The Bean Scene in The Octagon
1 rating since posting on Tuesday, April 4, 2006
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in New Zealand
(submitted by
* A-Star *
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Overall Rating  based on 1 rating |
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OK, I'll admit it: The Bean Scene serves vastly superior coffee to my all-time fav, The Percolator Cafe. In fact, I once ordered a flat white with two packets of raw cane sugar that was so perfect it literally brought a smile to my lips. But it should be noted that I was sipping this idyllic beverage while strolling down Cumberland Street, NOT while actually sitting inside The Bean Scene--and therein lies the rub--for while TBS does a mean espresso, the atmosphere simply doesn't cut it. Stark white floors combined with crowded tables make for a less-than-cozy ambience. Very bad feng-shui, actually. They provide an assortment of magazines, though none that appeal to my tastes. They offer free water, but provide only dinky, disposable plastic--plastic!!--cups, and a bizarre propaganda poster advertising "Drink More Water! Week" with a cartoon of a scary-looking government official drinking his presumably government-issued water (from a plastic cup, perhaps?) hangs ominously above the standardized water cooler, which is tucked in the corner making it difficult to locate in the first place. In fact, the entire experience of procuring free water at TBS is vaguely unsettling. I have never ordered any food from TBS, nor do I care to. I have noticed that they offer tiny litte pastries, whose tiny-ness would be adorable if they didn't cost between $3 and $5 a piece. For $3 I could purchase a proper-sized, fabulous apricot and banana muffin from The Perc just across the street...in fact, the more I think about it the more I realize how dismal and horrid TBS is when compared to The Perc, or pretty much any other cafe in Dunedin (with the possible exception of Munchins, but I'll get to that later). Bottom Line: If you're a suit-wearing 30-something businessman with totalitarian leanings and a penchant for undersized baked goods, TBS is for you...and good luck finding the water cooler. Drink More Water! - * A-Star * , posted 04/04/06 |
