Cinnamon patrol

Just to make the point to Google. This is a public service announcement after all.

If you're in Dublin you'll know that coffee is generally a burnt means to an unpleasant end, but I think this applies to the British Isles generally - and don't get me started on Belgium - which has no excuse. Did we tell you the story of how Laura ordered a chai latte at the Sainsburys-next-to-Ikea in Belfast? They young lady mixed a latte with chai syrup. Really ew.

Surely Aungier St is now the unrivalled coffee centre of Dublin. The Bald Barista has moved up the road to Avalon House. It's great big space which is kind of shared with the hostel there. They're definitely focusing on coffee - I'm not sure what's happening with the food - there is food, but it's unremarkable - but that's missing the point. There's heaps of tables, a few comfy chairs, wifi (possibly free) and no pretension whatsoever. If this were Vienna in the late 19th / early 20th C, then this is where the action would be. The coffee is strong and lovely. Is there any better place to spend a rather lackluster Sunday afternoon? I'll tell you sir, no.

The old Bald Barista /"Evolving with Darwin" premises is still serving great coffee and is headed up by new barista on the block. Mr Zhang I think. He has credentials - he's just a won latte art competition and he's good, evidenced by the fact the place was packed on this very same lackluster Sunday.

And across the road is "brioche". I had occasion to visit twice on two consecutive weekday mornings and I was impressed. For a measly 2 euro dollars you get a very friendly (suspiciously so for the hour) barista (she could be French, but she's not, but she could be) and a decent creamy and slightly caramelly latte which had no hint of burtness badness at all.

For the sake of completeness I need to mention "NOTO Caffé", on Thomas St not Aungier St, and midway between me and work (a great place to be). What to say about Noto... the staff are about as friendly as the people that beg for money next to ATMs. But you get the feeling they've been made to be this way due to long hours, or bad pay, or both. And if you engage them they will sometimes, begrudgingly, treat you as though they do want your custom, a bit, kind of. No idea where it comes from, but the coffee they use is good, really good. Strong, thick, and not burnt. But a lot depends on who your barista happens to be. There's a couple of lads there that are just excellent, and there's a couple of girls who are incredibly variable. I've received some pretty weird beverages from these girls - in one, the milk and coffee had kind of curdled into a pancake sized semi soft wedge - ew.

On a personal note, we bought little stove-top espresso (pictured) at a kitchen supplies shop in Brussels last weekend (we've been looking for a while) and I brought some of the Bald Barista's coffee ("Fixx") back to the homestead. This should be fun.

Labels: david, Dublin, Food + drink