Tram Store is what happens when you give a historic Clapton tram depot to someone with an eye for plants and good coffee. Set inside the old Clapton Tram Depot — once home to horse-drawn trams — this café-cum-shop pairs centuries-old beams, parquetry flooring, and distressed brickwork with lush trailing foliage for an "outside-in" feel that's genuinely unlike any other café in East London. Come for the chai latte (it's divine, per regulars), stay for the breakfast, and browse the plants and gifts while you're at it.
A café inside a centuries-old tram depot with trailing plants, parquetry floors, and a chai latte that regulars call divine.
Go before 10am on weekends to grab a table — it fills up fast, especially on Sunday jazz days.
A historic tram depot turned plant-filled neighbourhood café
If you live in Clapton, you already know Tram Store — and if you don't, it's worth the trip up the Upper Clapton Road. The setting is the real draw: a former horse-drawn tram depot with centuries-old beams, parquetry flooring, and exposed brickwork, all softened by lush trailing plants that make it feel like a greenhouse crossed with a heritage building. It's the kind of place where you settle in with a coffee and end up staying two hours.
The food is solid — breakfast and brunch done well — but the standout is the chai latte, which regulars rave about. Staff are genuinely warm, and the whole operation has an eclectic, lived-in charm that's hard to manufacture. You can also browse plants, gifts, and cards, which makes it feel more like a community hub than just a café. Sunday jazz adds another reason to visit on weekends.
It's not flawless — service can slow down when it's busy, and the menu isn't going to blow anyone away culinarily — but that's not really the point. Tram Store is about atmosphere, and it delivers that in spades. Go early on weekends if you want a table.