From the outside, this place looks really inviting. Inside, large sofas scream for you to sit on them, but the best this place has to offer is the mere ability to sit down and browse the web. The deliciously looking wrap has in fact been in the window for hours before being sold. The cappuccino is miraculously both bitter and milky, as they probably don’t known how to handle their espresso machine and instead of just frothing the milk, they ‘cook’ it. If anything’s done at all, as the ‘barista’ felt the milk-filled pitched to see if it was still hot enough – as it was not, she steamed it up to temperature for a bit, without adding any new, fresh milk. On top of that, a load of cocoa sprinkles has been dumped on top of the milk foam.
Please, avoid.
Often having cited Espresso Ambulanz as my favorite Berlin espresso bar, it’s become an obligatory stop on every visit to Berlin. Tastes develop though, and having moved away from coffees with syrups and cappuccinos to espressos or an espresso machiatto, this place falls through in terms of espresso as being no more than an “okay” espresso bar.
Using dark roast espresso beans, they manage to serve decent Italian-style espressos, as their Italian clientele may find pleasing. The third wave of coffee, using lighter roasts to allow more balanced and complex flavors to find its way to your espresso, completely passes by on these guys. A field trip to some coffee heroes or a barn would be really helpful, but may cost them their loyal Italian clientele.
All in all, good memories are hard to erase and I still wholeheartedly recommend Espresso Ambulanz for having a cappuccino or some sweet syrup-delight. It’s still a great place to lounge -provided you are able to find a seat- and use their free wifi to keep up with digital life.
On the square, which is in plenty supply of Asian restaurants, Bagels & Beans was the first place I dropped by more every now and then. After my brother and parents had helped me move, I found it the perfect place to regain strength with coffee and a bagel. Or like today, so that I can make use of their free wifi while enjoying a cup of coffee.
The cappuccinos have always been rather good, with a very rich and nearly creamy foam and a nice and powerful shot of espresso. In my experience, staff here wants to produce constant quality, something which not all outlets of this chain are able to do. Minor annoyance was the wifi being terribly slow.
Bagels & Beans has been around in the Netherlands for quite a few years, and successfully so, with a lot of branches throughout the country and occasionally winning the ‘coffee test’ of Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad. Recently I found out they also opened up a branch across the border, in the German city of Aachen. As I frequently visit the city due to its location just across the border and magnificent city centre, it was only a matter of time before I’d end up trying the first German Bagels & Beans.
On this warm and sunny spring day, the time was right to give it a go, and I ventured down south. After a stroll through the city’s sunny streets, I ended up on the street-side terrace. Although, as said, the weather was nice, two things bothered me about the terrace: for one it’s right next to a busy intersection and secondly the terrace was underneath a sun screen, which kept away the sun. I had no problem connecting to their wireless network, however. Even outside, connectivity was brilliant.
The cappuccino was good enough, although latte art-capable microfoam was lacking, resulting in separation of liquids and foam, thus making it hard to enjoy both, without using a spoon. Other than that, it tasted good, though, which to me still is priority number one. The espresso was good, although the crema a bit thin and it could have used a fuller body. A glass of water was provided right away and all in all Bagels & Beans made for a pleasurable experience.
Although I’ve somewhere read this place would be overlooking the Main Square (Grote Markt) of Breda, in fact it’s a few steps into a side-street. Inside, you’ll find a nice array of different kind of charis, couches and tables, thus creating a rather homely feeling. It seems to me like this is one of the meeting points of the youth of Breda, with students and other youth chatting each other up, playing board games or working on their laptops, thanks to the free wifi that’s available. I have however had some issues connecting at first, which is probably due to a network optimized for Windows, rather than Mac OS. Through their other network -there are two available- connecting worked, but the browsing experience was terribly slow, until a number of people left.
On the coffee side of things, I can’t be much more positive than I have been on the internet. It’s there – but it’s just not good. The cappuccino -which had a double shot with a regular volume of milk- was only as good as a ‘regular’ cappuccino, with the espresso flavors struggling to get through the milk. I ended up with a bitter taste of milk and a hint of chocolate. After that, I decided to order an espresso, but sadly, this only made matters worse. It’s been quite a while since I have last ‘enjoyed’ an espresso as sour as this. The good flavors of espresso were lacking, and all that remained was a few sips of a drink nearly as sour as vinegar. Although I hope this was just a bad shot of the barista, I cannot recommend this place from a coffee point of view.
Situated just off the main square, Markt, in the picturesque centre of the city of Delft, you’ll find café de Wijnhaven, on the similarly named street. Enjoying the warmth of the spring sun we sat down on their magnificient terrace, right over one of the city’s many canals.
The lunch was in fact very good, combining several small dishes in one for under ten euros. The delicious cinnamon muffin “screamed” for an espresso to go with that. The Illy espresso, served in art collection cups, was okay, though the crema was thin and the espresso a bit on the sour side. The cappuccino was merely an espresso with a blob of a milky, bubbly substance thrown on top if it, as opposed to mixed through as a cappuccino should be. They passed the coffee test, but only just and only as an extra to their lunch. There are better places to go to for just coffee.
Tucked away on the edge of the city’s centre, is this lovely espresso bar. Both along the windows at the front as well as in the corner at the back you’ll find comfortable ‘lounge areas’, where you can enjoy coffee together with a bunch of friends, whereas the middle part of the store is occupied by the bar itself and normal tables, with a few sockets nearby to allow for charging your laptop while working and enjoying your coffee.
The owner seems to know what he’s talking about and is eager to tell people why it is they like his coffee better than in most other cafes or your regular department store restaurant. If picked up by the city’s student population, this place cannot become anything but a success. The coffee was good, and the store’s layout perfect for chatting up or doing some work on your laptop.
Woyton is yet another Starbucks-like chains, trying to get their part of Starbucks’ success. Although I think that’s an essentially good thing, bringing in comfortable chairs, choice between coffee or a coffee-flavored beverage and whatnot. However, when they’re also copying the Starbucks-way of not properly training staff and even staying way ahead of Starbucks on that matter, that’s where things go ugly.
The milk foam of my cappuccino has to get scooped onto my espresso, rather than poured in, after the cup was already nearly full with overheated milk. Subsequently, it’s poured over with lots of cacao. The espresso itself is made from a blend that pleases everyone and can be used for any espresso-based drink. In other words: it’s flat, too mild to be used in a cappuccino and certainly not a unique taste of coffee in any way. On a more positive note is their extensive salad bar, but be sure not to order an espresso with that.
Note: I’ve visited this place again when I was in Düsseldorf on a rainy day, and needed some free wifi to check something online, but things only seem to have gotten worse. Do avoid this one!