A freelancer-, blogger-, start-upper-, and writer-friendly caf has recently opened in Warsaw for all those who like working to café sounds. Its name is Labour Café Deli & Coworking.
My first thought was, “That’s a thing for me.” Then I was like, “I wonder if they’re doing a good job.”
I have worked from a number of cafés around the world, so I do know what a perfect café for a freelancer should look like. Unfortunately, I tend to compare all such places with my idealistic vision.
I went there a couple of times, worked, tested. During the tests, I got on really well with the Labour team—its owners and employees. The café has good soul (to me, it is important) and very open people (which is why you will find a surprise at the end of this article!).
LOCATION
49 Tamka Street. Turn onto Ordynacka Street from Nowy Świat. Along the extension of Ordynacka Street, right next to the chocolate shop and the candy store, at the back of Tamka Street, Labour is situated.
It’s a ten-minute walk away from de Gaulle Circle, five minutes away from Świętokrzyska Station, or two minutes away from Nowy Świat Street.
Facebook: fb.com/labourcafe
Instagram: instagram.com/labourcafe
WORKING CONDITIONS
At Labour there are three rooms.
When you open the door, you find yourselves in the first one.
Your attention is attracted by the large table, tabletops by the window, light bulbs under the ceiling, and the bar.
A big plus for a large number of outlets—they are among the most important elements of a coworking café. Here, the sockets are distributed so that you can access them from every station.
On the table and tabletops you can find pencils, pens, as well as books and newspapers—if you want to take a break from your computer.
At lunchtime, this room is the most crowded; forenoons and afternoons are more peaceful, though.
The second room is full of armchairs and coffee tables. In my opinion, it is more suitable for meetings with clients, gossip, coffee, or reading, when you’re comfortably snuggled in the armchair. Unless you like working with a computer on your lap.
This room is a little further away from the bar, which makes it quieter.
In the second room, you will see stairs. Walk up a few steps and there you will find an entresol with large windows.
The third room (an entresol) is is the quietest place where the guests can use the printer, flipchart, and screen! Yes, at Labour, you can print for free! This earns them another plus for accentuating the coworking character of the café.
The second room and the entresol can be separated from the bar area with doors, forming closed spaces.
If you’d like to organize a workshop or a closed corporate meeting, this place is perfect.
Coffee, coffee, coffee
This is where I drank Vietnamese coffee for the first time. It is prepared in this charming device. I believe that sweetening coffee is absolute profanity, but this pour-over Vietnamese coffee tastes pretty good with sweet condensed milk.
I’ve recently met up at Labour with Michał and Ola from Makulscy.com blog. It turns out that Michał is a coffee freak—he has a few different coffee mills at home, and knows all possible coffee roasting methods that influence its taste, with all other nuances… He was genuinely impressed by Labour coffee—he even bought a pack to take home. Best recommendation. Michał, can you confirm?
The owners are planning to organize coffee workshops soon, so if you’re a fan, stay tuned.
HAVE A BREAKFAST, LUNCH AND… DELICIOUS MERINGUES
You can order lunch every day from 12 to 4 p.m. It is PLN 18, and this is the time when Labour is the most crowded. Every day, there is a different lunch special—sometimes with meat, sometimes a vegetarian one. I personally could have a vegetarian option every day. Well, but when it’s a meat day, I order something from the non-lunch menu—the prices are from PLN 18 to 26.
For breakfast, I recommend coconut milk porridge, and instead of lunch—tabuleh and lentil salad.
Oh, and those meringues… They are terribly tempting. So far, I have been tough. I don’t know how long I’ll last, though.
All their cakes are baked in-house, and so are breads.
Afternoon menus and wine are planned, too. However, if you’d like to sip some wine or organize a private wine and beer party at Labour even today, you are welcome to bring your own bottle.
DOGS FRIENDLY
Dog people will love this place just as much as it loves animals.
Your pets will find here water, food, and toys. You can enter every room together—even the entresol.
GENERAL IMPRESSIONS
So far, this is the only Warsaw café I know that has a good atmosphere and is so well-prepared to host freelancers: the outlets, wifi, the variety of rooms, free printing services, the flipchart, the possibility of separating rooms to organize closed meetings.
Plus its convenient location and a big heart for dogs.
20% DISCOUNT FOR A COFFEE
And now, the surprise! As I’ve already become friendly with Labour, they have prepared something for you, too.
Until the end of February, you can earn you a 20% discount on any coffee of your choice. This is you have to do is to come to Labour publish some pic on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter with #labourcafe hashtag. That’s all.
See you in #labourcafe.
