Al Cafetero

Al Cafetero on a Sunday- Closed 

This café is set up to look like someone’s front room. It is small and cluttered, with two tatty looking sofas dominating the space. The sofas look inviting but they always come with a reserved sign, meaning only the chosen few can sit there; I've never been one of the chosen few, so i've never found out how comfy they actually are. In many ways as a new customer you feel like you are invading someone’s privacy, that you are nervously sitting in their parlour, like some teenagers at their great maiden aunt’s funeral. This impression is made worse by the fact that the other customers all seem to be friends of the owners. It is them who the sofas are reserved for and they wander around the place in bare feet, nipping behind the bar uninvited for a glass or a napkin, putting their feet up on the tables and generally making themselves at home, like they've just inherited the place from the recently deceased aunt. 

I am reliably informed that this was the first café of its sort in Prague, that it was the trailblazer for hipster coffee, but to be honest I was not impressed by their offerings. I am told the breakfasts are fantastic, but the coffee, well... Older readers might remember adverts for Red Mountain coffee where a waiter can't be bothered to make filter coffee so makes the noise of a percolator while boiling the kettle and making instant coffee. His guests are fooled into thinking he’s made filtered coffee. (There's a similar one running at the moment, but the instant replicates the taste of an espresso.) Anyway I was reminded of those ads in here while drinking the coffee. The coffee was fine but it felt bit flat, one dimensional, in other words, slightly Nescafe. (This impression is not helped by the Nescafe mugs on the bar.) I wondered if the waiter had nipped out the back to put the kettle on while pretending to play with his Hario V60. 
So if you like enjoying your breakfast and drinking a good, reliable cup of coffee, while watching other people looking comfy on sofas, then Al Cafetero is the perfect place for you. 

If you enjoyed this review, and you would like a story to go with your coffee, please check out my short story blog here and my story inspired by hipster coffee here.

For the website of the cafe visit here. If you visit this cafe on my recommendation, please tell them why you came and if you enjoyed this blog please share it with your friends. 

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A different version of the Red Mountain advert can be found here.