Rotterdam cafes & restaurants

Urban Espresso Bar, Botersloot 44a

Good for: coffee, cake, terrace

Simply the best coffee in town. The cakes, and funky toasted sandwiches are good too. For lunch here I eat the Urban Special (toasted Moroccan flatbread filled with schwarzwelder ham, mature cheese, pickled vegetables, red capiscum and lettuce). Unfortunately, that always fills me up too much for cake, so a separate visit is required for the excellent chocolate cake. Best of all is still the coffee - the excellent 'flat white', which is still the best cup of coffee in Rotterdam.

The terrace out the back on Nieuwemarkt is blissfully quiet and traffic-free, making it one of the better terraces in Rotterdam. This is just as well because Urban Espresso Bar is generally too popular for its small amount of interior seating. Fortunately, there is a plan to open a second location on Nieuwe Binnenweg in September 2009

Peculiarity: bright and minimalist New World decor, which is unusual in Holland.

Last visit: 18 July 2010