Check back soon
Once posts are published, you’ll see them here.
Rating: Standard, low-end coffee
Some places, like the Antica Caffetteria in Trastevere (or the Antico Caffè as the awning publicizes) have all the elements to be ultra cool, yet somehow, here in Rome, the story (like history) tends to repeat itself. The place is packed non-stop at almost any time of day. It’s got a good dose of local and foreign people. The baristas and staff are super cool. You get greeted by a ‘Ciao caro’ all the time (‘Hello dear’). And then there’s the setup, enviously cool. Yet the coffee, yes the centerpiece of all this orchestrated madness, isn’t necessarily up to par, even by Roman means. But read on for my experience. Which, is just one person’s take on this joint. So with that caveat, andiamo.
Asking for a simple coffee from the nice barista assistant got me this squirted out by the actual guy manning the machine:​
Presentation: Yup, straight-up Naples coffee in… what else, a Neapolitan cup. The cup was low, super fat, and quite large. This, fortunately now, is what you get everywhere in Naples. Sparkling water in a plastic cup (just like in Naples) was served immediately, and without flinching. We’re off to a good start.
Temperature of Cup: It was warm, not Naples super-scalding-burn- the-tip-of-your-damned-finger hot, but almost like that.
Quantity: The shot was short, and it looked serious and heavy.
Temperature: Surprisingly, not as hot as the cup. So probably good from the go, since I had to wait a bit to consume the espresso.
Volume/Consistency: It was actually, and to my sad astonishment, thin- quite thin…. What’s going on here?
Crema: It was dark, caky, porous, and felt like I was going to bite into the peel of an old orange. It liked it. But as I drank it started to clear, and wasn’t persistent at all.
Odor: Nope, again, not in this part of Rome. And given that Trastevere can be smelly… that’s maybe a good thing.
Taste: So it was very – very – bitter. So bitter that I had to make sure it wasn’t actually stepping into being rancid. But I would have felt it immediately had it been so.​
​Overall: Since the experience kept on going downhill from the beginning, and the final savoring of the espresso showed it was thin, not oily as it promised, and then it’s veneering into almost rancidness, it simply didn’t add up. It was a normal coffee here Rome, and unfortunately towards the lower end of the spectrum.
The setup: Here’s the dead giveaway that the place was indeed reminiscent about the ‘homeland’ back in Napoli- They had a beautiful three-group San Marco lever espresso machine. The grinders (both normal and decaff) were also San Marco machines. All great to squeeze oil out of a stone if needed. ​
​Now the odd thing is the coffee being served. I couldn’t get a straight answer from the owner/cashier. Everybody else was busy as hell (least not the actual barista that not once looked at the bar itself, he was always working the levers). But in all the stuff laying around, I saw the logo of the north Italian roaster MokaSirs coffee. I haven’t been convinced yet by this coffee brand. But then on the cups themselves, I saw Caffè Fortaleza…. I haven’t been able to find an online reference for them. But the reason why I don’t know what the hell they’re brewing in there is because when I asked what brand of coffee they were serving I got the following response: ‘Huh? what do you say?’ ‘What coffee is it? MokaSirs?’ ‘No, coffee!’ and then he went on to politely ignore me…
While the Baffo Bar is just a skip away and is serving very decent coffee, this is still worth a visit, just to see a busy and slightly different Naples styled Roman cafe.​
Antico Caffè in Trastevere,
Antica Caffetteria in Trastevere,
SARM S.N.C.
Viale di Trastevere 283/285, 00153 Roma