Ziferblat, the pay-as-you-go cafe

The trendy Shoreditch joint charges 3p a minute for a seat but offers free wi-fi and cups of tea
Ziferblat owner Ivan Mitin
Alex Lentati
Sian Boyle16 October 2017

A cafe where the food and drink are free sounds too good to be true. But it exists – in the form of Ziferblat, the UK’s first ever pay-as-you-go cafe.

At the venue in Old Street “everything is free, except the time you spend there”. Customers pay 3p per minute – or £1.80 an hour – for unlimited food, coffee and wi-fi.

Owner Ivan Mitin, 29, said: “Five days ago we had 20 customers and today we’ve already had a hundred, and we’ve even had to turn people away because we’ve run out of seats.

“There are customers who have been back 10 times already and they bring their friends with them.”

Trendy: Ziferblat offers free WiFi and cups of tea
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The cafe is the first UK branch of a Russian chain. Its name means “clock face”. Customers who use the café are free to bring any of their own food or drink except alcohol, and can spend unlimited time there.

They also make their own beverages and wash up their own crockery. Many Ziferblat customers leave donations on top of their 3p-per-minute bill. Mr Mitin, who founded the first of 11 Ziferblat cafes in Moscow in 2011, said: “People aren’t paying for consumption; we pay for the space and they pay for the time, so it’s about participation.”

Ziferblat, which overlooks Shoreditch High Street, opened in November last year, but has seen a spike in customer numbers this month. Mr Meetin says he plans to open more branches in the capital if its success continues.

Customer Aaron Anthony-Piuai, 19, said: “I like that the emphasis is less on transactional value. It’s not about the coffee I’m buying, and more about the place that I’m drinking it in.”

Ziferblat is open seven days a week from 11am to midnight. london.ziferblat.net

Do it yourself: customers are invited to make their own coffee
Ziferblat

Evening Standard's Sian Boyle visits Ziferblat

I’m handed a vintage mantelpiece clock and my “time in” is chalked up on a board.

A friendly Ziferblat manager shows me how to use the kitchen facilities and after concocting my first cappuccino I sit down to relax.

Pastel colours, mismatched furniture, airy views over Shoreditch High Street and Simon and Garfunkel records playing softly in the background make the cafe feel like a living room.

Bushy moustaches, a scattering of Macs and the chance to be your own barista for the day mean this place is hipster to the core.

But it wasn’t just hipsters – throngs of different people walked through the doors to enjoy a few coffees without having to eke out an overpriced espresso just to avoid the cold.

I had two cappuccinos and my 45 minutes there worked out at £1.35.

Although the “unlimited food” only really consisted of some biscuits and crudités, the emphasis is on the quality of time spent rather than bang for your buck.

In spite of its name, Ziferblat is a place where you feel like losing yourself in time, and 3p a minute is a pretty good rate at which to do so.

Thrifty: visitors are given a clock when they arrive so staff can time their stay
Ziferblat

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