‘t Koffieboontje

Espresso on a KB90, filter four ways

Coffee comes before everything else here: 't Koffieboontje calls itself a specialty coffee bar and an espressobar, and the equipment backs the claim. Espresso runs on a custom La Marzocco KB90, and filter can be made on V60, a dripper, Aeropress or Moccamaster depending on what you want from the cup. Beans come from a rotating set of origins, and the bar sells them alongside brewing gear for home.

The teaching side is part of the identity too, with latte art, slow coffee and barista workshops for anyone who wants to understand what happens behind the counter. The three partners, Mustapha Kanaa, Brahim Taoufik and Aziz Boutaga, are Dutch-raised sons of Moroccan parents who set out to build a hospitable, service-minded Dutch café that filled a local specialty-coffee gap. It worked well enough that a second Utrecht location followed two years later. The bar was recognised at the European Coffee Trip Awards in 2025.

The canal side sets the pace

The setting does a lot of the work. The house invites people into its window bench and the hanging chair looking out over the canal, so the room is shaped around where you sit rather than only around the bar. The hanging chair by the window is the piece everyone notices first.

Utrecht gives it the rest. The original site sits on a canal in the centre, with the later location a short walk away near the Rijn en Zon windmill, and the mood is walkable and social: quiet enough for laptop time on some days, lively enough for friends on others. The tone stays domestic, closer to being hosted than served, which is the point of a counter that tells you to make yourself at home.

Order the oreo brownie

The clearest food order is the oreo brownie, the item most often singled out from the case. The wider offer is broader than a token pastry shelf, covering breakfast, lunch and treats through the day, and items are available in forms free from allergens including gluten, lactose and sugar.

Pair the brownie with a filter brew or an espresso drink and you have the most concrete order in the house. The kitchen names no bakery partner, so the sweets are best chosen from whatever is out rather than by reputation, and the stated ambition is to move the whole assortment toward organic. Between the coffee programme, the workshops and the canal-side room, the visit works either as a quick cup or as a long sit with a brownie and a view.