By Edward Singelton
Macchiato is a new Chinese café located 1.5 miles north of campus that serves up exceptional meals and drinks.
Easily overshadowed by the surrounding cafes, restaurants and offices, Macchiato offers free Wi-Fi for those students interested in finding a new place to study.
Macchiato offers reasonably priced lunch specials while specializing in artistically decorated drinks.
The lunch specials are affordable, fresh-tasting and elegantly presented. Macchiato serves Special Sauce Chicken ($6.75), a box lunch which consists of chicken marinated in spicy chicken sauce, white rice and four side dishes — bean sprouts, hard boiled eggs, steamed vegetables and potatoes marinated in a special sauce.
The chicken is a generous portion with a light flavorful sauce, while the bean sprout side dish works as a palate cleanser for all the other dishes.
Macchiato also serves pastries and desserts ranging from creme brulee ($3.95) to liege waffle ice cream sandwich ($5.25).
The liege waffle ice cream sandwich is served with two ice cream scoops of either matcha (green tea flavor), chocolate, vanilla or strawberry and four waffle slices. The waffles are warm and soft which complement the ice cream nicely.
Among other beverages, two of Macchiato’s specialty drinks are the green tea mojito ($3.25) and almond smoothie ($3.50). Many people are familiar with the classic mojito, which is an alcoholic beverage with a sweet minty taste.
Macchiato’s green tea version of the mojito, however, tastes like flat lime soda mixed with green tea, muddled in mint leaves, a lemon wedge and plenty of ice.
Mojito lovers might be sorely disappointed with the green tea version, which seems to have opposing tastes from the green tea and carbonated soda.
The almond smoothie makes up for Macchiato’s mojito mishap. Rich in almond flavor with a milky, yet sweet taste, it’s refreshing and light.
Primarily a Chinese cafe, most of the menu is written in Chinese with English translations.
Students should ask for their order to be reread to them as the waiters have a heavy accent and might be prone to misunderstanding the order. An incident involving a misunderstanding occurred while ordering a black ice coffee and instead a regular late was served.
Macchiato has huge open windows that brighten up the cafe, which is good for students who plan to read or study.
An outside water fountain makes studying at Macchiato a pleasant experience for students trying to get some work done.
The average price of drinks are $3.50, meals $6.50 and desserts $3.75. No student discounts are available.
Overall, Macchiato receives an A for their friendly customer service, an A for their flavorful chicken, C for their mojito malfunction and a B for their student friendly atmosphere.
The meaning of the phrase “ice cream” varies from one country to another. Phrases such as “frozen custard”, “frozen yogurt”, “sorbet”, “gelato” and others are used to distinguish different varieties and styles. In some countries, such as the United States, the phrase “ice cream” applies only to a specific variety, and most governments regulate the commercial use of the various terms according to the relative quantities of the main ingredients.