First, personal preference; I think they over-roast their beans. Burn, actually, but I'm trying to be nice.
Second, I don't care for homogeny. I know I'm in the minority, but when I travel I want to look for the small coffee shops, the little mom & pop diners or pubs. I don't want to go to McD's or Starbucks because I know exactly what I'll get there. A little more adventure, please!
> we don't have the coffee house culture over here
I'm inclined to disagree with this. I've at least a decade of memories of hanging out on the sofas in Bewleys, which while not a good-coffee house, definitely has something of a coffee house culture about it. Not quite as long a memory of Cafe Moka, especially the Rathmines branch when they had the board games in the back. And new shops along a similar line are starting up, like Tri D on Nassau St.
From the frothy-coffee point of view, look at the proliferation of Cafe Sol's coffee bars, homegrown but definitely modelled on the Starbucks idea. (Lovely hot chocolate too). I don't think we need Starbucks - they're coming too late to the market here.
>I'm inclined to disagree with this. I've at >least a decade of memories of hanging out on the >sofas in Bewleys, which while not a good-coffee >house, definitely has something of a coffee >house culture about it. Not quite as long a >memory of Cafe Moka, especially the Rathmines >branch when they had the board games in the >back. And new shops along a similar line are >starting up, like Tri D on Nassau St.
>From the frothy-coffee point of view, look at >the proliferation of Cafe Sol's coffee bars, >homegrown but definitely modelled on the >Starbucks idea. (Lovely hot chocolate too). I >don't think we need Starbucks - they're coming >too late to the market here.
You see, none of those live up to what we've found Starbucks to be, in Leeds and in Edniburgh (at least three branches in Edi). Bewleys is too big, too noisy - it used to be comfortable, but doesn't seem to be any more. Moka was indeed good, when the staff spoke English and their baked goods were less than a week old. Tri D I've only been in once, and it was far too plastic-and-chrome for my tastes (maybe I should go back and look again). And the Cafe Sols are tiny.
There's also Cafe Irie, but much as I like the place, the queue of people looking for tables - or, indeed, looking for a table myself - is not comfortable.
There are several things I liked about Starbucks; let me try to list them off here, and if there's a cafe that matches, I'll certainly try it.
One: tables distant from doors and counters, so that people aren't constantly passing back and forth beside me.
Two: comfortable seats, either chairs or armchairs. Too many Dublin cafes have chairs that feel as though they're going to fold under me, and in some cases sofas that you can't get yourself out of.
Three: some room between tables. I don't want to hear the conversations from the next table, at least not so clearly that I can hear meant-to-be-confidential whispers (and my hearing isn't the best).
Four: decent sized servings of coffee (not looking for American-sized buckets, just a decent mug). I realise this doesn't apply to espresso. :) Fancy coffees are also good.
Now, there are a few places that actually come close to this. The Cental Hotel's Library Bar is rather nice, and meets three out of four calls, but the coffee is served in cups, and is a little bit pricy. The JCR in Trinity would almost meet all of them, were it ever open when I could get there, and if they served decent coffee.
There are actually a number of pubs that almost meet these too, and they're good in their own way - but they're not what I'm looking for.
Actually, I'm going to make this a post as well...
The expansion of Starbucks out of the US is also a comparatively recent phenomenon. Even in London, the proliferation of cafes wasn't noticeable to me 7 years ago but you can't miss it last year. Maybe there's not a hugely long tradition, but I would say that though I'm not denying the dominant culture is a pub culture, there *is* a coffee culture.
Having spent hours in cafes over one coffee, studying without being glared at from 1998-2000, I'd say not all places insist on you getting out asap either:)
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From:
Re: Two words.
Second, I don't care for homogeny. I know I'm in the minority, but when I travel I want to look for the small coffee shops, the little mom & pop diners or pubs. I don't want to go to McD's or Starbucks because I know exactly what I'll get there. A little more adventure, please!
From:
Re: Two words.
I'm inclined to disagree with this. I've at least a decade of memories of hanging out on the sofas in Bewleys, which while not a good-coffee house, definitely has something of a coffee house culture about it. Not quite as long a memory of Cafe Moka, especially the Rathmines branch when they had the board games in the back. And new shops along a similar line are starting up, like Tri D on Nassau St.
From the frothy-coffee point of view, look at the proliferation of Cafe Sol's coffee bars, homegrown but definitely modelled on the Starbucks idea. (Lovely hot chocolate too). I don't think we need Starbucks - they're coming too late to the market here.
From:
Re: Two words.
>least a decade of memories of hanging out on the
>sofas in Bewleys, which while not a good-coffee
>house, definitely has something of a coffee
>house culture about it. Not quite as long a
>memory of Cafe Moka, especially the Rathmines
>branch when they had the board games in the
>back. And new shops along a similar line are
>starting up, like Tri D on Nassau St.
>From the frothy-coffee point of view, look at
>the proliferation of Cafe Sol's coffee bars,
>homegrown but definitely modelled on the
>Starbucks idea. (Lovely hot chocolate too). I
>don't think we need Starbucks - they're coming
>too late to the market here.
You see, none of those live up to what we've found Starbucks to be, in Leeds and in Edniburgh (at least three branches in Edi). Bewleys is too big, too noisy - it used to be comfortable, but doesn't seem to be any more. Moka was indeed good, when the staff spoke English and their baked goods were less than a week old. Tri D I've only been in once, and it was far too plastic-and-chrome for my tastes (maybe I should go back and look again). And the Cafe Sols are tiny.
There's also Cafe Irie, but much as I like the place, the queue of people looking for tables - or, indeed, looking for a table myself - is not comfortable.
There are several things I liked about Starbucks; let me try to list them off here, and if there's a cafe that matches, I'll certainly try it.
One: tables distant from doors and counters, so that people aren't constantly passing back and forth beside me.
Two: comfortable seats, either chairs or armchairs. Too many Dublin cafes have chairs that feel as though they're going to fold under me, and in some cases sofas that you can't get yourself out of.
Three: some room between tables. I don't want to hear the conversations from the next table, at least not so clearly that I can hear meant-to-be-confidential whispers (and my hearing isn't the best).
Four: decent sized servings of coffee (not looking for American-sized buckets, just a decent mug). I realise this doesn't apply to espresso. :) Fancy coffees are also good.
Now, there are a few places that actually come close to this. The Cental Hotel's Library Bar is rather nice, and meets three out of four calls, but the coffee is served in cups, and is a little bit pricy. The JCR in Trinity would almost meet all of them, were it ever open when I could get there, and if they served decent coffee.
There are actually a number of pubs that almost meet these too, and they're good in their own way - but they're not what I'm looking for.
Actually, I'm going to make this a post as well...
From:
Re: Two words.
Having spent hours in cafes over one coffee, studying without being glared at from 1998-2000, I'd say not all places insist on you getting out asap either:)
From:
Re: Two words.
From:
Re: Two words.