#59: Extreme Java Jungle Cafe (CLOSED)

Extreme Java Jungle Cafe is a newish cafe/coffee shop on Vernon.  Just the other day there was an AmazonLocal deal for this shop which I posted to the Eating Through Roseville facebook page and also bought myself.  Normally I’m not doing coffee shops but this one seemed to have a full cafe type service.  I stopped by for an early dinner yesterday after checking the hours (I was kind of shocked to see that they are open til midnight every day).

I arrived at about 4pm and they were pretty empty, just a few people were in the dining room.  A couple were taking advantage of the WiFi with their laptops in a far corner.  The first thing that I noticed was how big the place was.  it was easily 2-3 times bigger than I would have expected for a coffee shop/cafe.  They filled it in well, not with tons of tables to pack in the customers, but with lots of big comfy chairs at most tables.  There’s a fireplace surrounded by chairs, which I assume they actually use in the winter because of the “HOT DO NOT TOUCH” sign.  The tables are all painted with various animal patterns.  An orangutan hangs from the ceiling holding an Extreme Java Jungle Cafe cup.  As big as the place is, it still has the cramped/cozy feel of a much smaller coffee shop.  Lots of novelty mugs and gift-type items are on display for purchase around the counter area.  They host lots of events which you can see on their website, like open mics, karaoke and live bands.  I spoke to a musician that said he would be playing this weekend and he told me it was really nice that the place is so large because they can accommodate 2 separate bands which may alternate and not have to break down and set up equipment in between.

I’m not much of a coffee drinker.  I probably wouldn’t know a good cup of coffee if I was drinking it.  I think the drip coffee that gets brewed in the cubical next to me at work is just fine, so I’m not going to be a great judge of how their coffee is.  That said, they seem to at least look like they know what they’re doing.  2/3 of the menu is nothing but drinks and they have a wall of coffee dispensers at one end of the counter.  Lots of syrups line the back wall and plenty of space is used for making drinks.

I took a seat near the front and logged into the WiFi for a little surfing before my food showed up, which didn’t take very long.  The potato and macaroni salad showed up first.  Turns out I got a full macaroni salad instead of the half.  Both were quite cold.  They were pretty average overall, about what you might buy at the grocery store.  It sounds like normally there is a small selection of chips but all they had this time were original Lays.

Not long after that my sandwich arrived, and looked pretty good.  All the ingredients were visible from the side and a piece of bacon was trying to make a getaway.  When I first picked it up I lost about half of the egg out the back, my fault for not getting a better grip on it.  After putting it back together I got to work eating it.  The French roll was soft and fresh, the bacon crispy and all together pretty fresh and very good.  Hard boiled eggs on a sandwich is something I don’t think I’ve had before.  They were great and there was plenty of them.  I might opt for some additional meat next time (an additional $1) because the pastrami was very light, just a thin slice or two on the top and bottom.  It’s definitely a light sandwich overall and I can easily put away a pretty heavy Beach Hut monster so if it wasn’t for the potato/macaroni salad I might have been left wanting more.

My drink selection was a Coke but I was also given the choice of iced tea.  I’m not sure how flexible they are on this since they have a ton of beverage options to choose from.  I know I will probably come back and check out the caramel apple cider at some point, hopefully we get another nice cold day before summer officially takes hold.  I completely forgot to use my AmazonLocal deal so I’ll be back for sure either way.

Website: http://www.extremejavajunglecafe.com/

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