This place has just opened up and seeing as it's about two minutes from my front door I thought I'd give it a look.It might be slightly unfair to review a place just after it's opened so I may come back to this one in a few months time when they've worked out what the hell they are doing.
As always it's the three most important things in a coffee house I look at; the coffee, the venue and the service.
THE COFFEE: SCORE 3 OUT OF 5
The coffee here is pretty good, it's ethically sourced, pre-roasted and ground fresh on site. A full flavoured rich roast with a good corona. You can see from the picture that it's nicely presented in an attractive coffee bowl, though I didn't like the cheap flimsy teaspoon. The steamed milk on my cappuccino was a wee bit thin but remained until I had drank about half the cup. I was disappointed by the fact that they added chocolate without asking. The chocolate used was of good quality but was flaked from a bar and not dusted and appallingly they ran out hence the dismal little patch of chocolate you see in the picture. The flakes were a bit thick and this gave my coffee a bit of a gritty texture towards the bottom of the cup.THE VENUE: 2 OUT OF 5
I think this will be a nice venue; when its finished. They have put in some pretty nice touches. I particularly liked the use of wood and copper banding on the counter, seating and floor. The free standing chairs are substantial and comfortable and the built in seating is bearable. There is great natural light from the large front and side windows. There is not much to look at outside though. I liked the use of the blackboard menu and the shelving at the rear of the shop; they gave the place a handmade, organic and quirky feel. The choice of artwork on the walls was an odd choice and gave the impression that they were doing a friend a favour. The unpainted bare plaster walls and weird badly fitting fake cork ceiling tiles really let the place down and made it look half finished. The front windowsill was doubling up as bookshelf which I loved but unfortunately there were just three books. They had a decent but small selection of bagels, flapjacks and buns but unfortunately they were sitting in bowls on the open counter top beside a bowl of fruit and the fruit flies were having a field day. At times the music was perfect, mellow and at a volume that was not distracting but they also had some weird experimental music playing for much of the time I was there, this amounted to little more than a series of incredibly annoying jarring clangs.THE SERVICE: 0 OUT OF 5
On the plus side they have managed to find an amazing pastry chef, who has created a small range of cakes and tarts that tase every bit as good as they look, though at a cost!!
Also tea drinkers will love this place, the tea is the best I've tased in any coffee house in this city, though the cost and the size of the cup let them down. They are happy to give you a hot water refil for your cup though so be sure to ask.
OVERALL SCORE: 5 OUT OF 15
