Nkora, St Albans

26 Market Pl, St Albans AL3 5DG
St. Albans is the sort of place that has been crying out for a decent third wave coffee shop for some time now. A Home Counties town, that’s technically a city, with direct lines into the capital, it’s been featured in TimeOut magazine several times as an ideal area to live and visit for the London orientated. As such, it’s the sort of place flush with trendy high street chains and independent boutiques that appeal to the commuter crowd that are used to the availability of shops and services found in the big smoke whilst opting for a quieter kind of life. There’s been plenty of places to try and ape the more cosmopolitan coffee experience but none have really come quite as close as Nkora who seem to be the first to give specialty coffee a real go without falling back on another gimmick just in case, and there’s no surprise there since it has other locations in East London. 
Transposing the down to earth, artisan feeling outside of hipster hubs like Shoreditch and Cambridge Heath seems like no mean feat but take the coffee of, East End based roastery, Union Coffee with you and fresh food and cakes with plenty of veggie and vegan options and you’re easily onto a winner wherever you go with the mild and nutty roast complimented by sweet treats and in house sandwiches.
It can become a little cluttered and overly cosy at times but this speaks of the popularity of the place that sits just off of the market square, making it ideal on weekends as a safe haven from the hustle and bustle of traders and shoppers whom you can watch go about their frantic business from the sanctuary of the front window bar. All too often, spaces outside of major cities miss out on spots like these so it’s good to see them trickling beyond those borders.