Laboratorio Espresso

93 W Nile St, Glasgow G1 2SH
Most coffee shops these days fall into one of two categories when it comes to decor. The quirky, incomplete look that up-cycles old or used materials (or at least looks like it) that may or may not be comfortable or fit for purpose but are there because they look jarringly ‘cool’, or the ultra sleek, chic modern glass monolith that has so much chrome everywhere it looks like a tricked out spaceship. Laboratorio Espresso may not be massive but it definitely falls into the latter of these categories.

Perhaps rather optimistically for a café in Scotland, there’s an almost even split of seating inside and out but this is probably more a reflection of how little space is available to them rather than their insistence people will enjoy their coffee al fresco. There’s a sort of primo level of excellence that is assumed of a place like this, highly polished in every sense of the word as you stare at your face in the shining contours of the Espresso machine whilst the barista conducts themselves with care and precision befitting a good cup of coffee, topped off with a biscotti by the side when served. This is exactly where Laboratorio Espresso wants to pitch itself, with its space that has won architectural awards and its coffee that is one of the largest ranges in Glasgow (three or four options on the filter menu at a time covering both single origin and blends) it wants to be the best of the best and oh so shiny and new and it’s succeeding in doing so. This force for contemporary coffee culture still has a respect for tradition that is evident with an Italian flavour to its pastries and deli menu a clear nod to coffee origins. 
I order an oat milk flat white of the Dear Green coffee and settle in to stare out at the city as the dim light of afternoon starts to turn towards evening and the warm, reflected glow from the spotless surfaces acts as a blanket to the chill setting into the rest of the city. It’s a shame I have to catch a plane in a couple of hours because, having found here, I’m in no rush to leave.