Vacaciones | Summery Summary
€ Per Person €7.50 or so for two lattes and carrot cake
Find
Website http://www.vacacionesbar.com/
Access Very small step to entry.
In Short
First Impressions. Holiday. Let's celebrate.
USP? The beach bar chic rather than the menu.
Service! A nice friendly chap, but a lot of fiddling about going on from other staff.
Tip? Small one for good service.
Change one thing? Develop the coffee range.
Revisitability. Others on the street demand to be tried.
The HM Coffee Map
In Pictures
On Google Images
The story
Calle Espiritu Santo is, bold claim alert, Madrid's most under-rated street. Should we even tell you about it? Proper shops still mingle with modern Madridy millenial touristy stuff. Yes, there's a Carrefour Express (thanks, AirBnb). Happily, the awful identikit hotdog franchise shut. Sadly, the old school kitchen electricals shop did too. Fortunately the bookshop with the nice black cat; the friendly fruit man and the cheap poultry seller who waves to me when I walk past are doing well.
But - to the coffee shops! We tossed a coin and went for Vacaciones. It's more a cocktail bar, really. But there is a brunch. And there are cakes.
The coffee offer is simple. You're not choosing beans or roasts or whatnot. My first latte came with chocolate bits, the second not. Hmmm. The carrot cake slice was very generous and rather than a creamy filling, came with syrupy swirls. The carroty ribbon on top was novel, I guess. I found the whole thing a tad too sweet, but it ended up being de facto lunch, there was that much of it. An alleged cheesecake was much less convincing though, made. it seemed, from greek yoghurt and cereal. New rule: if you've got to eat cheesecake with a spoon, heads up; It's not cheesecake. So, we ordered a non-cheesecake cheesecake. Sorry Vacaciones, but it looked like someone had brunch components ready to go, going spare.
Decor does what it aims for; summery. Shabby, beachbar chic. Service was cheery and speedy, but a nervous staff member arranging, then rearranging, then realigning tables and chairs, sometimes by millimetres could only make me think of...
...and therefore distracted at moments from both my coffee and conversation.
...
Faraday | It's all about Chemistry
€ Per Person €2.50 or so for Latte.
Find
Website https://faraday-cafeteria.negocio.site/
Access Step free, including to toilet.
In Short
First Impressions. Get into the groove.
USP? Record shop chic meets chemistry lab.
Service! Friendly. Fluent in English, too.
Tip? Small one for good service.
Change one thing? We enjoyed the silence, but it deserves more custom.
Revisitability. Need to be passing by.
The HM Coffee Map
In Pictures
On Google Images
The story
Tucked down a Chueca side street, Faraday's an ideal place to bring someone who's not seen Madrid for a good while and wants examples of how things have changed. Or developed. Or diversified. Or - well, you choose.
It's so on-trend, if you're of a scientific bent it might blow the needle on your on-trend-o-meter. But still, maintain the scientific approach and enter with an open mind. There's a big positive lurking here. Yes, there are chemistry charts on the walls which appear to have come from a high school in India, designed to help budding scientists with electron configurations. If they don't excite you out of your ground state, there are shelves of bric-a-brac to talk about and modern art magazines to puzzle over. Then there's a wall of vinyl jazz classics for sale. Up above there's a mezzanine, illuminated by windows to a patio. Brightly decorated a colour we must call yellow. Furniture is artily eclectic, too. There's no denying Faraday is doing its best to be all things to all hipsters. But, still, somehow....
The coffee's really good, the barista's friendly and chatty, with people wandering in regularly to pass the time of day. The music's relaxing and the chairs are comfy. All of that meant that, unlike some spots in town where it's all about talking coffee and gratuitous laptopping, we felt inclined to linger. So we lounged about for a happy hour or more, downing coffees and water, wondering about the art magazines, discussing the value of footfall on business plans (as you do) and generally not in any rush to move on.
Well done for making us want to stay, Faraday.
€ Per Person €7.50 or so for two lattes and carrot cake
Find
Website http://www.vacacionesbar.com/
Access Very small step to entry.
In Short
First Impressions. Holiday. Let's celebrate.
USP? The beach bar chic rather than the menu.
Service! A nice friendly chap, but a lot of fiddling about going on from other staff.
Tip? Small one for good service.
Change one thing? Develop the coffee range.
Revisitability. Others on the street demand to be tried.
The HM Coffee Map
In Pictures
On Google Images
The story
Calle Espiritu Santo is, bold claim alert, Madrid's most under-rated street. Should we even tell you about it? Proper shops still mingle with modern Madridy millenial touristy stuff. Yes, there's a Carrefour Express (thanks, AirBnb). Happily, the awful identikit hotdog franchise shut. Sadly, the old school kitchen electricals shop did too. Fortunately the bookshop with the nice black cat; the friendly fruit man and the cheap poultry seller who waves to me when I walk past are doing well.
But - to the coffee shops! We tossed a coin and went for Vacaciones. It's more a cocktail bar, really. But there is a brunch. And there are cakes.
The coffee offer is simple. You're not choosing beans or roasts or whatnot. My first latte came with chocolate bits, the second not. Hmmm. The carrot cake slice was very generous and rather than a creamy filling, came with syrupy swirls. The carroty ribbon on top was novel, I guess. I found the whole thing a tad too sweet, but it ended up being de facto lunch, there was that much of it. An alleged cheesecake was much less convincing though, made. it seemed, from greek yoghurt and cereal. New rule: if you've got to eat cheesecake with a spoon, heads up; It's not cheesecake. So, we ordered a non-cheesecake cheesecake. Sorry Vacaciones, but it looked like someone had brunch components ready to go, going spare.
Decor does what it aims for; summery. Shabby, beachbar chic. Service was cheery and speedy, but a nervous staff member arranging, then rearranging, then realigning tables and chairs, sometimes by millimetres could only make me think of...
...and therefore distracted at moments from both my coffee and conversation.
...
Faraday | It's all about Chemistry
€ Per Person €2.50 or so for Latte.
Find
Website https://faraday-cafeteria.negocio.site/
Access Step free, including to toilet.
In Short
First Impressions. Get into the groove.
USP? Record shop chic meets chemistry lab.
Service! Friendly. Fluent in English, too.
Tip? Small one for good service.
Change one thing? We enjoyed the silence, but it deserves more custom.
Revisitability. Need to be passing by.
The HM Coffee Map
In Pictures
On Google Images
The story
Tucked down a Chueca side street, Faraday's an ideal place to bring someone who's not seen Madrid for a good while and wants examples of how things have changed. Or developed. Or diversified. Or - well, you choose.
It's so on-trend, if you're of a scientific bent it might blow the needle on your on-trend-o-meter. But still, maintain the scientific approach and enter with an open mind. There's a big positive lurking here. Yes, there are chemistry charts on the walls which appear to have come from a high school in India, designed to help budding scientists with electron configurations. If they don't excite you out of your ground state, there are shelves of bric-a-brac to talk about and modern art magazines to puzzle over. Then there's a wall of vinyl jazz classics for sale. Up above there's a mezzanine, illuminated by windows to a patio. Brightly decorated a colour we must call yellow. Furniture is artily eclectic, too. There's no denying Faraday is doing its best to be all things to all hipsters. But, still, somehow....
The coffee's really good, the barista's friendly and chatty, with people wandering in regularly to pass the time of day. The music's relaxing and the chairs are comfy. All of that meant that, unlike some spots in town where it's all about talking coffee and gratuitous laptopping, we felt inclined to linger. So we lounged about for a happy hour or more, downing coffees and water, wondering about the art magazines, discussing the value of footfall on business plans (as you do) and generally not in any rush to move on.
Well done for making us want to stay, Faraday.