During my long break last Lebaran, I was overjoyed upon hearing that several new coffee shops had emerged in Bandung. As one of them and upon seeing the menu, Lacamera Coffee itself is more like a restaurant rather than a real coffee shop despite the name. Even so, with its space and distance advantages from my side, Lacamera Coffee seems to be predestined to appease my daily coffee cravings. But does it really satisfy my needs so far?

If you take a look at the overview of third wave coffee appreciation in Indonesia, I can probably say that both Jakarta and Bandung have become equally engaging for coffee lovers out there who want to discover the wisdom behind these beautiful black beads. Not forgetting to mention of course, Indonesia also has Bali as well with its foreign influences there. It’s safe to say that the coffee scene is blooming more beautifully than ever although in general, the appreciation may not have reached its zenith level such as in Australia, Japan, US, or even Singapore.

Coffee shops nowadays have slick designs and equipped with fancy espresso machines, manual brew gadgets, foreign beans, and experiments-freak baristas. These coffee shops are usually dreams that came true for aspiring youngsters with high caffeine-cravings or simply in love with the coolness of brewing coffee stylishly. In Lacamera Coffee case, the reasons are perhaps because of inspirations that these owners derived during their studies overseas in the past or even inspired by talented pioneers around us. It could be from TV personalities like Adi Taroepratjeka; lovely machines like Noah’s Barn’s Synesso or 1/15’s La Marzocco; or inspiring planters, roasters, and even master brewers.

But let’s see the facts inside the coffee shops now. For Lacamera Coffee, instead focusing fully on the coffee, it also provides quite an extensive range of food from waffles, pasta, and other drinks. For me, the food is more like a bad luck. I haven’t got the chance to try the waffles yet but my wife stopped me from having that thought with her cold pasta which brilliantly reheated by the kitchen only to make itself dry and even more unappetizing. For the finger food, Lacamera Coffee couldn’t even provide decent onion rings as they’re not evenly battered and some parts of the rings were not evenly fried.

The beverages came from the espresso machine were no less disappointing as well. My flat white, no matter how beautiful it was and evenly-balanced, was served lukewarm. Lucky that my wife’s iced caramel macchiato was satisfying, thanks to Monin’s delicious caramel syrup as well. I may need to taste again something from this machine for fairer judgment.

During my second visit, I decided to know better both the owners and the baristas. We had our usual geeky convo about coffee on the brew bar and Romi – one of the baristas – concocted a drink by using Hario Woodneck. Romi, being a pure methodist, carefully weighted everything accurately to make it balance and poured the hot water step by step. However, it proved to be a bit too watery and the coffee tasted a bit ‘one-dimensional’ if I may quote.

However, it’s different for the second round as this time Han – another barista of Lacamera Coffee – brewed me a complex Honduras beans of many flavors from Axil Coffee Roasters – Australia by using the V60. The result was much more satisfying than the first round although I was only able to feel three out of seven flavors from the coffee. Well, I guess I need more training for my palate!

From my point of view, of course I’m glad that Bandung has Lacamera Coffee on board of the city’s rich culinary armada, but it may need to tune up the food quality in particular. I have no doubt with the baristas as they’re always experimenting to get the best taste of coffee every single day, although they might have to do something about its Sanremo Roma machine, because not only me, my other coffee appreciating friend also had the same experience. In addition, Lacamera Coffee may want to reconsider about securing the smoking section seriously as the fumes are always distracting us who don’t smoke and ruin the whole scent of coffee coming from the brew bar. Even so, the problem is less serious than Chez Moka’s.

Really looking forward for better and balanced version of Lacamera Coffee in the future because what I really love so far from it is that it closes so late at night and I am having a good time working there and I could use great coffee coming steaming up from the bar. Chins up and improvise well, Lacamera!

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LACAMERA COFFEE

Halal-friendly

Some menu suitable for vegetarians

Address: Jalan Naripan no. 79, Bandung – Indonesia

Opening hours: Everyday, 8 am – 11 pm (weekday), 8 am – 1 am (weekend)

RSVP: +62.22.421.0200

Facebook: Lacamera Coffee

Twitter: @LacameraCoffee

Spend: IDR 25,000 – IDR 50,000 / person