One of the first things I do when I am in another city is searching for is coffee. Theoretically, I could live without cappuccino’s but I like my life and myself better with some daily shots of caffeine. During the 2 days in one of the major cities in Siberia – a great stop on the Trans-Siberian Express train – I went on a mission with my dad: where to drink the best coffee in Irkutsk?
We started our railway journey in Moscow where it was not difficult to find good places for vegetarian food and coffee. Irkutsk turned out to be more challenging, coffee wise. So if you are a coffee lover, continue reading because I will tell you where to go. The coffee market in Irkutsk seems to be led by four local chains, of which I have tried three.
Castro Café
Personally my favourite coffee in Irkutsk. I was very happy with the cappuccino I got here. The taste was strong and the milk did not have the UHT milk taste. We came here just straight after breakfast but the cakes and apple pie looked really good! Castro Café also serves sandwiches, juices and different kinds of tea. Castro café has 3 different locations in the city:
- ul. 3 Iyulya, 7 (central Irkutsk)
- ТРЦ “Карамель”, Partizanskaya ulitsa, 36 (central Irkutsk)
- ul. Shiryamova, 13Б (east of Irkutsk)
Travelers Coffee
Travelers Coffee is a nice place with very helpful staff who really wanted to practice their English language. I was very happy I found this place on our first day of strolling around Irkutsk! We had a delicious flat white, fresh orange juice and carrot cake. A relief after 4 days of instant noodles, tea and cookies on the train.
Double Coffee
My least favourite place! The interior is a little weird and not really in a funny way. The coffee was average, the milk not great. So skip this and go for the other options!
I could not test out all the options in Irkutsk basically because I did not want to run around Irkutsk with a caffeine overdose. But these seem good places to explore for coffee in Irkutsk:
- The chains Studio Coffee and Coffee Break
- Engineeria Coffee
- White Crow or White Raven – Google translate did not really help me out here.
- At the area of Kvartal 130, near the huge lion statue, is a cute blue truck selling coffee. I choose Castro Café over the turquoise bus and I’m happy I did. But if you already tried Castro Café, please try this one and let me know how it was!
- I came across another coffee truck! At the northern part of Karl Marx Street, just after the first or second main intersection, a red old VW van is selling coffees!
Do you have more options for coffee in Irkutsk? Please let us know! Or be inspired by other our other articles about the Trans-Siberian Train journey. Happy Travels ♡