Bench Cafe

Bench Cafe is a simple cafe that serves only coffee, tea, hot chocolate, and pastries in its very small shop. Upon entering, you will see a small spiral staircase leading upstairs and a brightly lit, small room with limited seating. When I came, two baristas were working diligently behind a counter.

In the way of coffee, they serve a house drip, an au lait, a cappuccino, a latte, an espresso, a macchiato, and a cortado. In the way of tea, they serve Persian Rose, Persian Black, Berber, Dream, Azul, and iced tea. They also offer specialty beverages, including banana cream ice coffee, banana cream chai, matcha latte, mocha, chai latte, hot chocolate, cold brew, and golden milk latte. There was also an assortment of pastries like cookies, muffins, and scones along the counter. 

The prices are not listed on the menu, but they are what you would expect from a coffee shop in this area.

I decided I would like to try the banana cream iced coffee because it was an interesting beverage that I had not seen elsewhere. I watched with great interest as a barista created my beverage using a real banana, a sweet syrup, half and half, and cold coffee. When she was done, it looked beautiful and it tasted as good. The coffee was very bitter, but the banana cream softened it considerably, making for a beverage that was easy and fun to sip.

I also indulged in one of their chocolate chunk cookies. It was delightfully crispy along the edges but moist and chewy toward the center. It had a good amount of chocolate and was delicious.

I sat at one of the seats along the wall for a long while, savoring my bitter-and-sweet beverage and my sweet cookie. The busy nature and small size of the cafe made the cafe feel quaint. The whole time I was there, the baristas were busy making beverages or cleaning their tools; this cafe is surprisingly popular. 

It was a nice place to sit and work. The sounds of customers coming in and out, the baristas hard at work, the lively music playing on the speakers, and the other conversations in the cafe faded into the background for me as I focused on my laptop. This cafe has free wifi. 

Overall, I was impressed by the quality of their beverages and pastries. I watched them handcraft each beverage carefully with a bit of love. My beverage, in particular, was very good.  The cookie I tried was the same way. I am likely to come back for more.