The public face of the National Poetry Society, the Poetry Cafe is also a vegetarian eatery, exhibition space and comedy venue.  Almost every evening it hosts poetry nights each with their own audience and following of poets.  Don't let this put you off though, there are open mic sessions to let people who have never read poetry in public before do so for the first time, or to let experienced poets try out something new. 

You might also be lucky enough to catch a world-famous writer or two doing a recital at 'In Town Tonight', an evening set up for visiting poets of repute.  During the day the atmosphere is less buzzy to encourage pondering and inspiration; expect to see pens flurrying over moleskine notepads, smell the curling aroma of a macchiato, hear the occasional tap tap of keys on an apple mac and the pages of  'Poetry Monthly' turning accompanied by the occasional beard stroke.

In all seriousness, this is a lovely serene venue to escape the hustle and bustle of Covent Garden by day; by night it is awash with poetry of all genres and hosts a decent comedy evening the first Friday and third Saturday of every month.