Ogawa Coffee

I literally spent 30 minutes choosing places today, and then I decided that I was going to hop on the T and go to this spot that I've had bookmarked for a long time now. Man, was I impressed.

Ogawa Coffee

Rating: 5/5
Location: 10 Milk St, Boston, MA 02108
Ordered: Kyoto house blend (3.5), smoked salmon bagel (13.25), matcha cake roll (10.75)

Vibes: Immaculate. The baristas have uniforms of white shirts, black ties, and a black apron over it. The place is very modern, industrial-esque with its cool white walls, light wood accents with black steel lights hanging from the bare ceiling with pristinely white pipes above. Soft jazz playing in the background. Along the back, there are three tall steps that you can sit on, with black blocks for you to put your drinks and food. Along the black wall is a bunch of messages and signatures from people along the coffee-producing chain for this shop, along with people like the 2017 World Latte Art Champion, etc. There weren't a lot of people when I first came at about 10, but now it's very packed. I will say that it took quite a long time for my order to be prepared.

House Blend: I'm a big girl now and I'm going to drink black coffee (the real reason was I didn't want to pay 3$ extra on this already pricey order...). I read online that people sometimes describe the scent of coffee is fruity or flowery, and I think that's an apt description in this case. It's a sour (like a fruit's sourness) coffee with hints of bitterness and sweet. It's honestly amazing, how little bitterness there is. There's almost no aftertaste, and you're left with the scent of flowers.

Matcha Cake Roll: A matcha cream cake roll complimented with a scoop of ice cream next to a swirl of white chocolate and raspberry, and some coffee jellies. Holy shit, the matcha cream is so beautiful and strong. It was oozing out from the center of the cake roll and it has the strong earthy taste of matcha. The cake itself is not my favorite. It has a texture that reminds me of individual crumbs, and I think it's a little too moist.

The ice cream tastes faintly of vanilla and compliments the raspberry and white chocolate (I fucking love the combination of raspberry, white chocolate, and vanilla ice cream. It's actually my favorite ice cream flavor). Dipping the cake in the ice cream is soooo good. The aroma of the matcha, the sweet of the ice cream, the tartness of the raspberry, and the cake soaking up all the moisture is heavenly.

I don't really like jellies in particular, so I didn't really enjoy eating them. They tasted like their coffee put in jelly form, except it's a little more on the nutty side.

Near the end of my consumption, I noticed that the cream was on the heavy side, leaving a coating of butter on the top of my mouth, a sensation that I really hate from creams. That made the last couple bites not as good as the initial taste. The other unfortunate thing about a dish like this is that you have to eat it immediately or else the ice cream will melt. Would prefer it if I could have a little bit more time to enjoy it!

Smoked Salmon Bagel: After I had smoked salmon bagels at this one place in NYC (as per the recommendation of a friend of mine), I've been hooked on smoked salmon. I really like salty things, and I really like fish, and you get to taste this weird in-between of cooked and raw in smoked stuff (as well as the amazing aroma of the smoke). There's a generous layer of salmon atop chive cream cheese with capers embedded in it, and a healthy helping of spring mix greens and onions, all on a toasted sesame bagel. It's soooo aromatic. I immediately taste the onion, chives, smoky salmon all in one. As an aftertaste, you do get the scent of the greens and the capers, with a hint of sesame. All in all, very solid.

Value: This place is on the pricier side, but it's definitely worth the price. If you asked me if I would want to go to Ogawa for coffee everyday, vs. some other cheaper place, I would tell you that it's like comparing apples to oranges. Yeah, they're both in the category of fruits (PROMYS influence hehe), but they're for the most part incomparable. I have a preference on some days, but they're both good. But that's a tangent that's better placed in rating, I suppose. I don't regret paying the money to eat my food here. Will I do it often? No.

Rating: Everything's just so good here, that I have to give it a 5/5 rating. I have some complaints on the cake roll side, but that's made up by all the other good factors. Maybe if I went to a place that I was awed by completely, would I give it a 6/5 or something. As of right now though, this place is amazing (as probably can be observed by my long review).