Costa Coffee

You're threading through the Eagle Market's corridors, dodging shoppers with their Primark bags, when you spot the familiar red Costa sign on Level 2. This particular outpost benefits from its elevated position – you can nurse a flat white whilst watching Derby folk scurry about the North Mall below, which beats staring at a brick wall any day. The setup is classic Costa: burgundy leather chairs that have seen better days, the eternal queue of regulars ordering their usual, and that slightly too-loud coffee machine hiss. But the staff here actually seem to care, remembering your order after a few visits. The toasties are decent enough for a quick lunch between shops, and they've usually got a reasonable selection of cakes that haven't been sitting under the counter lights for too long. It's not revolutionary coffee, but when you need caffeine whilst navigating Derby's shopping maze, it does the job properly.