A record shop where you can also order breakfast is still a rare thing on a British high street, and Orpington has one of the more convincing examples. The Orpington Café & Record Store occupies a bright unit at 161 High Street, white frontage trimmed with green window frames and gold lettering, pavement tables out front and the words “Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner & Records” across the glass. Both halves share one room, so a flick through the racks turns easily into a coffee, and a coffee turns just as easily into a record.
Background / History
The shop is the work of Scott Buckle, who spent his working life in hospitality before opening this one in 2018 alongside Paul Schoones, then working in finance. The record side comes from a childhood memory: a toy shop in Bourne End kept a record concession tucked inside, and the neon RECORDS sign above it fascinated Scott enough that his gran began buying him albums instead of toys. Orpington was chosen deliberately, for a catchment stretching across Bromley and Dartford that the vinyl revival had not yet reached. During the fit-out the windows were papered with records, so the town knew what was coming well before the doors opened.
What You’ll Find
Vinyl is the format here. Records line the walls on shelves that shift constantly as people lift things down, and the centre of the room is given over to a custom browsing bin on castors, divided by decade and category so even a short visit turns something up. The range is broad rather than narrow, with classic rock and pop, soul, jazz, country, soundtracks and current reissues sitting close together. The shop takes part in Record Store Day, National Album Day and RSD Black Friday, with a records newsletter setting out what will be stocked for each, and it is the local stockist for Record Tokens, the gift voucher spendable in participating record shops nationwide. The café side brings locally roasted coffee, homemade food through breakfast, all-day brunch and lunch, a wine, beer and cocktail list, and takeaway.
Experience / Atmosphere
What makes this one work is the proximity. The racks sit an arm’s length from the tables, so browsing happens at a slower pace than in a shop you have made a special trip to, and Scott and his team are used to talking music over the coffee machine. The crossover crowd is part of the appeal: people who came in for brunch and left with an LP, and people who came for the LP and stayed for lunch. Sleeves on the walls and a steady turnover of stock give the place a lived-in feel rather than a curated one.
Why Visit
- A proper record shop and an independent café sharing one room, with no need to choose between them
- Vinyl arranged by decade and category, spanning classic rock, soul, jazz, country, pop, soundtracks and current reissues
- Record Store Day, National Album Day and RSD Black Friday participation, with a newsletter covering what will be in stock
- The local stockist for Record Tokens, redeemable at participating record shops across the country
- Locally roasted coffee, homemade food and pavement seating on the High Street
- An owner who built the shop around his own first record-buying memories
Summary
The Orpington succeeds because neither half is an afterthought. The kitchen is taken as seriously as the crates, and the crates carry enough range to justify a visit on their own. For anyone around Bromley and Orpington it is the easiest kind of record shop to build an afternoon around, and for visitors from further out it makes an unusually comfortable stop: browse properly, eat well, and leave with something worth putting on at home.
