Round & Round: Specialty Coffee in Laurenskwartier, Rotterdam

Walk in mid-afternoon and the room does most of the work: pale wood, low light, a hush that owes as much to the no-laptop weekend policy as to the crowd itself. This is a tea room that happens to serve espresso, and once you know that, the whole menu makes sense.

Bing and Chao didn't just add matcha to a coffee list. They travelled to Mie Prefecture and built relationships with multi-generational growers, and it shows in the Iced Matcha Latte, whisked first-flush green tea poured cold over milk with a grassy, almost savoury depth that supermarket matcha never gets close to. The Hojicha Latte is the quieter option, roasted rather than raw, nutty in the way good roasted teas are, and it pairs better with the sweeter chiffon rolls than the espresso does. If you want something more ceremonial, the Floral Matcha Latte layers a subtle floral syrup into hand-whisked ceremonial-grade matcha, and it's the drink regulars order when they want to slow down rather than caffeinate.

The espresso exists, and it's competent, but nobody is coming to Hoogstraat for the flat white. The kitchen's chiffon rolls, in taro, black sesame, and matcha, are the real draw alongside the tea, airy in a way that Western sponge cake rarely manages, and popular flavours do sell out by late afternoon on busy days. Order early if you have a specific one in mind.

The space itself leans into the zen aesthetic without overdoing it. Vegan and gluten-free options sit on the menu without fanfare, oat milk is standard rather than an upcharge, and the digital-only payment policy is worth knowing before you arrive with cash. Weekdays bring laptop workers who've learned the rhythm, quiet and undisturbed until the tables turn over for the weekend's no-laptop rule, which the founders enforce to keep the space feeling like a place for conversation rather than deadlines.

Sister venue Matcha Next Door opened next door in 2022 to go even deeper into tea room culture, which tells you where the founders' real passion sits. Round & Round remains the more versatile of the two: cake, coffee, and tea under one roof, with the tea doing most of the heavy lifting.