Double Shot: Portland Cà Phê
Walkability/Accessibility: Cà Phê is only a few blocks from campus, at 28th Ave. and Holgate Blvd. The 10 bus line deposits you on the sidewalk right outside, so it’s easy to get there even from off campus. [A]
Price Point: Espresso is $3.50, cortados are $4, and lattes start at $5. Syrups are $0.75. Their special coffee, the cà phê sữa (pronounced “ca fe su”), costs $6. Their alternative drinks are a bit on the expensive side, starting at $5.50 for an 8 oz drink, but they’re absolutely worth it. [B+]
Coffee Quality (and option variety): All of Cà Phê’s espresso drinks are solid, but where they truly shine is in their specialty drinks. Cà phê sữa, also known as Vietnamese coffee, is a strong coffee made with condensed milk. Most coffee is made only of the arabica variety, which is grown primarily in Africa and South America. Vietnamese coffee is made with robusta coffee, which is primarily grown in Vietnam. Robusta is stronger, more flavorful, and more caffeinated, which lets a small cup tolerate a lot of condensed milk while retaining its flavor and not being overly sweet. The special coffee beans, preparation using a filter called a phin, and an extremely high ratio of 30g coffee per 200mL water, provide a rich and flavorful drink in half the size of a normal coffee. Trust us, you won’t need more than that. It comes hot or iced, and it’s fantastic both ways. If you order it hot, it takes a couple minutes for them to make it fresh for you, but it’s more than worth the wait. Their coconut cream latte, while more expensive than a regular latte, is a strict improvement. All the complexity of a latte normally comes from the coffee, but the coconut cream latte is a show of force in both the coffee and milk and the coconut cream adds layers to their already solid latte. [A+]
Food Quality (and option variety): Cà Phê’s banh mi are phenomenal, made with fresh baguettes, fresh herbs, and a variety of fillings. Their house banh mi will run you $10 and it’s leagues better than Commons’ sad mockery of a banh mi. Their meat options are tender and flavorful and their tofu banh mi is just as good. They also offer mochi doughnuts in a variety of flavors. These are their only food options, but they are stellar. [A+]
Atmosphere: Cà Phê employs a clean and modern aesthetic, bringing coziness with well-placed plants and bamboo screens. One wall has a mural indicating the various regions of Vietnam, and, as always, there’s the picturesque bar seating in front of the floor-to-ceiling front window. [B+]
Alternative Drinks: At $5, their Diaspora chai (sourced from a company by the same name) is delicious and cardamom-forward. Their black sesame chai adds a nutty, lightly salty flavor to the already great drink. The ube latte is, in our opinion, a strict improvement on a vanilla steamer. It adds complexity while remaining a mellow and comforting drink. [A]