Have you heard of Joe's Coffee? If you frequent Arnotts like I too often do then you surely have. Joe's Coffee has been a fixture in Arnotts for the last year and is a venture of Domini and Peaches Kemp, the masterminds behind Itsa Bagel. Joe's bills itself as a speciality coffee shop, but also serves sandwiches, soups, salads, teas and cake. I was wandering through town last week and decided to take a break from the hustle and bustle and see what their tea and cake was like.

Joe’s is a small little spot on Liffey Street just inside the door of Arnotts. While it was clear most people were coming here for the coffee, there were also a few people getting a quick lunch here too. They had a mouth watering selection of cakes and I instantly honed in on the lemon, coconut and raspberry slice. Despite being a coffee spot I unfortunately am not the world’s most enthusiastic coffee drinker and so went for a pot of tea instead.

My biggest pet peeve in cafes is when they rave on and bloody on about the coffee but serve up the most nasty, bitter tea imaginable. You see the chalk boards and signs talking about the amazing coffee beans that were picked by unicorns and transported to Ireland by magic carpet etc, and then you get a pot of tea with a bitter bag of bargain basement tea, lifelessly floating around inside. Needless to say I was pretty delighted when they served up a cup of Barry’s loose leaf tea (I will avoid raising the Barry’s v Lyons debate but you can guess where my loyalties lie).

I had a spot of bother deciding between the coconut, lemon and raspberry slice and the salted caramel brownie, but alas it’s great to have such problems. I went for the coconut slice as I heard it was one of Domini’s recipes and a bit of a winner. It was absolutely delicious and I munched away on it happily while sipping my tea. It was really moist and zingy, the layer of coconut was also quite moist but with a really nice, crispy top. They also had a selection of custard tarts, pastries, muffins and other types of cakes. If you are trying to stay on the wagon they also have a selection of healthy treats such as dark chocolate, raw cakes, dried berries and seaweed snacks.

Sometimes I can be a bit sceptical of catering within shopping centres like that, but when you have independent cafes like Joe’s serving up high quality food and drink it makes for a nice little bubble of calm and indulgence in an otherwise hectic afternoon. I definitely recommend Joe’s for the next time you fancy treating yourself for elevenses.