Broken record, all this stuff about how I look at places and never go to them. Here’s another one. I’ll spare you.
Pretty sure I got a takeout coffee here with Koala one time, but never wrote it up. It’s right out in the open – you almost can’t go to west-side Kanda without going by it. It’s also near Pure Yakiniku, and my prior contact with Tucker was her commenting on the need for a coffee-fix and the relative merits of Illy, so I figured as a good host/guide it behooved me to set up a coffee after the manly meat. They have panini and pita and other sandwichy things too. It’s a little smoky.
The main event – this is a thoroughly worthwhile coffee if drunk in the store. It’s, uh, it’s…it doesn’t suck like Starbucks, and it takes an experience like this in close proximity to Starbucks to show you the gap between them. My macchiato was lovely, Tucker’s latte has a good design on top (I know it’s just the milk, but getting the design that pretty implies an awful lot of practice, and my new theory is that no one would practice that much on the milk and then suck at making the coffee), and Todd’s Irish has just enough Irish to ease you into the afternoon (I’m making that up. I didn’t drink it.)
You going to try to make the latte with the flower design at home? Would expand you kitchen skills!!
Naaah, too much equipment required for the espresso pulling and the milk steaming. I've managed not to buy a coffee machine for this long, I can keep holding out.