DOMINO BAR CAFFÈ, VIALE EUROPA 13, 00144 ROMA

Rating: Poor, low-end Roman coffee

The Domino Bar Caffè in the EUR Palasport area looks cool from the outside. It’s got a stately, grand, imposing arch for an entrance door. Lots of marble and a nice wooden combo of street front vitrines. I thought that this would be a cool ‘gentleman’s club’ -like café, and in a certain sense, it is. It’s got slot machines inside, lots of tobacco and a lazy atmosphere (if we can define a gentleman’s club like this, and I don’t mean it in a strip bar sense, but in a ‘Wooster and Jeeves’ British gentleman’s sense). But when I walked in I found none of the ‘pomp’ I was hoping for. It was a pity because in this place, nestled in the EUR area hype and fluff, it could be a perfect locale for such a venture.

Asking for a cup of caffeine got me this:

Presentation: No water offered, but when asked it was given. The barista, a nice guy, gave me a long high slender glass of tap water. The cup was clean, it had the logo of the coffee being brewed, and I’ve started on this escapade.

Temperature of Cup: The cup was scalding hot, it was boiling let me say.

Quantity: Given that the cup was rather large and bowly, the shot was long for the cup, hence, too much.

Temperature: In spite of the boiling cup, the coffee was OK. I had to wait quite a bit until I was able to taste it, so given that the temperature was normal.

Volume/Consistency: Runny, watery. A pity, but with this brewing temp., what could I expect?

Crema: It was dark, think, some marbling, and persistent. This I liked.

Odor: Nope… none here.

Taste: It was dark, very pungent, very bitter… just too bitter and actually going towards rancid.

Overall: So the actual story is that I tried my hardest to finish this espresso and I couldn’t, hence I asked for the water. After the water, I still couldn’t muster the courage to rip a hole in my stomach to finish it! Hence, why I say this was a lower end experience- anytime I can’t finish a shot, it’s gotta be ‘that bad’…

The setup: It was nice and full of possibilities- a La Cimbali M24 machine (there are litterally hundreds of these floating around in Rome), with a La Cimbali grinder. They were brewing Caffè Vicerè which is a south-Roman roasting company.

Domino Bar Caffè,

Giada S.R.L.

Viale Europa 13, 00144 Roma