MARÒ CAFFÈ, VIALE DEI COLLI PORTUENSI 96 C/D, 00151 ROMA

Rating: Standard, solidly good version of Palombini

The Marò Caffè is much like the other bars on the Viale Dei Colli Portuensi, they kind of appear out of the blue. Unlike some others that are a bit pretentious in one way or the other, this coffee house is very welcoming, and has lots of outside patio area. In the interior you meet an owner and a barista that that are both very welcoming. Let’s get to business on this Monday morning!

Asking for an espresso got me this:

Presentation: No frills, just the facts. No water served, but just an expression of Palombini logos all over the place.

Temperature of Cup: Ah, the Palombini experience- super hot cup!!

Quantity: Good short espresso for the size of the cup. I was glad it was going to be brief (as I still didn’t know if it was going to be painful!).

Temperature: Very hot, even after waiting for about 2-3 minutes and making the barista uncomfortable with my staring… I was actually waiting to have the coffee cup cool down!

Volume/Consistency: Here’s the nice surprise, the coffee was silky, it was thick, you could almost chew on it like a piece of chocolate bar on a hot afternoon. I liked it! However, once the crema started subsiding away, it got a bit more watery…

Crema: Crema very dark, somehow thinnish yet full of oil…

it wasn’t necessarily persistent, yet packed a punch, if you don’t believe me, look at how dark this damned thing is!

Odor: Here was something also new for Palombini, the smell of darkly roasted coffee. The temp and freshness of the grinds were good.

Taste: Let’s start with the positive. It was NOT rancid, it was simply strongly and stoutly bitter. It was thick and chewy, I liked it.

Overall: I would say that this is one of the better, or maybe the best version of the Palombini Caffè I’ve had here in Rome. And this speaks a lot about the way the setup was made, because 99% of the times I’ve had Palombini, it’s been a horrible experience. So I would definitely recommend this locale if you want to experience what a good version of this traditional Roman roaster is like.

The setup: It was nice, as you can see (and nicely displayed by this shot at the poor barista who felt like she was a mannequin or something… fortunately for me, she didn’t spit in my espresso or anything…she must have thought.. “damned tourists!”), anyway, they had a Faema E91 ambassador espresso machine and what looks like a spanking new F5 Fiorenzato grinder. Definitely nice.

It’s funny because walking outside of the cafe I passed by a car-repair shop, and they had this sign. It kind of summed up what I thought of Palombini coffee up until now. Dark, rubbery rancid tar… but after this bar, I was happy to start thinking differently about it!

Marò Caffè,

Marò S.R.L.

Viale dei Colli Portuensi 96 C/D, 00151 Roma