best place for coffee (and hot chocolate!) in the city centre

snorlax

given the volume of new coffee enterprises opened open I'm wondering what people's favorites are, and i'm also wondering if coffee places in some way are taking over from pubs in popularity?

Also do you prefer traditional coffee places or chain coffee places with a trusted brand? is it the atmosphere/ cosiness of a place that you pick a place on or the quality of the coffee?

Saruman

I think you will find everyone has different tastes so you will get very different answers.
Im a hot chocolate person myself (cant drink coffee for medical reasons)
I like Gerrards on Baggot street but its only take out.
McCafe is actually the best hot choc i have ever had though believe it or not..
Starbucks.. never been to an Irish one because they dont have the nice stuff like Peppermint hot choc or the hot cider (no alcohol) that they have in the US so i dont bother.

Yes they are taking over which is why publicans pretty much had the ministers quest for licence restrictions on cafes providing alcohol blocked!! Assholes!!

tSubh Dearg

My favourite coffee place is Cafe Cagliostro (or some such spelling) in the new "Italian quarter" on the north side of the Millennium bridge. Their coffee is excellent and reasonably priced.

They also do a delicious hot chocolate, which I think they can do different flavours of. It's really rich and chocolatey.

L

tSubh Dearg wrote:

My favourite coffee place is Cafe Cagliostro (or some such spelling) in the new "Italian quarter" on the north side of the Millennium bridge. Their coffee is excellent and reasonably priced.

Man, haven't been there in ages. That's the place with the big mock last supper right?

snorlax

white hot chocolate cafe mocha (and it doesn't shut till late)...lemon jelly for coffee (and crepes )

Sarsfield

For regular coffee (or Americano as it's called these days :rolleyes: ) and for mocha I go to Insomnia.

For espresso it needs to be a good Italian restaurant. In this case it's part coffee, part ambiance.

Starbucks coffee is muck. Under-temperature, under-strength, over-priced, muck. Nice almond croissants though.

Insomnia (Nassau St.) plays the best cool jazz background music too!

tSubh Dearg

L wrote:

Man, haven't been there in ages. That's the place with the big mock last supper right?

That's the one. It's such a nice place to have coffee too. They also do a good lunch menu I work just around the corner from there so I often pop in for lunch and a tasty latte.

snorlax

I get the luas from Jervis near there every morning in the locale coffee society is pretty nice too, you gotta love the leather seats there:), and the staff are always nice to me which makes a big difference to a place.

I love the new Italian quarter there too

Blub2k4

There's no better coffee shop in Dublin than "Joy Of Coffee" in Temple Bar, lovely stuff they have in there.

Cal

You gotta try Esquires Coffee in the foyer of the Caple Buildings just off Caple Street.

Now that is what a coffee should taste like. The hot chocolate looks good but I've not tried it.

Cal.

Blub2k4

Blub2k4 wrote:

There's no better coffee shop in Dublin than "Joy Of Coffee" in Temple Bar, lovely stuff they have in there.

I completely forgot about their range of imported italian chocolates, amazing stuff.

segadreamcast

Blub2k4 wrote:

There's no better coffee shop in Dublin than "Joy Of Coffee" in Temple Bar, lovely stuff they have in there.

Really? I found it to be overpriced and very uncomfortable.

Shabadu

Alright, as an out and out coffee snob, I have to disagree w/ Blub and tSubh. Caligorostro is TERRIBLE. The coffee is consistently burnt, and prices have gone up in the last few months. Wallace, the builder who owns the development, wanted it to originally be good Italian coffee for a euro, but the terrible terrible manager he has insists on making the coffees, and this guy is no barista. He also treats the staff like animals. I will only go if he's not on now, or if it's a really nice day and I want to sit outside.

Joy of coffee is also patchy, it's 50/50 as too whether or not the coffee is once again cremated.

In my opinion, the best place to get coffee is La Corte in the Epicirean, but make sure the barista is the large Italian guy with the beard and ponytail. The man is amazing, his coffee has made me weep with joy. And the price? Fabuloso.

Best Hot Chocolate from 'Austrailian' the chocolate shop just opposite the epicurean. It's basically foamed homemade chocolate ice-cream, so really custardy and chocolatey.

Blub2k4

Shabadu wrote:

Joy of coffee is also patchy, it's 50/50 as too whether or not the coffee is once again cremated.

I'll feed that back to the owner he wont be happy, he's always open to knowing stuff like that as he takes a lot of pride in what he does, being wheelchair bound however he doesn't get to the shop too often, he does drink the coffee daily though so I would have expected him to pick up on this.
thanks anyway.

tSubh Dearg

Shabadu wrote:

Alright, as an out and out coffee snob, I have to disagree w/ Blub and tSubh. Caligorostro is TERRIBLE. The coffee is consistently burnt, and prices have gone up in the last few months. Wallace, the builder who owns the development, wanted it to originally be good Italian coffee for a euro, but the terrible terrible manager he has insists on making the coffees, and this guy is no barista. He also treats the staff like animals. I will only go if he's not on now, or if it's a really nice day and I want to sit outside.

I've never had the manager make me coffee, only the nice girl who does mornings.

shabadu wrote:

Best Hot Chocolate from 'Austrailian' the chocolate shop just opposite the epicurean. It's basically foamed homemade chocolate ice-cream, so really custardy and chocolatey.

They've closed and it makes me very sad. Their hot chocolate was fantastic!

Shabadu

Jo- the staff are great. Is that the girl with the long curly hair? She is lovely. Australian closed? ;_; I spose it was the fact that it was extremely expensive.

Blub- I think it's a staff issue in the Joy of Coffee, as in practically every other coffee shop in Dublin. I used to refuse coffee from my friend when he managed one of the Rio shops as he was woegus, but like the manager of Caligorostro, he insisted on making coffee when he was on duty. There will always be good and bad baristas, and I reckon it's just a matter of training.

I get beautiful coffee in the Joy of Coffee sometimes, and then there are the times when the milk is boiling and the coffee is burnt. The treats are good though. Is he getting people who are unknown to the staff to pick up the coffee for him? In a shop I used to work in we ALL knew the 'anonymous' customers the owners would send in to do spot checks- as a result they'd get the best of everything. He could try asking different people to go in at different times of the day.

snorlax

that Australian place was doing a very slow trade at least for the last month or two, not supprised their closing.

has anyone been to Metro, it seems to have gotten pretty good reviews in the times?

Smoggy

The Lotts ( lower liffey st ), do a great range of coffee's and have a fine hot chocolate, made from real italian coco beans ( quite bitter , but thats how it should be )

adox

I`ve yet to get a coffee in Dublin where the coffee hasnt already been ground which sets the alarm bells ringing straight away.Ground coffee is at its best for what,30 minutes or so?

If anyone can recommend a place where they grind the coffee to order or as near as,I`d be really interested.

Smoggy

I was speaking to the barista in the Lotts they have a policy that keeps the amount ground to a real minimum and only allow the beans to stand for x amout of mins.

BendiBus

Had lunch in ChocolateSoup in Roches on Henry St. today. Just had a regular coffee (which was OK) but they have a chocolate fountain there which looked and smelled lovely. Anyone tried chocolatey drinks there ?

Shabadu

BendiBus wrote:

Had lunch in ChocolateSoup in Roches on Henry St. today. Just had a regular coffee (which was OK) but they have a chocolate fountain there which looked and smelled lovely. Anyone tried chocolatey drinks there ?

Yes. Utter mank. Brilliant idea, terrible execution.

Amz

Shabadu wrote:

In my opinion, the best place to get coffee is La Corte in the Epicirean, but make sure the barista is the large Italian guy with the beard and ponytail. The man is amazing, his coffee has made me weep with joy. And the price? Fabuloso.

Agreed, was only introduced to this place in November and I rarely go anywhere else now.

I sometimes go to Barnies while waiting for a bus, but wouldn't recommend it at all. Got a white mocha there and it was disgusting, tasted like it was full of chemicals.

Now that the Australian place is gone where's the best place for hot chocolate?

I'm waiting for the day that Lindt open up a cafe here. Heard so many good things about the one in Sydney.

snorlax

if you can answer their question every morning you can get a free coffee in Barnies.
there's a really good coffee place on George's street called south coffee (or something similiar to that), also Simmons is pleasent and cheap

Hermione*

A lindt cafe?! There's such a thing? /me melt into puddle. I love their choclate!

Best, best hot chocoalte has to be butlers. They have peppermint and other flavours, but a simple hot chocolate with whipped cream is to die for. My sis comes up from Galway, and the first thing she wants is a bulters! On top of everything else, they're Irish.

That place in the epicurean sounds good, must check it out.

Tar.Aldarion

Starbucks.

segadreamcast

Tar.Aldarion wrote:

Starbucks.

:eek: Out!


Incidentally, while I'm here, Barnie's is also awful...wanted a steamed milk...repeated the order several times and, after finally understanding, the barrista gave me... a skimmed milk.

eoge

Shabadu wrote:

In my opinion, the best place to get coffee is La Corte in the Epicirean...

Yes, their coffee is great and at a very reasonable price too. Only problem is they're a little far from where I'm based (Westland Row usually). West Coast Coffee, Café Sol, Insomnia, Starbucks... all very poor IMHO.

I've had good cappuchinos from Les Maison des Gourmet at only €2! Anyone else have any experience with these guys? (They're on Castle St. (between Powerscourt Centre and George's St. Arcade) but are closed for a week or so at the moment, apparently for refurbishments.) They do great, authentic French croissants, etc. too.

daiixi

West Coast ftw!

I'd say Butlers but I'm a soya milk girl and they charge an extra 50cents for soya and West Coast don't.

I hate the coffee at Insomnia and O'Briens and I dislike the people who work at Cafe Sol near work so that crosses them off the list as well.

Starbucks is overpriced although they do some nice drinks. Got to love their cold drinks in summer!

DublinWriter

daiixi wrote:

West Coast ftw!

I hope by ftw you mean far the worst!

You'll note how the staff serve you with a paper cup these days even when you're staying indoors, as it saves them the bother of washing up cups. A big no-no.

I've tried that Cafe Sorrento place on Westland Row a few times. I like what they're doing and the spirit of the place, but the coffee? I really just don't get it. It tastes bland and slightly burnt. Could be just be me?

I know this also will be complete herasy, but my favourite coffee is O'Briens.

But it's still amazing to think how completely and utterly Bewleys\Campbell Catering missed the boat on the whole coffee market.

eoge

DublinWriter wrote:

I've tried that Cafe Sorrento place on Westland Row a few times. I like what they're doing and the spirit of the place, but the coffee? I really just don't get it. It tastes bland and slightly burnt. Could be just be me?

Where on Westland Row is this?

eoge

eoge wrote:

Where on Westland Row is this?

Let me answer my own question: it's on Nassau St!

I've tried their coffee a whole bunch of times and have been very disappointed. The last time (a month ago) I vowed never to return! But I'm no expert; maybe the problem is mine.

A cafe that is on Westland Row, Il Cafe di Napoli, is very good (I think). They do beautifully smooth and creamy lattes and cappuccinos.

DublinWriter

eoge wrote:

Where on Westland Row is this?

Sorry, got them mixed up! Cafe di Napoli is on W.R., Sorrento is on Nassau St.

Both not very good.

catho_monster

The Italian coffee shop just down from Pearse Street train station on Westland Row: Cafe di Napoli.
The only place I have ever been able to drink espresso - usually they are burnt and disgustingly strong. This place does strong in the right kind of way.
Lovely staff, fresh food.


PS. the pasta they sell: OH.MY.GOD. Try the green twists. You will never eat pasta from anywhere else again.

Hermione*

I must try there, I've heard great things about that place and I always end up passing it out.