe in Pitshanger Lane in Ealing for six years.
The concept of a hipster cafe which plays and sells real old-fashioned vinyl is a mouthwatering one. I was certain I was going to love this place. And Rhythm & Brews certainly looks the part: tables are made from reclaimed wood; benches from old railway sleepers; there are cushions on the sofas and the walls are adorned with vinyl and pictures of all the rock gods. They even host 'live lounge' acoustic sessions. What's not to like?
Maybe our expectations were too high, but I'm afraid this was our biggest disappointment so far. It feels like the place is being run by the boy's team from The Apprentice. Siralan would tell them that you can only put style over substance for so long. Somebody on Team Caffeine would have been fired this week.
The signs weren't promising from the start. The boys were struggling to cope with a bit of a rush. The guy in front of us wanted some coffees to take away, and they got his order right only at the third attempt.
On the plus side, we sat outside in the sunshine. And our drinks were fine. I had an Americano, made with Union Coffee, and a green tea for the Missus. Little Miss West4urants had a 'Big 5 Smoothie' with strawberry, kiwi, mango and pineapple (Siralan would have picked them up on their maths too).
She also had the granola with Greek yoghurt and berry compote (£3.95). It looked suspiciously like Harvest Crunch to me, but she loved it. And accompanied it with a decent croissant, probably made elsewhere, but that's fine. I played it safe and went for the toast with jam (not too safe - I asked if I could have marmalade). It arrived with neither, so I asked again. A pot of a bright red jelly-like substance was served, which I think even Lidl would be embarrassed to put in its value range.
But Mrs West4urants was most underwhelmed. In fact she's rarely been less whelmed. We're getting through quite a lot of avocado on toast for the blog, and this was by some distance the worst. One piece of pre-sliced bread, a smear of avocado, some sunflower seeds and a sprinkling of chilli powder (not the advertised flakes) for £4.70. She went inside to complain, and received a furtive thumbs-up from a group of women at another table. (Their verdict as they left is not fit for putting on a family blog).
The waiter was apologetic and offered us a free drink - a gesture rather undermined by him then failing to deliver the coffee I accepted.
We have been positive about every place we've visited so far, and fairly. There's not one place we wouldn't go back to. And, for me, that includes Rhythm & Brews (though I might struggle to persuade Mrs West4urants to return). Maybe they just had a bad day, maybe the function the previous evening really was to blame for the missing jam, maybe the guy behind the counter really was only on his third day. If you're not in a hurry and want to sit in a hip cafe, and browse through some old records, and have a decent cup of coffee, then give it a go. But have breakfast somewhere else.
Food (for 3): £13.15
Drink: £9.00
Total: £22.15
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