Travel Notes | Wukang Road: Grocery store and coffee together

Fashionable coffee and old groceries are placed in a room, and this room is in the most popular Wukang Building. What kind of drink can be produced?

On a morning when misty drizzle coincided with spring, I opened the door and entered the Laomai Coffee Shop on Wukang Road.

Second-hand goods found in many places create the characteristics of the coffee shop

It is difficult to pick out a new product from the store, even if it is a flower, it is dried lotus root and unpicked cotton.

 

Old photos of Lao Mai in Xueqian Street View of Lao Mai’s coffee shop

The foreign newspapers taped to the wall have turned yellow, and the corners of the newspapers have been torn.

The bags, hats, and wall clocks hanging on the wall of the grocery store tell stories about the city's past. The tables, chairs and furniture all looked old, and even the pipes on the roof were exposed, as if to hint at something.

 

Used goods from all over the place

The bookstall in the corner also displays books and periodicals from long ago, with the largest number being Albania Pictorial. The only thing that can be sold is Lao Mai's own book, which costs 60 yuan a copy.

The seemingly casual placement is probably the shop owner’s careful intention and hobby. According to the waiter, these were purchased from home and abroad by the owner, Lao Mai, over the years.

 

In-store used books stall

Signature: Ginger Coffee Whiskey Coffee

I went there early, and there were only two or three people in the store, including the waiters. Foreign soft music was lingering in low voices, the strong aroma of coffee diffused in the space, the waiters' gentle footsteps, and the faint melancholy leaching out from the stacked old things. The whole feeling was... A place for quiet contemplation.

Signature: Ginger Coffee Taojiang Road Coffee

 

Ginger Coffee and Taojiang Road, these are the two signature coffees of Laomai Coffee. When the waiter recommended "Taojiang Road" coffee, I stupidly asked: "Should I go to Taojiang Road to drink the signature coffee?"

Ginger coffee uses freshly squeezed juice of fresh ginger and pours it into the coffee. It tastes a little sweet and has the spiciness of ginger. Taojiang Road is made with Irish whiskey, which gives it a bitter taste and a hint of alcohol. The common feature of both coffees is that they have a unique taste, full-bodied and fragrant.

The dessert Yangzhi Manna Cake was hard, cold and not delicious because it was taken out of the refrigerator.

 

Laomai Coffee facade, signature coffee 45 yuan a cup

This is a place where people piece together the fragments of their lives

Order a cup of coffee in this utility room-like situation, and you will naturally piece together the fragments of your life that you have almost forgotten. For example, in the 1960s, there was a song about the deep love between brothers in Albania, "A bosom friend in the sea A world away is like a neighbor"; another example, in the 1960s and 1970s when materials were extremely scarce, a sewing machine was very important to a woman to be married. What an unattainable luxury. Here you will feel like you are at home and feel relaxed physically and mentally.

 

Old McCafé 2nd floor

During this period, a girl pushed the door in and poured herself a cup of hot water. Then she sat down and took out her laptop. She seemed to be a regular customer. The waiter asked her what kind of coffee she wanted with the menu. She waved her hand and sat down. There. It turns out that this coffee shop also allows people to sit down!