Check back soon
Once posts are published, you’ll see them here.
Rating: Standard, very good Roman coffee
In the streets adjacent to the Termini station, in the southern end of the Esquilino district, you run into few if any cafes. The available locales are filled by chinese, pakistani and indian merchandise stores with all types of goods: from .99 cent watches to sweatpants, to what not. Among these treasure trove stores you’ll find another type of gem, the Al Caffè Romano Bar. It is a small one locale, very narrow, and when I walked in it I was met by a wall of chatter and merry conversations. The interior was welcoming and the staff, who seemed to be local Romans, were brewing up a storm of discussions with all the folks inside.
Asking for a coffee got me this:​
​Presentation: Well, you know I like short espressi, and this was right on the mark. it was by all means not even a ristretto- it was a ‘drop’ of coffee in the cup! It was short, and I was happy. The cup was fluted in the style that I think is best for these types of espresso, and clean, and neat. The spoon was rather too large for it, and no water was offered, but I felt like I could have asked. But hell, with this short shot I don’t need water!
Temperature of Cup: The cup was good, warm, emanating warmth that wasn’t scalding. Great point.
Quantity: Again, probably about one centimeter or half an inch max, half an ounce of pure caffeine. Nice.
Temperature: The espresso itself blended perfectly with the cup and was just the right temperature.
Volume/Consistency: It was a tough call, the shot was so short that it was hard to gage what was going on when I drank it. I was tasting the crema and espresso at the same time. What I had was rather creamy, thickish, but not gooey or too thick. It was complex and good.
Crema: It was grainy, cakey and persistent. It wasn’t third wave type of crema, but a robust compressed shot that got all the front end of the puck. Very nice indeed.​
Odor: There it was! Again I smelled coffee here and it was all coming together with the right temperature cup, making the sell of coffee flourish up into my nose as I drank the coffee.
Taste: I’m not going to make up some crap about it being the best espresso in Rome, no it wasn’t, but it was darn good. It tasted extremely bitter, strong, but not in any way rancid. It was bitter and acidic in a way that light-roasted beans are. so this play of dark acidic taste was indeed something, and add to that the crema interacting in the mouth, it was a good limited spectrum espresso.
Overall: One of the better espressi I’ve had in Rome in the last several weeks. Most cafes have been duds, but this, this was good. It’s in a neighborhood with probably 80% non Romans, and you’d think that people would serve up sloppy cafes, but instead, you got quality. The clientele seemed to be local italians with a good mix of foreign born folk (like myself). On a Thanksgiving Morning as it was when I had this coffee, this was a great way to greet the day!
The setup: Ah… so spartan, so simple, and yet so effective in the hands of the barista that served me the coffee. The barista was a young and very petite woman who knew exactly what was happening with the machine: It was a Rancilio three group with a Rancilio grinder. The coffee being served was indeed Caffe Moca Roma. This is a local Roman based roaster (just outside of Rome in Pomezia), and I’d say this is a very good representation of their work.​
Al Caffè Romano Bar
Andrea Lucidi
Via Principe Amedeo 176
00185 Roma
Tel. 06 446 4027
#AlCaffeRomanoAmedeoRomaEsquilino #CaffeMocaRoma #RancilioEspressoMachineRoma #Bestcafesinrome #Bestcoffeehousesinrome #BestcoffeeinRome #EspressoRomaRecensione #CaffeEuroparecensioneRoma #RecensioneCaffeRecensioniRoma #recensionecafferomarecensioni #EsquilinoCaffeBarRoma #ThirdWaveCoffeeRomeItaly #CoffeebeansRome #CoffeeInRome #Coffeecupsrome