I get a lot of advertisements for cafes on my personal Instagram, which is where I found the following cafe.
Decked out in a color scheme of pink and black, Rose Noir cafe opened in late June of this year. I passed by quite a few cafes to get to this one, so I will no doubt make my way back here to check out some of the other cafes.
Rose Noir welcomes you with a chandelier hanging outside and a small table featuring a display of demitasse cups and a piece of bread. Inside, the industrial open ceiling is painted pink and the walls are painted black with interesting dado railing throughout. Lighting is provided by spotlights on railings as well as fancy, jewel dripped wall sconces.
In the center of the cafe is a small display consisting of a fake white fireplace and random aesthetic-y things like a wavy mirror, bottle of bubbly, a red moka pot, pink tulips, pins of ballerinas, a pink bust of Venus de Milo, and a record player with white flowers on it and a copy of 1989 The Little Mermaid soundtrack. Next to that is a sewing mannequin dressed in a pastel pink, flowy dress.
There is a small pastry case with a few pastries, and a pink chandelier over the cash register. Cups in various sizes line the back wall behind the espresso machine, as well as framed certificates from the Speciality Coffee Association.
When I entered, I was the only one in the cafe. A while later, a group of ahjummas came in and proceeded to move tables three times, as well as a mixed group of middle aged people.
I ordered the tiramisu, which was fine, and a Rose Spanner, which was their signature blend hand drip with pink cream.
The Rose Spanner was surprisingly beautiful (in a flower cup) and tasty, with the cream really balancing the iced hand drip coffee. I didn’t taste any particular flavor in the cream, and I think a rose-flavored cream would have been a nice addition.
Later I ordered their Panamana Geisha over ice because… geisha. It came out with a small cup of the ground coffee itself for, um, whatever the professional-sounding word for “sniffing” is.
After the other two tables left, I heard the barista use a blender and she came out with service for me: an icy blended drink that tasted like it might have been passion fruit or guava flavored. It was a sweet treat after the Korean studying I had done.
The restroom, as is common in Korean cafes located in buildings, was around the corner and up a flight of stairs. I normally dread using these kind of facilities because they’re usually dirty, sometimes lacking toilet paper, most definitely lacking paper towels… but I was greeted with a really nice smell, blue water in the toilet bowls (which means something was placed in the tank to turn the water that color), good hand soap, decent quality toilet paper, paper towels, and even a hand cream. I’m not sure who is in charge of taking care of this restroom (which is the problem with these kind of shared facilities) but they did really well.
Overall, it was a great visit and I recommend stopping in if you’re in the area. A special thanks to the sweet barista for the good coffee and service and letting me sit there for a couple of hours doing my homework.
Koffee & Kpop 
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