Lit Espresso Bar

August 10th, 2014 - Third cafe visited was Lit Espresso Bar

810 College St.

M-F: 7a - 6p

Sa-Su: 8a - 6p

When visiting random cafes around a city, you need to keep in mind that there are a few factors that may alter your experience there:

• Day of the week and time of the day (is it a busy day, or is it near the end of the day when the coffee house staff are just waiting for everyone to leave so they can clean up shop and go home?)
• Staff working (is it the owner[s] working who are passionate about their business, or is it a member of the staff who is just there because it's a job close by with typical day-time hours? When they take your order, do they make you feel welcomed, or do they make you feel as though you are inconveniencing them by being there?)
• Location of the cafe (is it in a part of town where people are generally friendly, or is it a part of town where people keep to themselves and are "elitists". Are the customers cafe jockeys who simply come in to drink the cheapest item on the menu while using up some wifi for their contract business? Do you feel comfortable in this location of the city?)
• Quality of your beverage (if your drink order is simple, is it delicious or does the staff find a way to mess it up? Everyone makes mistakes - how does the staff treat you if you bring this to their attention?)

I keep these elements in mind as I'm immersing myself in a cafe experience. I would imaging that anyone who opens a cafe is relatively passionate about their business being top quality to the best of their ability. So when I have a bad (or, well, not so great...) experience, I feel at a loss for words. That is why this review has taken me so long to put together, when I should have finished it last week. 

Entering the cafe, it was quiet and there weren't many people there. I'm guessing this is because it was an hour or so before closing. 

Walking up to the counter, I wasn't greeted with a friendly "hello", or even the slightest of acknowledgement of an "oh, there's someone here..." 

I stood there and waited a minute or so as he wiped off the counter and then picked up his phone. (???) Eventually he put his phone down, and stood there waiting for me to order. He didn't ask "how can I help you?", "what can I get for you?", or anything. He just. Stood. There. Blankly. Staring. 

This is a huge downer for me when the staff is anti-social like this. There are so many jobs that a person can work where they don't have to deal face-to-face with customers. A cafe is NOT one of them. If you re-arrange the letters in the word "cafe", you get "face" - and that's what you have to do: FACE customers. So be friendly. Or, at least be somewhat welcoming of people who are there to purchase things. 

I ordered my drink, and the mr. ordered his. I went with my typical vanilla almond milk latte, and the mr. ordered a soy latte. We also ordered some treats; I got a chocolate chunk cookie (Bunners Bake Shop), and he got a chocolate banana bread. Both of these were delicious... 

My latte looked pretty enough, I always love latte art... However, the taste was up there in the top 3 worst lattes I've ever had. It tasted burnt (steaming almond milk is a sensitive art form...), and there was absolutely no vanilla flavour - which leads me to believe that he forgot to put any vanilla in my drink... 

The soy latte was delicious - smooth, creamy, frothy; but with no latte art. What a bizarre mix: one latte that looks pretty but tastes like a coffee-filled ash tray, and another latte that looks plain and boring but tastes amazing. Too bad they couldn't put the two elements together... 

Luckily, the mr. switched lattes with me so that I wouldn't feel so down about my drink (sweetheart!). 

I was considering going up to the counter to take my drink back, which is something I wouldn't usually do... But when I looked up there, he went from being on his phone to quickly walking to the back room - and then was nowhere to be seen for almost 10 minutes. I gave up, and just wrote off the experience. 

I enjoyed the general decor of the place, but to be very honest - none of this matters to me if the coffee I purchase makes me feel like I wasted $5. 

Needless to say, I will never be back to this place. There are so many more good cafe experiences in Toronto...
To keep with the format of other entries, here are some pictures:

random clock - but it doesn't work

view of the front of the cafe - I actually really like the look of this place

The mr's drink - tasted good

My latte - too bad it didn't taste as good as it looked!

Some product... 

Some baked goods

My favourite part - but the cafe doesn't bake this in-house - it's from Bunner's Bake Shop!

You can buy their mugs. How cute...

Seating area at the back and a projector screen

menu

more baked goods at the counter

Our treats together. Deliciousness. :)

They have Pig Iron coffee here - 

Bunner's :)

Manic Coffee

August 2nd, 2014 - Second cafe visited was Manic Coffee
426 College St.
M-F: 7a - 9p
Sa-Su: 8a - 9p

On the familiar route to Kensington Market, the mr. and I took a trip down to the College and Bathurst area to check out Manic Coffee. We grabbed a streetcar from Bathurst station, and took it down to College, then walked about a block east to the cafe.

Manic Coffee - located right on College St., just east of Bathurst (on the north side)

Walking into the cafe, we were greeted with a simple interior on one side, and stunning brick walls and wood details on the other side. I walked up to the counter, and took a peek at the menu. Then I stood. And I waited... 

Menu, and a small section for some baked goods

And I waited some more... So I took some pictures.

They had packaged vegan baked goods available from Sweets from the Earth. When I had read that they had lots of vegan options, I was excited - but really, you can get Sweets from the Earth pretty much anywhere... Even some Second Cup locations now (which is always good). I like it when these smaller cafes have a bit more of an assortment of this type of thing, but it's not the biggest factor for me enjoying myself.

Some take-home coffee

Their special blend

 Along the brick wall, they displayed a section with their own branded coffee, which is really cute. That little squirrel is adorable...
(I need to add - at this point, I was still waiting to have someone ask me to take my order, but there wasn't a line-up. So I took more pictures...)

The random setup of chairs along the wall is cute, and I'm guessing it's a spot for people to sit while they're waiting for their coffee. 

At this point, it had been a few minutes since I was waiting at the counter, and I was getting annoyed that no one had acknowledged that I was there. I kept looking over at Richard and felt like apologizing for bringing him here, but I just waited some more. 

And I took some more pictures... 

 There was a  lot of random art on the walls, which I quite like. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside to see things like this. It also gives you something to look at if you're waiting for a long time...
Someone finally came up to the counter, and took my order (yay!). I grabbed a vanilla almond milk latte (my usual), paid, and proceeded to wait some more. So I took some more pictures...

I'll be honest - I didn't like these colourful paintings (or whatever they were) on the walls, but art is always subjective anyway. They were still interesting to look at.

The section of paintings on the wall above the waiting line of chairs near the coffee bar reminded me of Dark Horse - I wonder if they get that a lot...

So I had waited a little while for my drink, and walked over to the counter to see what was taking so long. I saw one person pouring the steamed milk into my mug, and got excited because it was ready! It didn't look so great, but it was ready - and then he poured it out. (Why?! Why would you do that to a latte? I cried a little inside...)

Then it all made sense - I asked why he did that, and he said "I'm new..." A-HAH! Now I understand the waiting, the waiting more, and the pouring out of a latte... I can completely sympathize with them at this point, because we've all been new at some point or another. And making latte art, especially on temperamental almond milk, is a challenge at even the best of times. It's good that they were working with him at a time that wasn't so busy.

So I checked my patience, and stopped muttering to myself in my head about having to wait this long for a drink, and let them do their thing. The second latte looked very pretty, and I happily (and carefully) took it over to my seat.

Very nice... :)

The mr. asked me what I ordered, and he opted to order the same - along with some of their gelato (yum!). He grabbed the coconut lime flavour, and I'll admit - it was pretty darn good!

 When you're off to the right of the coffee bar, you'll see a long line of gelato. They had 6 ones that were vegan friendly, so we had our pick from a few interesting flavours. I love the combination of coffee with a nice gelato, though I do wish they had a vegan chocolate one. I would have loved to pour a shot of espresso over a nice, rich, dark chocolate gelato. Maybe next time!

The lime coconut gelato - very delicious! 

The mr. drinking his latte

While I was sipping on my drink, the mr. had a funny look on his face. He asked me how mine was, and I took another thoughtful sip before answering "it's very good actually, how is yours?"

He wasn't too happy with what he was drinking, and asked to taste mine to see if it tasted like vanilla. He really liked how mine tasted and looked (his didn't have any fancy latte art), so I tasted his. 

A big factor in any cafe experience is consistency. If a product isn't consistent, it won't keep you coming back for more. I was really sad to see/taste that his latte wasn't anything near as good as mine was, yet we had ordered the same drink. This immediately put a damper on the experience for me because I can't enjoy my experience if the people I'm with aren't also enjoying it. He drank his latte anyway, and decided to not say anything to the people behind the counter. 

I like their custom mugs :)

 That part aside, my latte was still delicious, and I did enjoy the simplicity of the cafe. It was definitely a place I could see myself bringing a book to, and just spending an hour or so reading. Mind you, at just under $5 per almond milk latte - if my drink didn't taste up to par I would have taken it back to the counter. But that's just me...

I don't "rate" these cafes I'm visiting on any scale, but I would say to give this place a try. The people working there were nice, and the atmosphere seemed to be very relaxed. It's also in a great location, very close to Kensington Market (which we went over to after finishing their drinks). One thing I will say to be careful of though is going down to the washroom. You'll hit your head going down the stairs if you're a) tall, and b) clumsy. ;) But that's nothing they can really control hahaha

For something more random... This is the image on their saucers :) heehee...

Rooster Coffee House

August 1st, 2014 - First Cafe visited was the Rooster Coffee House

479 Broadview Ave. 

Daily, 7a - 7p


Walking south of Bloor on Broadview, you get into an area that doesn't have many stores. As you walk, to the right you can see the whole downtown core in a beautifully silent way. There are no traffic sounds, and the air actually smells fresher than most parts of the city.

A location with a view!

Further down the road from a distance, you see red umbrellas on a patio and think, "I wonder what that is..."
Then, you see the rooster...

well hello there...

There are small circular tables and retro fold-out chairs, situated in such a way that is reminiscent of the people-watching patios in Paris. This gives me an immediate burst of happiness as I walk through the arrangement of tables to open the front door.

To the left and right of the door are rustic wooden tables lining the windows, with a few wooden stools to sit on. There are also interesting decorations on the tables... I love them!

This little guy kept me company while I enjoyed my drink and snack.  He was a little quiet though...

More seating to the left of the counter consists of worn leather chairs, a wooden bench as a table, and an old suitcase as a side table.
The counter to the right has ample space, graced by delicious looking baked goods, and a large and intimidating espresso machine (it's a stunning La Marzocco, which is basically the epitome of beauty). They also have cold brew coffee behind the counter. There are interesting works of art on the wall from what I'm guessing to be local artists, and a warm soothing atmosphere made so by the soft music playing. (I wish I had taken pictures of the different pieces!) The jazzy music blends in nicely with the background chatter of the patrons to create the perfect white noise for writing, reading, or whatever little thing you're working on at the time.
The back of the cafe has a larger table and various seating, and a beautiful natural grey brick wall.

Hello, deliciousness...

Coffee to take home

Love the randomness here

Back of the cafe - the girl at the back was looking at me while I was taking pictures hahaha

Within seconds of stepping up to the counter, I'm greeted with a friendly and upbeat "hey, how's it going!", which at this hour (6pm) can only be said so cheerfully by someone who is passionate about their working environment. Every customer is greeted this way, and you get the feeling you are among people you know.

Menu, and fancy lighting :)

After ordering an almond milk vanilla latte and a chocolate and peanut butter oat square (both of which are vegan!), he tells me about their cold brew coffee and how it is brewed for 18 hours. He then tells me about how they have a second location on King St., and how they all work at both locations. That is dedication! I can't wait to check out the King St. location.

I get my latte, surprisingly quickly, and take to the stools by the window to enjoy my after-work treats before the rain starts to pour down over the city.

So good... The rain hadn't started yet...

The latte is a perfect temperature with an adorable heart for the latte art, and the peanut butter chocolate oat square tastes like it was just made today. My tummy is very happy to say the least.

:) No, I did not share my square with statue-dog. 

Experiences like this make me wish that I lived closer to here. Luckily for me though, our transit system makes these places fairly accessible. I'm sure I'll be back to this quaint spot tucked away in the Riverdale area. Places like this are a gem in this city!

Totally worth all of the calories... Statue-dog approves. 

Obligatory Bathroom Selfie. hahaha

The World Of Coffee - Sip and Share

I love coffee.

Something I've been wanting to do for a while is drink my way through a whole bunch of Toronto's fun and random little cafes/coffee houses.

I also really like to write, and share info on great spots to enjoy some coffee in, so why not put these things together?!

In the coming weeks/months, this blog will be the spot where each of these cafe experiences is documented - along with some thoughtful reviews and (hopefully) interesting images. Maybe even some give-aways down the road... ;)


Before I begin my reviews - a little background: 

I decided that I would start something I've been wanting to start for well over a year: a coffee blog.
Before my 29th birthday, I had mentioned to Richard that I wanted to explore various coffee shops around the city, and review them. I wanted to document elements such as the personality of the workers, the atmosphere, the quality of the coffee, and anything else I could think of. I didn't just want flat reviews, but I wanted to capture each experience for what it was to me at that moment in time.

At the time, my intent was to learn as much as possible, so that a year from then I could start planning to open up my own cafe. Well, it's been a year, and I have yet to document anything, and I am not any closer to planning a cafe opening than I was last year. And I have no idea if I will do anything like that a year from now either... But what I will do is my cafe experience blog. :)

These reviews will be more of a story of the whole experience, rather than a typical cut and paste format of "cost of food" "coffee options" "can you study here" "do they have wifi".

So check back soon for my first cafe experience! I can't wait to sip & share!