Capital Caff: Endless Creative Brews at Wakanda Cafe

Ana Padilla Fornieles | Apr 6, 2022 9:27 am | Add a comment | 147 reads

Don't talk to me until I've read Capital Caff: Your guide to the latest in coffee happenings around Beijing.

She who finds a friend, finds a treasure of Dianping recommendations. I don’t know about your Beijing crowd, but my best girl friend and I bomb each other on WeChat daily with bars, cafés and restaurants.

I find much joy in bringing you, dear reader, all things coffee in Beijing — the trendy, the delectable, heck, sometimes even the regrettable. Thus, when my friend shared with me yet another Dianping link, this time for a certain Wakanda Café in the vicinity of Dawanglu subway station, the mission wrote itself.

To find the place, it's an entertaining walk down West Dawanglu Side Road. The ALSA Bawangfen Coach Station always triggers some odd nostalgia for this exiled Spaniard, and there’s usually random stuff going down right by the pavement.

One time there was a dancing wannabe live-streamer; this time, street barbers were shearing gentlemen for the warmer season. Also, those pastel-colored apartment blocks as you draw closer to the Beijing Central Area? They’re looking over the Tonghui River (通惠河, Tōng huì hé), one of the seven sections making up the only navigable portion of the Grand Canal (京杭大运河, Jīng Háng Dà Yùnhé).

Now, you have to pay attention if you want to find today’s Capital Caff destination. Keep your gaze as high as your spirits and soon enough you’ll locate a sign for Wakanda Café on the sides of a building called…The Bollywood Hotel.

In fact, this café is so tiny that you’ll see an abridged version of the menu on their one and only window before you even find the actual door. Size-wise, Wakanda Café is a mere pocket just left of the hotel’s entrance. Every inch of this white-walled space is stretched, and yet somehow it doesn’t feel that cramped inside.

Plop your derrière on one of the two bar stools and you’ll gain privileged views to the neat barista station, fitted with cupboards featuring bottles and gadgets galore, a few décor accents and the café’s logo here and there: the golden silhouette of a warrior.

Truly, the window menu is merely a summary of the extensive range of flavors Wakanda Café has to offer. Also, there’s no need to fret if you don’t speak Chinese — they’ll give you an iPad with an English version of the menu. Most of the items on the menu are priced between RMB 18 and 20, which is truly commendable. Depending on your order, you’ll be served either Yunnan (more acidic) or Colombia (more bitter) beans. For drinks such as their Yunnan Wine Latte, they’ll mix your coffee with a really yummy rice wine specially infused for their shop.

Eventually, though, I opted for their Fujian Coconut Olive Oil Americano. Yes, that’s right — strong coffee, a drizzle of olive oil, a squirt of coconut water. Are you intrigued? Sip without fear.

I like my baristas helpful and friendly, which is exactly how I’d describe the married couple running the show at Wakanda Café. They also have branches at Wuhan and Xiamen, where the logo’s designer and co-owner of the café is currently based.

Every two months they’ll be coming up with a new flavor, and they have a WeChat group (Chinese only) where they’ll keep you updated about new drinks and promotions, such as half-priced brews every Monday. The day of my visit, a BOGO deal was still on, so I took with me a cup of their Chinese latte to go.