Dose, Dealer de Café

The loyalty card for Parisian cafe Dose, Dealer de Cafe: an "Addict Card".Not to be confused with London’s Dose Espresso, Dose, Dealer de Café, is another Paris Coffee Spot that I’m indebted to Fancy a Cuppa? for putting me onto. It’s very useful, having advanced scouts to do the leg-work for me! Dose is on the popular Rue Mouffetard, which runs due south from near the Pantheon down towards Rue Monge and Avenue des Gobelins. It’s an area I’ve visited on many occasions, but without having the pleasure of Dose to call in on.

Dose was set up earlier this year by owners Jean-Baptiste and Grégoire (who I briefly met) and brings Brittany’s Caffè Cataldi to Paris. There’s a standard espresso menu, plus pour-over and a good selection of loose-leaf tea and hot chocolate. There’s also a limited menu of pastries, cakes (including muffins of Foxcroft & Ginger type excellence), a couple of sandwiches and a bagel of the day.

Unusually for Paris, but in keeping with Rue Mouffetard, which has an above-average number of takeaway places, Dose has a separate takeaway counter. So, in theory, you can order your coffee “à emporter” without having to go in the shop, although that would be a shame, since Dose is very lovely indeed.

You can read more of my thoughts after the gallery.

  • Dose, Dealer de Cafe, on Rue Mouffetard
  • The takeaway window is to the right...
  • ... while the entrance is down the passageway to the left.
  • Nice A-board...
  • ... while the menus are also hung up outside.
  • These two tables are between the street and the door. I like the bench.
  • There are three more tables lining the windows down the side of Dose.
  • The view along the passageway looking towards Rue Mouffetard.
  • Stepping inside, the (small) counter is to your right.
  • Another view of the counter and the area behind it.
  • It's small, but there's room for a kettle, grinder and blender (for smoothies, I assume).
  • There's even room for a syphon!
  • To your left is the rest of the seating.
  • The tables are to your left...
  • ... while the bar is to your right.
  • Some of the tables along the windows.
  • I particularly like this one in the corner.
  • The view from the back of Dose.
  • It's got a few little nick-nacks like this old lever machine.
  • Nice to see that someone has a sense of humour.
  • See what I mean?
  • So, to business. It's a concise menu.
  • The coffee is from Brittany’s Caffè Cataldi.
  • More beans.
  • There's also a decent selection of loose-leaf tea...
  • ... and plenty of coffee beans and kit for sale.
  • There are also all sorts of awesome muffins.
  • My coffee (Ethiopian Yirgacheffe through the Chemex) and cake, a Nutella muffin.
  • The muffin deserves a closer look... It's approaching Foxcroft & Ginger standards.
  • Cake porn!
  • Thomas the barista very kindly made me an espresso.
  • Now that's an interesting technique...
  • I've seen cups standing on upturned cups before...
  • ... but never one espresso cup placed inside another.
  • However, it seems to work!
  • Almost done...
  • ... and the end result, a very fine espresso.
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Rue Mouffetard is one of those streets I somehow find myself wandering down at some point during any trip to Paris. It’s semi-pedestrianised with an eclectic mix of shops, restaurants and cafés, including a tiny, hole-in-the-wall place called La Maison des Tartes (before you ask, serving quiche by the slice, either sit in or takeaway) which has been a haunt of mine for many years. Two doors down from the House, you come across Dose.

Approaching from either direction along Rue Mouffetard, the takeaway counter faces the street. This stretches the full width of the store, which is to say, not very far at all, since Dose is long and thin. It’s not quite stretch-your-arms-out-and-touch-both-walls thin, but it’s getting close.

To the left, a passageway leads to what appears to be a residential courtyard. Dose occupies the building on the passageway’s right-hand side, the door to the café a few steps down. Dose makes the most of the shelter afforded by the passageway: a couple of tables occupy the space between street and door, with another three tables running the length of Dose beyond the door. Unless you want the sun, it’s ideal outside-seating, although the view’s not up to much.

Stepping inside, there’s a small (and I mean small) counter to your right holding the cakes, beyond which is the espresso machine, cleverly located so that it can serve both the takeaway window (to its left) and the counter (to its right). Despite the lack of space, Dose makes enough room to also offer pour-over filter.

The bulk of the café stretches away to your left, where you get a real feel of how narrow it is. Looking down the length of Dose, there’s a row of seven small, square tables on the left. These are up against the three windows which look out onto the passageway. Each window contains a padded bench, while each table has its own stool. Opposite these is a small bar with six classic barstools.

The windows provide plenty of natural light for what otherwise would be a very dark space. This is supplemented with very generous internal lighting, including lights hanging down from the ceiling, in the windows and under the shelving above the bar.

I was introduced to Caffè Cataldi, a roaster from Brittany, when visiting Nantes’ Sugar Blue Café a few days earlier. Back then I’d missed out on the Brazilian espresso, and while keen to try it, I decided against it, having been on espresso all that day. Instead I selected a Chemex (for one) of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. However, while chatting with the barista, Thomas, he took pity on me and made me a shot of the Brazilian to try.

The Yirgacheffe was lovely, nothing too complex and very easy on the palette. It had lots of body and was well-suited to the Chemex. The Brazilian was a little too bright for my palette, but fundamentally it was an excellent espresso and very unlike your typical  Parisian espresso.

I matched up my Chemex with a truly awesome Nutella muffin. This consisted of a lovely, rich muffin, stuffed with chocolate chips and hazelnuts, and with a thick seam of Nutella running through it. This was approaching the Foxcroft & Ginger gold standard for muffins, but be warned, it was extremely rich!

73 RUE MOUFFETARD • PARIS • 75005 • FRANCE
www.dosedealerdecafe.fr +33 1 43 36 65 03
Monday 09:00 – 19:00 Seating Tables, Bar , Tables (Outside)
Tuesday 09:00 – 19:00 Food Breakfast, Sandwiches, Cake
Wednesday 09:00 – 19:00 Service Order at Counter
Thursday 09:00 – 19:00 Cards Mastercard, Visa
Friday 09:00 – 19:00 Wifi Free (with code)
Saturday 10:30 – 19:00 Power Yes
Sunday 10:30 – 19:00 Mobile N/A
Chain No Visits 31th August 2014

You can also find out what Fancy a Cuppa? made of Dose and a couple of other Coffee Spots (Loustic and La Caféothèque).


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6 thoughts on “Dose, Dealer de Café

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  3. First liker! ;D
    Nice front and “side-alley”…I’d go for one of the muffins with oaty tops. Ooo-er, get me playing flavour roulette! 😉 They look damn good.

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