Hot cocoa, Watertown Coffee
All right folks: true to my word, this week I will not be claiming I've discovered a new favorite. This place is intriguing, though, so it's certainly worth some musing. Watertown Coffee is the place I shied away from two weeks ago due to some dubious Yelp reviews - but Carolyn got me out here for morning coffee this past week, and I figured I wouldn't be a very good coffeeshop-reviewing-blogger if I didn't make up my own mind about places. So I returned this evening for this week's Cup o' Joe Monday.
Going to a coffeeshop at night is a different experience entirely. One, ordering an espresso beverage is absolutely out of the question; anyone who knows me knows I don't have caffeine after 2 p.m. or, without fail, I'll stay wide-eyed and regretfully up all night long. And two, the nighttime cafe vibe is a lot sleepier. Currently, as I'm writing this, I have the entire place to myself. And have for about half an hour. I wonder if it's busier on weekend nights?
Watertown does seem to offer something unique: not only a coffeeshop, but a multi-purpose space that doubles as a cafe by day, a bar by night, and is complete with amenities like an X-Box playing station, a ping pong table, tons of board games, a record collection for browsing, and a wide variety of seating options, ranging from couches to cozy chairs to small tables to barstools.
It feels like a nice, comfy place to just come chill out. You can pretend you have a cool, hip art school friend, who lets you come over and hang out in his retro studio apartment, complete with high ceilings, dilapidated couches, eclectic art on the walls, and grungy music on the stereo. There's also a fun little terrace garden in front. And lots of ivy-like plants on the building that give its warehouse/garage structure a tasteful edge to them.
Drawbacks:
(1) The place is freaking cold. The windows don't appear to be insulated at all, and lead the place to have a very drafty, chilly feel. Having grown up with a Dutch mother, and now keeping my apartment at a somewhat brisk 60 degrees around the clock, I honestly don't mind the cold too much. It's an excuse to wear fleece and drink warm beverages and generally be cozy. But still - it's close to the point of discomfort.
(2) My hot chocolate = meh. Not bad...but also nothing special. Comparable a packet of Nestle's instant cocoa mix.
(3) The music...definite meh. Who knows if this was a one-time deal or not, but loud, screamy 80s music is a hard sell for relaxing coffeeshop atmostphere.
With all that said, I'll probably be back to this place - if for nothing else but to kick Alan's butt in ping-pong when he's in town for my marathon this coming weekend. Stay tuned. In the meantime, I'm backed up with non-coffee-related things (MLS Cup! My participation as a jump-roper in REI's Winter Olympics Pentathlon! Exploring live music in other Seattle neighborhoods with new friends!) that I need/want to blog about as well - so this week, despite my crazy Thanksgiving-sale work schedule, will probably see a few blog entries. Enjoy!
Thanks, as always, for reading; y'all are the best. My blog's site stats seem to have picked up some steadier readership in the last week or two, which is awesome. I promise to do a good job posting more regularly.
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