Stripped-down coffee shop just sells small, medium or large

One of London's most highly regarded coffee shops has abandoned its entire menu and introduced a simpler one.

Instead of asking for a flat white, skinny latte or cappuccino, customers will now choose between three cup sizes.

Prufrock Coffee, run by world champion barista Gwilym Davies, said the new menu was designed to make life easier for customers. "People just want a simple, unpretentious drink without all the fluff and the trimmings, so we now just offer an espresso with milk," said Jeremy Challender, who runs the firm with Mr Davies inside clothes shop Present in Shoreditch High Street.

"Customers have really breathed a sigh of relief when they see the new menu. The way you use milk for flat whites, cappucines and lattes is pretty similar — it's just steamed milk."

The new menu offers drinks in 4oz, 6oz and 8oz cups, and Mr Challender hopes other coffee shops will follow the new menu. "The problem we found was that there aren't standards for drinks — each shop has different sized cups, and the drinks taste different," he said. "So we decided to simplify things, we think it makes more sense to standardise things in terms of the cup size instead. The customer knows exactly what they're getting."

Meanwhile, other coffee shops in London are beginning to focus on serving filter coffee.

James Hoffman runs Square Mile Coffee Roasters, which roasts its own coffee in the East End and has been behind a move towards filter.

Mr Hoffman said: "People are going back to basics. The recession has been great for quality coffee, I think people are more value conscious — people will spend more to get more."