Japita - Rotterdam

Japita Rotterdam

Japita Coffee & More koffie

Japita Coffee & More Netherlan

Japita Coffee & More Holland

Japita Coffee & More

We have a saying In the Netherlands: the customer is always King. One would usually refer to this when a customer is being totally annoying. Suck it up and smile: customer is king. At Japita Coffee & More the saying was applicable too, but only with positive connotations.

I discovered this gem half a year ago when taking the metro close-by. I remember the nice chat I had with the Ecuadorian lady behind the coffee machine. We talked about me studying, her working and the weird paths life can take you onto. It was interesting, and I still remember the taste of the “Japita coffee” which is a caramel latte - usually not my cup of tea but this one was epic. Japita means calm, repetitive prayer in Hindi. What if I say that the taste matched the description? I know you want to give it a try.

So last week I finally returned to Japita. When I walked in, the same women mentioned how she hadn’t seen me for a long time followed by all sorts of questions: how my trip to Denmark was, how school was going.. She saw me óne time over the summer, memorized all my shit and empathically referred back to it. I was equally confused and touched by her friendliness and we chatted for another hour, until my Finnish friend arrived, but my mood was already brighter: at Japita, I really were the king.

The café is surrounded by non-Dutch vibes. You can buy Colombian and Ecuadorian coffees, pastries from all sorts of countries and on the wall you find paintings with a primitive touch. I absolutely hate the chairs, to be honest. They remind me of a truck driver restaurant we have in my home town, but overall the vibe is consistent and like I said - the lady herself makes the place your surrogate home. Buy yourself one of the fresh chutneys or jams that won a local price or try one of the crispy panini’s for lunch - complementary to your coffee of course.

I’m usually against the to-go phenomenon, but in this case I do advice you to grab a Colombian roast and walk through the fancy street of Rotterdam called “Voorschoterlaan”. Fuelled with positive energy from inside, you may reach that next level of imagination and feel just as kingly as those rich Rotterdammers.

Joe for now,