YELLOW BAR CAFFÈ, VIA PALESTRO 40-44, 00185 ROMA

Rating: Standard, mid to upper range Roman coffee

I walked by the Yellow Bar Caffè and thought, no, I shouldn’t go in, as I thought it was a ‘bar’ bar… There are too many ‘risto-bars’ around Termini. But the as I walked by I was struck by the amount of paper coffee cups they had on their vitrine. I looked, and gave the place a second chance. Well it turns out its a 'catch all tourist destination' a Bar, a hostel, a social scene, whatever - Fun concept. Going in you see that it’s much a café, a bar (in US’s terms) and a light food place. Well, what ‘café’ in Rome isn’t this? And are there any hardcore third wave places? Not yet, nothing like what you get in other place. But times are changing and soon they’ll be some. Either way, when I went into this locale I found a roomy ‘Irish bar-like’ place and it was quaint and more of a winter time hangout than summer. But outside they had plenty of seating as well, so, that’s where you’re meant to be.

This is what I got:

Presentation: Interesting, I didn’t ask for a glass cup, but this is the third time I’ve been served coffee this way. Water was ‘self serve’ so I did get a cup of water for myself from the pitcher and plastic cups available. The cup was clean, the saucer as well, and the spoon a bit too big for the cup.

Temperature of Cup: The cup was cool and not very hot at all. I was deceived, bitterly deceived!

Quantity: It was a ristretto, very glad about this!

Temperature: My goodness... It was hot as hell! Yup, the espresso was super uber lava-hot. Crazy hot, simply as that. Burnt the living spirit out of my tongue!

Volume/Consistency: Well, after a good 5 minutes, I was able to actually taste it. It was surprisingly silky. Smooth, not powdery nor heavy. On the much lighter side.

Crema: It was light brown, persistent, and seemed to add to the silkiness of the coffee.

Odor: Dark roasted coffee, I’ll take what I get!

Taste: It was a lot more acidic than I expected, it wasn’t that bitter, but brighter and sharper than what I thought would happen. It was decent.

Overall: After it cooled down, it became a rather good coffee. I actually liked it and in the few sips that the ristretto allowed, it turned out to be a very solid mid to upper range Roman coffee!

The setup: The setup was facing the back of the café, t was a large Faema with a nice Mazzer grinder. The coffee was the local Termini-area based Trombetta Caffè. This place served it a lot better than the flagship store right next to Termini station… go figure!