GAZEBO BAR CAFFÈ, LUNGO TEVERE DI PIETRA PAPÀ 135, 00146 ROMA

Rating: Stadard, mid to low-end Roman coffee

So as I walked along the Tevere bend, I saw that there were no cafes there. I thought impossible. A stretch of Rome without cafes? But soon enough, there it was, the Il Gazebo Bar Caffè.

Before approaching it, there was a really cool travertine piece of sculpted stone to look like it had fossils encrusted in it, but in reality there were all carved human and animal figures. So really cool! I loved it!

But the place seem chill, and relaxing, in a stretch of Rome that feels like you’re 50 miles away from downtown. But in fact you’re smack in downtown. Love it. Walking in the area was small and tight, had to literally hug the espresso machine and had the owner and barista staring at me right in my face. Wasn’t really able to take a photo of the machine. A minute after I walked in 6 big construction workers walked in and simply that was the end of any available space. The place was like somebody’s kitchen table- familiar, relaxed, and friendly. And not without a few bad words and shouts. This was a great contrast to the Whitney Houston music being blasted, and the 1980s mirrors décor typical of the boom of Roman cafes.

This is what I got:

Presentation: I liked the cup. Nice. It seems that Palombini has a monopoly of this area of town as all are serving their brew. The cup was clean, to the point and I generally like this shape. It keeps the espresso short even if the barista doesn’t pay attention. Water was given to me after I asked, so that was very nice.

Temperature of Cup: Yup, uber super duper hot!

Quantity: Yup, short, happy here! In the US this would be a uber ristretto- Here it is the lingua franca. Good.

Temperature: After I waited quite a bit fidgeting with the phone, it became bearable and testable.

Volume/Consistency: Very thin, cutting, light flimsy, simply not enough coffee inserted in the portafilter. It was very chalky also, somehow thin and as if there were unbrewed coffee grinds in the water.

Crema: It was dark, but there was a nice bubbly top to it indicating over extraction. It wasn’t persistent, and it should be with the amount of Robusta that is in the Palombini blends.

Odor: Uber dark-roasted coffee, simply made me shudder when I took a whiff!

Taste: It was a bitter punchy start, sharp and moving almost immediately to the rancid area, but not there. It was bearable and not impossible. Simply not very flavorful nor complex. Very flat, strong and well… to any Roman probably good !

Overall: It was a low end Roman coffee, but everybody I saw walk in there took their coffee with sugar, so what’s the difference if the coffee is bitter as hell?

The setup: They had a vintage Faema. A cool CMA grinder (which is just a relabeled Astoria Grinder!). The coffee was the Roman based Palombini Caffè, uber sharp and bitter coffee.