The Paper Boat Cafe

you're at folly bridge, where the thames does that quiet thing it does on the south edge of oxford's centre, and the old toll house sits right at the water. the paper boat cafe has built a genuine following here, the kind that comes back on weekday mornings not because there's nowhere else to go but because this specific place has earned that habit. oxford has no shortage of coffee spots, but something about this one, the location, the consistency, the fact that regulars clearly feel ownership over it, sets it apart from the more transient cafe culture closer to the high street. if you're coming from folly bridge on a grey oxford afternoon, an espresso here is a reasonable argument for staying a little longer.