Arabs dislike dogs. Dislike is probably too mild a word. They think they are dirty and can not abide them in the home. When I was about 5 and after incessantly imploring my father (a Jordanian) about getting a dog. He finally acquiesced. I came home to find a…goat.
“This isn’t a dog, this is a goat,” I said.
“Yes, goats are better, they only eat grass from the highest point on the mountain. Only the cleanest grass.”
By the end of the week, the goat was climbing to the highest point of the sofa and chewing quite happily on it.
My mother (a non-Arab) deemed the experiment to be over and the goat was dispatched.
(A couple of years later, in Cairo, my father gave in and gave me a wild-eyed feral Pekanese.)
I tell you this because I find it funny that the Raval, with more Arabs / Moroccans / Algerians per square meter than any other neighborhood, also has the highest concentration of dogs and their droppings, never collected but instead left in situ making the navigation of El Raval perilous.
In spite of this, I love a wander around the Raval. It is a decidedly different neighborhood full of unexpected things – good and bad. And this, across from a halal butcher is where Nomad has it’s Nomad Coffee Everyday shop. There are a few seats, not more than 8 or so but it’s more of a takeaway place with a limited number of bakes.
As you would expect from Nomad roasters, the coffee is very good. The illustration rendered in your cup with microform has sharp edges. And you have the Raval going about its business to watch as you sip your flat white.
Nomad Coffee Everyday
Joaquim Costa, 26
El Raval
nomadcoffee.es
More Coffee Nearby:
Bar Central
Caravelle
Dalston
Departure Coffee
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