Cafés to cure even the most wretched of Bridge cases

Sunlight pierces through your college-issue, beige curtains, pricking open your raw eyes. As you slowly, hesitantly, look around, you begin to take in the full state of your room. There’s an empty bottle of wine on the desk. There’s one on the bedside table too. Dear God there’s even one on the book shelf propping up your as-of-yet untouched copy of ‘Beowulf’. You dread to look further, but as you try to avert your gaze a familiar glint catches your eye. Oh no. Abandoned, a Sainsbury’s Vodka bottle lies flat and void against the coarse carpet floor. The faint, sweet sound of The Vengaboys’ 1998 classic ‘Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom!’ seems to swell and fill the room, transporting you back to last night’s pres before…Bridge?

Yes – the rising taste of blue VK confirms it.

You are in desperate need of coffee and wholesome chats, but where to go? Grab your fellow bridge-goers and head to one of these coffee shops.

Skogen Kitchen

The cinnamon buns. The cinnamon buns, the cinnamon buns, the cinnamon buns.

This little café is sure to fulfil even your wildest dreams of ‘hygge’ and ‘fika’ with its warmth, cosiness, and generally amazing Scandi decor. With a variety of tea ranging from hibiscus to vanilla rooibos, this Swedish gem serves up different flavours of hot chocolate, including peanut butter, cinnamon and cardamom, as well as great coffee served in the most aesthetically pleasing cups of any café in Oxford. It’s the perfect place to have a much needed catch-up about last night.

Price of coffee:

-Flat White: £2.80

-Cappuccino: £2.60

Non-dairy milk alternatives:

– Oat, soya and almond

– Extra cost of either 20p or 30p

Vegan cake options:

– Yes (they have a vegan cinnamon bun!)

Student discount:

– 10%

…did I mention they do really good cinnamon buns?

Society Café

Clean and crisp, the Society Café is like that one friend who is somehow perpetually put together. Despite making it to the lights being turned on at Bridge last night – a sight few students can claim to have seen – they have already been on a run, written five 2000 word essays and it’s not even 11 am. With an incredible selection of coffee, loose leaf tea, and hot chocolate, Society Café is sure to revive even the most wretched of Bridge cases.

Price of coffee:

– Flat White: £2.80

– Cappuccino: £2.90

Non-dairy milk alternatives:

– Oat, soya and almond

– Extra cost of 40p

Vegan cake options:

– Usually

Student discount:

– No

George Street Social

Fairy lights, mismatched furniture and bookcases crammed with board games and dog-eared books make up this heavenly café. George Street Social has the wholesome atmosphere everyone needs after last night’s third VK.

Price of coffee:

– Flat White (small): £2.70

– Cappuccino (small): £2.50

Non-dairy milk alternatives:

– Oat, soya and almond

– No extra cost

Vegan cake options:

– Sometimes

Student discount:

– 10% on food

Barefoot Bakery

Yes, it is in Jericho. Yes, it is quite a trek. And yes, I regretfully must inform you that the journey there does take you past Jamal’s, the side effects of which may likely include the resurfacing of some deeply buried crew date sconces. But oh my goodness it is so very worth it. With it’s Instagram-worthy decor and funky rainbow lattes (beetroot and raspberry, turmeric and ginger, red velvet and butterfly pea), this café is sure to make your all too recent encounter with the smoking area seem like a distant memory. What’s more the cakes are incredible, and the slices are enormous.