Kaffeology — Restaurant in Portsmouth

This place has become one of my favorites to stop into. I've driven by the area a few times and seen it however I believe they were closed due to covid. I'm super excited I got finally try it. This review is based off 2 sperate visits.

At first glance the building seems kind of bland on the outside however one you walk in you are moved into a very lively and open floor plan. The place is very lightly colored with a lot of white and windows to let in natural light. By no means is this a dark place. A counter and kitchen take up some of the building and a bunch of smaller tables occupy the other half. All finished up with a small unisex bathroom.

The coffee here was phenomenal. I ordered a white mocha latte and a special they had, a lavender latte with oat milk for my partner. I'm not entirely sure where their beans are coming from but they are amazing. Extraction was perfect. I don't care for lavender or oat milk but I tried a sip of it and even that was amazing. My only complaint would be that they use standard ice cubes instead of coffee cubes. Coffee prices are average around 6$ a coffee.

On my second visit I tried a breakfast sandwich and some macarons (again for my partner). A beautifully crafted sandwich that was all (seemingly*) fresh ingredients and put together perfectly was really well received. I'm always hesitant to order food from coffee shops. It's usually over priced and under delivered. Kaffeology threw that right out the window. I felt very satisfied and full after my breakfast. I didn't personally try the macarons. Those were for my partner. She did say that they were amazing with strong distinct but not overpowering flavors. I will note that I feel the price of the sandwich 7 was fair but the macarons seem over priced at around 4. A little high for something that you can pop in your mouth.

I say seemingly because the kitchen is obscured from view and while everything points to it being a fresh sandwich with veggies etc, I coukd also be wrong because I didn't personally see it get made.

The staff has been super polite and helpful the two times I've visited. Eager to answer any questions I had and patient with me searching the menu for probably what was realistically too long. The shop also sells some bottled beverages in a cooler, pre made meals in a open cooler, some interesting coffee/tea related knick knacks. Mugs. Brewers etc. Some fresh tea in the far wall. No fresh beans that I could see. I did pick up a set of reusable metal straws.

Overall I highly recommend Kaffeology. Very lovely and happy place to be inside. The staff are amazing. Coffee and food are top notch. The prices are fair on most things and in coffee shop averages. I look forward to my next visit in the area and would definitely recommend...

I’ve been going to this location since kaffeology took over for Sydney. At first I was impressed with the quality of the drinks (teas, lattes, etc) and the food. Then in the last few months I’ve visited 3 times and each time was disappointing. Back at the end of May I ordered to go for my wife and I: cold brew (was good), iced tea (not so good) and egg sandwiches (not good at all). Then last month I decided to try it again because there can always be off days, went for dine in with a simple latte and bagel with cream cheese. Expecting onion flavor on the cream cheese as described - I get overwhelming dill. I decide I will deal with that but that bagel itself was inedible. I go up and was told the normal method they use to toast bagels was broken so they were doing something different that really doesn’t work but did they mention that ahead of time? Nope. Since I was there for dine-in I was able to get a refund on the bagel but had used up my allotted time for breakfast so had to go without. Today, I stopped by just for a drink. Decided on the cold brew since that was good recently. After waiting 20+ minutes while she prepared my drink and the person behind me’s multiple drinks and food she hands it to me with a “oh there’s no foam left so I made it without.” Instead of communicating to myself and the other person who had ordered the same either before we ordered or before finishing the drinks if she didn’t know ahead of time she just finished them off. Given that I didn’t have another 20 min to wait for a drink I just grabbed it but expecting someone to pay $6 for a cold brew coffee without half of the “extras” they expect is not acceptable. I won’t be giving them another...

Unfortunately did not have a good experience here recently. Waiting over 45 minutes for ONE food item is not my idea of good service. 3 staff members on and it still took that long as they chatted for over half an hour with no update on my food. 5 other customers seemed to have the same experience as me, with two of them being ladies that came in and ordered directly after me and they said they were very unhappy with how long it was taking. On top of this, one staff member came back out to the counter at least 3 times and never updated any of us on why it was taking so long nor did they apologize for the wait. I've come here before when only 2 people were working and still got my food in half the time. Staff seemed unengaged and that's the cherry on top for me, why come back when staff seems like they don't even care about the customers that are waiting. People always complain about the food here being overpriced but I've never minded paying more for quality food... But if it takes 45 minutes to make a breakfast burrito, I'm going to have to pass and take my business elsewhere. Sad because this is one of my favorite cafes in the area. Not a fan of the re model either (not that that matters in terms of service) but there is less seating now and the walls which once had beautiful hummingbird paintings is now just a blank white wall. The pastry case is gone and now there are just a small amount of individual pastry display holders. Seems like a...