A Good Cappuccino

Coffee perks us up and can bring us together in the most exotic of places. Coffee can inspire perky conversation or allow for clarity of mind amounting to liquid inspiration. But what do we have in the new international city of Songdo? This depends greatly on your tastes.

For me, nothing defines proper coffee like a good strong cup of black but that's not that techinical and I can mess that up well enough at home. A cappuccino can define a coffee retailer as it combines espresso, milk, and foamed milk in thirds. In reality, there should be no other definition of this coffee drink but every culture imparts their stamp on things. In Korea it seems a simple ice coffee is sufficiant enough to call a place a coffee house and it is assummed that you will be happy with cinnamon on your drink. In fairness, in Belgium, a cappucino, called a Chantilly, comes with a massive glob of whipped cream on top so you must request "Italian" while ordering. Anyway, I ventured out to see what we have available. I'll try to keep it brief for each. As of this writing I don't have access to all the pics I took.

Business Name: Rotiboy Bakery
Services provided: Coffee, baked goods
Address: Near Duncan Donuts.
Speaks English: None
Hours and days of operation: Not on door
Price: W4,000
Elapsed time to make drink: 4 minutes
The good: Location. Nothing else, avoid.
The bad: Cappucino was absent of any foam and was merely some weak coffee with cinnamom on it. When asked where the foam was they shrugged, implying they cannot make it. Temperature was not taken on this sample as it really did not represent what was ordered in any way.
Final evaluation: Avoid

Business name: The Cafe
Services provided: Coffee, some premade baked goods, beers, some canned sodas
Address: South East corner of the 1st World Center (B125)
Speaks English: None, but generally the staff attitude was positive.
Hours and days of operation: Unknown
Price: W4,000
Elapsed time to make drink: 15 minutes!
The good: Great location.
The bad: My coffee drink was ordered as "dry" and I asked for no milk. This defies the definition of a cappuccino but works well in Korea where this drink usually arrives as a Latte, drenched in milk and lacking real foam. 5 attempts were made by "barista" to create foam. The fifth try was successful but yielded soapy, large bubbled, 1/2" of weak foam. We also observed 6 total shots being made but the Coffee still tasted weak. There was no bitter aftertaste which is sort of a plus. Bean source is unknown. Coffee temp at serving was 136 degrees F or 58 Celcius and we suspect cooling was due to the attempts to make foam.
The atmosphere was perverse with odd seating arrangement that mandates groups of <3 class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">Wein in Yeonsu-gu area which is a fantastic place. Wall coverings included seven different wallpapers and faux brick finishes. A small junky radio spilled out K-pop. The chilled dispay counter had a waffle and a muffin along with some cans of soda type drinks. The drink cooler had other sodas and Budweiser, Cass, and Cafri.
Final evaluation: Avoid.

Business Name: Lloydd's Cafe'
Address: North West side of Dream city facing jobsite
Speaks English: No but understood when I mimed "dry" or "without milk"
Hours and days of Operation: Open after 10 AM
Price: W4,000
Elapsed time to make drink: 2 minutes
The good: Very fast service. First coffee temp was 155 degrees F or 68 Celsius. It was heavy with milk and had about 1/4 inch of soapy, large celled, weak foam. Coffee flavor was weak and left a strong, bitter aftertaste. Beans are supposedly Lavazza. The second coffee I asked for no milk and he showed me a steel container with some foam left in it and pointed to it. I agreed that that was all I wanted on my espresso shots. The result was a huge improvement constancy-wise. After having cappuccino at The Cafe anything was an improvement. Wait, I forgot about Rotiboy. The atmosphere was very good and large with the ability to host any number of different sized groups.
The bad: Espresso aspect of the coffee still lacked a richness and I was left with a bitterness for quite some time. The location is currently not a great one as it faces the most active part of the construction site but one must keep in mind that this will change rapidly as the project progresses.
Final evaluation: The final product improved upon request but was not a good cappuccino. I would still go here if friends invited me. I hope, with time and experience, they improve to meet the needs of the growing international community.

Business Name: Cafe Tiamo
Services Provided: Coffee drinks, Italian Gilato, small sandwiches.
Address: South East side of main Business area next to Olive Restaurant
Speaks English: A little
Hours and days of Operation: After 10 AM Monday - Sunday
Price: W4,000
Elapsed time to make drink: 5 minutes
The good: Consistently acceptable cappuccinos. Foam varies from slightly large celled to small celled and rich. Foam depth was about 1.5 inches. Coffee is supposedly Illy and leaves no bitter aftertaste but is not that rich either. I did not have my thermometer with me so I took no readings but the coffee required a moment to cool which is good. Outside seating is available and inside seating is usually available.
The bad: Not open early when you NEED a nice coffee, although they used to be closed on Sunday and they've finally seen the error of their ways. Note that during the summer months outside seating can expose you to fog provided by the mosquito fogger trucks that roam the streets spreading toxic fog. This is not limited to this restaurant.
Final Evaluation: Of the four places I have reviewed, this is the very best in service and quality for a western cappuccino pallets. I go there without hesitation.

Stan Crocker RD, LD