Cafe de Cuba

Coffee shops are the new spas. Or so it seems. A new one has opened up on the corner of Molesworth and Dawson Streets in Dublin 2, and it has comfy armchairs, an in-house library with books available to take home, and an on-street terrace with Parisian chairs and tables.

The Bretzel Bakery supplies the bread for sandwiches; Sheridans provide the cheese and the coffee . . . ah, the coffee. The coffee comes from Cuba, via Irish-owned importers and creators of the Fixx blend. Equally good, though, is the music, with a playlist as diverse as Toots and the Maytals, Joni Mitchell, Rufus Wainwright, Fats Domino and Nick Cave. A true fix. Managed by Philip Flannery, with a host of baristas, Fixx Coffeehouse is at 13-17 Dawson Street, Dublin 2.