Coffee Talk

7.5/10. This is the coffee shop on Waialae and 12th avenue. I spend quite a bit of my time there with a laptop or a good book.

It is reasonably spacious but with enough tables such that you can find a seat even on crowded days. The clientele is the usual college crowd taking refuge from dreary dorms while trying to get some work done. Their best asset is free wireless internet which I have not seen anywhere else in Honolulu. That includes Cafe 2000 on University Ave, all the Starbuckses and Borders/Barnes &Nobles coffee shops.

The coffee itself is decent but not spectacular. However large degrees of customization (such as extra syrup in mochas) are possible due to the friendliness of the female staff. Male staff members are somewhat rare and not-so-friendly. If they are present it is mostly behind-the-scenes while the female takes care of customer interaction. Perhaps the management understands that high male quality is not being employed.

From the food point of view, the situation is not so rosy. The sandwiches and burgers are mediocre and best avoided. I recall a hot melt with such poor qualiy pastrami that one would need a crocodile's jaws to break off a piece. The cookies are quite good though, especially the peanut butter ones.

The decor is allright overall speaking, but perhaps also a bit cheerless. It feels unfinished...like they started with some kind of retro ambitions but lost heart midway. Tables are small and circular which makes it challenging to manoeuvre both a sandwich plate and a laptop. Some bigger tables are available outside. There is no sofa section which means that there are no bums and most clients are awake. There is an outdoor section which is frequently populated by hard core smokers who are also at times serious-looking chicks in very dark clothes, some body art, rings etc. They tend to give me a coolness-deficit complex. I have never sat there, but that is mostly because insides are less warm. Speaking of that, I'm not sure if they have an AC for the interior. Sometimes it is a bit cool but mostly rather warm, particularly in the afternoons.

Concerning ambient music, there seems to be a heavy bias towards very emotional romantic songs of the "love me tender, love me true" variety. Lots of Air Supply too. This can make me a bit nervous after a while, but I suppose that depends on taste.

So, as coffee houses go, this is probably the best in Honolulu. But, if there is another place out there with decent coffee and free wireless internet, I would like to know about it!