Many cafes give you a cozy feeling as soon as you walk through the door. Nibbāna Café also gives you that feeling through a different cultural lens than a traditional cafe. Located in the center of the Western Avenue Studios, an area with many local art businesses in Lowell, Nibbāna Café welcomes customers with the aroma of Vietnamese coffee and fresh fruit.
Nibbāna Café is open 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m Monday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m on Saturday and Sunday. Although the breakfast and lunch delicacies are not vegan or vegetarian friendly, it is a great place to hang out and dine with your friends, family, and even pets.
As soon as I stepped into the building with my dad on a Sunday morning, we were a little surprised by how the seating of the cafe was arranged openly, and located in the center of a variation of art studios and businesses. I couldn’t complain since it was aesthetically pleasing and really brought attention to the surrounding small businesses and the overall vibe of the cafe.
In addition to providing ambience, the aesthetic of the cafe really brought together an artsy and comfy vibe. Along with greenery, posters, and New Years decorations, music was playing in the background and a view of the snow could be seen from a big panel window. The studio building was made of brick walls, and it resembled a decorated workshop.
Although the cafe was completely empty when we first got there, people started to make their way inside at around 10 a.m. My dad and I were warmly greeted by the three baristas who had already been preparing orders for the online pick-up shelf. We ordered a few items and went to pick a spot to sit down. There were many places to choose from since the seating arrangements were pretty spaced out. Although there were a small number of workers there, our general service time was around five minutes.
I tried the everything bagel with veggie cream cheese ($3.90), a hot chocolate with whole milk ($3.75), a trail mix cookie ($3.75), and a mango green tea ($5.20). The bagel was magnificent, and it was by far one of the best bagels I have eaten in my life. It was perfectly toasted, not too crispy and not too soft. The cream cheese was farm-based and really flavorful. The trail mix cookie was also an amazing choice. It had an apple cider base, and an assortment of roasted almonds, cashews, and M&Ms. I personally loved the cookie, even though I’m not a trail mix kind of person. Similarly to the bagel, the cookie wasn’t so hard that I couldn’t take a bite, but it wasn’t too soft that it would break in my hands.
The hot chocolate was spectacular, and I was very pleased. It consisted of the perfect balance between sweetness and chocolate flavor. It had the right amount of milk, creamer, and cocoa when drinking it. Out of all the hot chocolates I have ever had, Nibbāna Café has made one of the best ones. I decided to also get the mango green tea, since the smell of mangos lingered around the cafe. It had a strong mango flavor, with an underlying taste of the green tea. Most fruity-flavored green teas I have drank in the past leave a strong aftertaste of what is supposed to be the green tea, but actually ends up tasting like hand-sanitizer. Nibbāna Café did not fail to impress me once again; the aftertaste was a mango-strawberry-like flavor. I got my dad to try the tea, and although he is not the kind of person to order these kinds of drinks, he was in love. He absolutely loved the taste of the mango, and really liked the green tea that also mixes with the fruit taste.
All in all, I was incredibly impressed by what Nibbāna Café had to offer. From the milk they use in their coffees all the way down to which farm-based cream cheese they choose to serve, Nibbāna Café was worth the drive and price. It may be a hidden place to most, but inside you will find a special feeling; just like home.
10/10
