Pascal Kaffebar

A small bar that roasts its own coffee

Everything happens in a few square metres: a La Marzocco Linea on the counter, a bakery case beside it, and two benches by the entrance that amount to the entire seating plan. Pascal Kaffebar is the coffee bar arm of the Café Pascal family, and the important change is that it no longer buys its coffee in. Roasting is done under the house's own roastery name, with a list built on transparent, carefully handled lots tied to origin rather than to a single house blend.

The names on that list move. A Decaf de Cana from Colombia, Mubuku from Uganda for espresso, Cataleya Valley from Peru, Daanisa from Ethiopia. There is a competition streak too, with rare lots passing through the bar, among them a red Gesha from Finca La Negrita brewed for a Brewer's Cup entry. The room was a jeweller's shop before it was a coffee bar, which explains the tiles and the floor-to-ceiling mirrors.

Standing room, and a bakery in the same breath

Treat it as a daytime coffee and bakery stop rather than a place to settle. It is small and largely takeaway, so the visit works best as a precise cup, something from the case, and back out onto the street.

The bakery side is run with the people behind Komet, which puts the food inside the same quality-driven world as the coffee instead of making it a bought-in tray. Early on there is a breakfast fralla with cheese and ham, flaky croissants and fresh bread; later the counter turns to a rye sandwich with avocado and egg, or a small soup and sandwich lunch. Kombucha and fresh fruit juices cover the non-coffee side.

Order a filter, then take the pastry with you

Espresso and flat white are both here and both good, but the reason to walk in is the filter programme: pour-over, special coffees and the rarer lots the roastery keeps back for this bar. If a competition-style coffee such as the red Gesha is on, that is the most distinctive thing you will drink here.

For a broader read of the roasting, ask for whichever origin is current, Colombia, Uganda, Peru or Ethiopia, and drink it black. Then order from the bakery rather than treating food as an afterthought, because the two sides of the counter were built to be taken together. A croissant or the breakfast fralla is the natural early pairing; the rye with avocado and egg carries a later stop.