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Rating: Standard, more towards lower-end Roman coffee
The XXL Bar Caffè in the Portuense-Magliana area is a place with a sense of humor. With such an ostentatious name, you’d think the place had something large, big, extra-extra big. But then when you walk in, it’s small, narrow, and while not ‘the’ smallest, bit’s not super big. But, then the humor continues, on the receipt, you see what the official name of the joint is, and it’s “Super Mega Small S.R.L.” go figure. Somebody was bored and had fun choosing a name for a cafe. Either way, the place was full of Italians, all talking very jovially and the place was very clean tidy, and really inviting. This is a change from the large Caffè Mediterraneo that’s just across the street… A really welcome contrast!
Asking for coffee got this:
Presentation: Nice clean cup, good size spoon to match. The water was given, and very politely, only after I asked for it.
Temperature of Cup: It was warm but not scalding. It was at a good temperature.
Quantity: Very short shot. I was glad that this was going to be brief and to the point.
Temperature: The espresso was also at perfect temperature. It was on the warmer side, probably along the 92C range or so…. so up there.
Volume/Consistency: It was light, thing, watery. Not much oil, nor much body to it. It felt like if it was colder it would have been a drip coffee experience.
Crema: It was a ligher colored crema, non persistent, and didn’t have much body or character to it. I was sad as the shot was the perfect size for a good ristretto-like thick espresso.
Odor: None here. it is interesting to note, because the beans must have been out since the night before or something. One of the two baristas was grinding the beans for me when I asked for the espresso. So maybe there was old coffee still in the grinder basket that I got?
Taste: It was sadly quite bitter, and had burnt coffee taste. It wasn’t rancid, but nothing oily, remarkable or full bodied.
Overall: While there were very good things about this coffee, such as the size, cup temp, espresso temp, in the drinking of it, it didn’t hold up to anything remarkable. It was a mid- to lower end Roman espresso simply because it was so bitter. The burnt coffee taste tended towards the rancid, and this is not what you can expect from a normal Roman mid-level coffee.
The setup: They had a machine that looked like an older Astoria. But I couldn’t make out what it was. The group heads remind me of one, but if you know, please email me so I can update this! The grinder was indeed an Astoria. So the setup was all there for kicking espressos. The coffee being served was PeriCaff, a locally roasted Roman coffee, that has yet to impress me…
The nice thing about this bar, in comparison to that one across the street (which I will review shortly) was the staff. The baristas were a mom-daughter duo that were super courteous, and made you feel as if you were walking into their house as their expected guests. So even though the coffee, in my opinion, left something to be desired for, it was a great overall place to visit.
XXL Bar Caffè,
Super Mega Small S.R.L.
Via della Magliana 190A
00146 Roma
Telephone 06 5528 5723
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