The Maple Reserve — Restaurant in Manchester

Good: all the sweets made with maple syrup by the owner! YUM!!!! Bad: Espresso. Like really bad. After seeing bags of beans on shelves from various roasters - several single origin - I asked what beans were used for espresso. I was told basically they didn't know - just something provided by subscription as part of their espresso/coffee machine; didn't bode well. The espresso I got was a very dark (traditional) roast, which I suppose would be fine if there were no alternatives. But the volume of espresso was bizarrely large - on the order of 60 - 80g, which made it the largest volume of espresso I have ever been served. The result was very watery - almost like just a tiny cup of coffee.

My advice to the owner would be to first have someone properly tune your espresso maker. You should be using 18-20g of grinds - and I suspect the existing grind is too coarse so the espresso us under-extracted. Also target output of 36-40g of espresso. Second step is to switch away from whatever beans are used and try one of the specialty beans you carry by the bag. This would bring the coffee experience up to the high level of the maple syrup, sweets, and gifts...

My families desserts and coffee were good. There was an incident with the heating grate on the floor. It was not secured to the floor. My wife sat in her chair and the chair leg went through the hole in the floor. As a result she hurt her back. I reported it to the woman behind the counter and she said she knew about the broken heating grate because the same thing happened to someone else earlier today. I barely got a sorry out of her. I felt she took it lightly so I spoke to someone who seemed to be the owner. He was very indifferent and took no accountability for heating grate being loose. He blamed the landlord. I was disappointed with the way it...

Cute coffee shop with a small side bar for craft beer and cocktails. We stopped in for an after dinner cocktail. Staff behind the counter were super kind and helpful. However, 30 minutes into our service the male owner came storming in with friends and several kids. He proceeded to turn the tv from a movie to football. The kids were screaming and chaotic. He proceeded to take loud phone calls, totally destroying the peaceful, relaxing ambiance we came in for. When the douche of an owner isn’t there, this place is great. If he’s there, run away as...