Kaffabar

Espresso and slow coffee, three ways

The menu leads with espresso and slow coffee, and splits the manual side three ways: Chemex for a clean cup with body and balanced floral notes, V60 for a sweeter, fuller cup with more fruit, and French Press for something heavier. Aeropress turns up as well, and staff will explain the differences without being asked twice, which matches the slower rhythm of the room. Kaffabar has sourced from Mok in Leuven, Lomi in Paris and The Barn in Berlin, so the beans rotate through some of the more serious roasters in the region. On the espresso side the list runs espresso, affogato, espresso tonic, iced cappuccino, latte macchiato and espresso martini. Tea is taken seriously too, with iced tea and chai latte alongside it, served with a small timer for the extraction.

A calm corner of Place Rouppe

Kaffabar opened in February 2016 on Place Rouppe, started by an owner who left the financial sector to become a barista, and it still reads as a personal specialty-coffee project rather than a generic counter. The interior is modern and inviting, with black painted walls, marble tables and wood panel benches, and the terrace is large and sunny enough to be the main reason to come in warm weather. Brussels coffee guides treat it as one of the city's coffee bar pioneers. The owner's bulldog, asleep through most of service, adds to the relaxed, dog-friendly character of the place.

A simple order built around sweets

Food is café food arranged around the day rather than a restaurant menu. Breakfast comes in two forms, Fresh Breakfast and Rustic Breakfast, both built to go with coffee. Lunch and tartines cover the middle of the day, and Tea Time brings cake, cookies, muffins, pie and rocky road. The house describes itself as specialty coffee with breakfast, fresh small lunches and homemade cakes in a warm room, which is an accurate summary of the order of business. For a cold coffee-led order, start with the espresso tonic; for something familiar, the iced cappuccino; and espresso martini and affogato sit at the playful end. For a slower cup, ask about Chemex, V60, French Press or Aeropress and let the explanation match the method to body, fruit or clarity. Then add rocky road, pie, muffins, cookies or cake when lingering matters more than leaving.