Café Labath, Ghent

Coffee makes the worst weather better.

It was a rainy day when we arrived in Ghent. We were spending the weekend in Belgium; our hotel in Brussels doubling as our “headquarters” from which we headed out in all directions in search of good coffee.

We were especially excited about Ghent as our friends Lin Lee and Yew Kheong, the husband-and-wife barista team behind The Red Beanbag in Kuala Lumpur had raved about this beautiful university town and were sure we would love it. A canal boat ride later in the day proved their words to be true and prophetic.

But before exploring the town proper, we craved coffee (and wouldn’t mind a spot of brekkie). Our solution? Café Labath, a corner coffee bar with a retro design, warm colours, hanging plants and a Mondrian-inspired wall. Bright and cheerful, perfect for escaping the ever-present (but never overwhelming) Belgian rain.

Barista and roaster Brett Broothaers came over to ask us what we’d like. It helps being one of the first customers of the day as they get packed quite swiftly. The poor guy had to endure our clueless questions as he deciphered the menu from Dutch into English.

His patience (and our willingness to ask and ask) paid off as we enjoyed a substantial breakfast of breads, pain au chocolat, croissant, cheeses, soft-boiled egg and a glass of OJ. Naturally the highlight is the coffee, whether it’s one of the best cappuccinos we’ve had in Europe to an Aeropress brew that was lightly acidic (great for perking up one’s senses after the relentless shower outside the café).

We had a good time chatting with Brett at the bar later before we departed. He recommended some beans based on our preferences and we left with a bag, delighted. The rain even stopped and the sun even came out. Hooray!

在來比利時玩之前，我們便向身邊的朋友打聽，
看看這裡這有沒有什麼好的咖啡館值得一泡。
而Cafe Labath就是我們在拜訪美麗的Ghent時所到訪的其中一家。
這家咖啡館是由Red Bean Bag的老闆和老闆娘所介紹的，聽說咖啡很不錯。
既然兩位咖啡師都大力推薦，當然不容錯過。
店裡以白色為主調，再點綴著鮮艷的紅和充滿綠意的小盆栽，
配上大片的落地窗和木質家具，給人一種舒适的感覺，
而吧檯的後方那還有一道帶有蒙特里安風格的幾何圖形墻，
很有畫龍點睛的效果，我們都蠻喜歡的。

飢腸轆轆的我們除了咖啡外，還想來兩份早點，
可是看著荷蘭文的菜單，我們有點無從下手，
還好有善良的咖啡師幫我們做翻譯。
先送上來的是馬少點的卡布奇諾，
適中的溫度，綿密順滑可口的奶泡，
底下的咖啡隱約傳來花果香氣，
是我們在比利時行程中喝到最喜歡的一杯卡布。
而如往常般，除了奶咖啡外，我們也點了一杯黑咖啡。
Aeropress沖泡出來的肯亞味道乾淨甘甜，
帶點甘蔗的香加上明亮的酸度，是我喜歡的類型。
還錢時，咖啡師Brett在百忙中還來跟我們聊了兩句，
并推薦了Ghent的其他咖啡館，非常的親切友善，
可惜我們只在Ghent呆了一天，無法一一去拜訪。