Monolok

Coffee in a Vase?
It has to be Monolok. 

Monolok? What does it mean? Is it a Czechlish* spelling of monologue? But surely in a cafe you would want at least a dialogue. Lok in Czech means swig, but mono swig? Surely you want more than one mouthful. 

Whatever its name means, I must admit I like sitting in this café. It is not as cosy as some places and the cushions are a little annoying, but it is light and airy with a modern bright feel to it and when busy it bristles with satisfied energy. The tables in the downstairs room is usually occupied by heavily bearded students with huge headphones multi-tasking - switching between their text books and their Facebooks on their Macbooks. Sometimes the beards are so dense you need a machete to hack through the thicket on your way to the toilet. Upstairs it is more urban and urbane. Here it is more the creatives who have escaped from their office for a cup of coffee, but not a break; there’s a feeling that business is being done. The staff are young and lithe, they speak very good English and look like they know what they are doing. The cakes look nice and the coffee is good. They usually have three coffees to choose from for the drip cone and it is measured and ground before your eyes, (if you sit in the front room). 

So, it sounds like the perfect place but (and there’s always a but,) three separate people have complained to me that they found Monolok a tad pretentious Friends complain that the staff treat customers like a great maiden aunt might treat her great nephews and nieces, like they should be seen but not heard, that they can’t possibly have an opinion of their own and if they do, then they are almost certainly wrong.(Hmm maybe it is this that inspired the name monologue.) 

Backroom with pointless
cushions 

I must admit that by living in my non-Czech speaking bubble I had not noticed this but now it has been pointed out to me I can see their point. But is this a bad thing? I am sure if you told the staff this they would be proud, I think they would think that they have achieved their objective; surely the role of a hipster cafe barista is to be a know-it-all, it's part of the training after all. So, if you like to be talked down to by staff who think they know what they are talking about, this is the perfect place for you.

* Other examples of Czechlish - business is byznys and ham and eggs is hemenex. 

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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