Lunch & Coffee @ Caffe Espresso, Hakata, Fukuoka

 

I like myself a good old fashion kissaten lunch. These places do not scream flash and pomp, but their constant presence in Japan is something I always enjoy. They are classic Showa style western concept cafes that serve typical meals that feed the regular Joe, or Satoshi if you are so inclined. One of which is Caffe Espresso. 

Impressive front counter. 

The place only opens for lunch so which makes the window for me to try this out a bit tricky. But the trip to get here is worth it. Not to mention, it is walking distance from my office. It serves Japanese style Western dishes. Mainly, pasta and the Hamburg steak, more popularly known as the hambagu. The neighbouring fellow got the juicy beef patty and it looked pretty good. And as such that was my first order. 

Big portion!

The portion of this beast was actually pretty decent. Despite being just 900 yen, it comes with a salad, some pasta and a decent portion of rice. The volume on this thing was quite generous. The overall meal was pretty good too. The patty was glazed with a demiglace sauce which was sweet and savoury, with a hint of sourness. It was also laced with some of their pasta meat sauce which created great depth of flavour. Imagine a giant meatball from some spaghetti pot. 

What a close up

The rice help pad out the meal and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Interestingly, I was actually captivated by the pasta that was sitting at the bottom of the plate, covered by that chunk of meat. It was actually pretty good, which inspired me to come back again for another round, so I can try their pasta. 

That is a lot of meat!

Although the tomato based meat sauce captivated my imagination earlier on, it was the pepperoncino that was next in my line of fire. I was tempted in getting the meat sauce pasta as that was the sampling I had during my first visit. However, as so many of the other patrons got the chilli spiked fried pasta, I felt obliged to do the same. That decision did not disappoint.

Simple but great flavours. 

The pasta was garnished with a walloping of fried bacon sand sausages, with pieces of chilli and green peppers tucked in between. With a dash of parmesan powder, and you get a slobberknocker. The bacon was smoky and complimented the heat from the chillies, and the spaghetti acted more like a vessel for the flavours to combine. The pasta was well cooked to and had a nice bite. It may not be what an Italian would have made, but it was indeed tasty. standing at 750 yen for a regular size, and this was a bargain lunch which provides lots of personality. 

The coup de grace of an amazing lunch. 

But food is not the only thing this establishment excels at. Coffee is one of their mainstays too. I mean, if your cafe is named after coffee, you better put up your end of the bargain. So I got myself an ice coffee which stood at 300 yen, if you order with your meal. And this I like. It was first served in some form of copper mug, giving it extra points in terms of aesthetics. But the coffee itself was no slouch either. It was smooth, slightly bitter yet has a nice tinge of sweetness without any sugar. There was a floral aroma too which I seriously enjoyed. A great potion for the hotter months. 

Beastly!

Speaking of aesthetics, they have a giant classic coffee machine taking up most of the facade here. It makes a lasting impression and is where all your caffeinated beverages come from. It is rather interesting to see how the staff work with this interesting device. I do not envy the cleaning process though. 

Is this some high end kaiseki place? No. Would this be something tourists scour and dig to try? Probably not. But would I come again? Absolutely yes. It is these sort of places that fuel the working population during their lunch hours and they do a delicious job in this. Having said that, the coffee is worth the detour. So if you fancy a go, the address is as follows:

〒812-0016 Fukuoka, Hakata Ward, Hakataekiminami, 2 Chome−1−26 一倉ビル 1F