302 West Hastings Street, Vancouver (Gastown)
One of the most interesting coffee shops that I have been in within the Gastown neighbourhood! Nemesis Coffee, located right next to Victory Square park, is housed inside the new SFU graduate residence building on the ground floor. With their tagline being "creating coffee culture", the first word that comes to mind after going to Nemsis is pretentious. It is a completely different coffee experience, and it requires a lot of coffee culture know-how. It perhaps is more advanced than palces like nearby Revolver or Timbertrain. The layout of the shop is quite clever and the first of its kind in the area to optimze itself for maximum exposure to their products. Instead of one front counter, there is a gigantic island, with the till right at the door that shows off a wide array of baked goods. After you order, you walk around the island to wait for your drink and food, while facing a huge wall stuffed with Nemesis merchandise (cups, shirts, hats and the like). You can also see into the kitchen where they make their sandwich and toast plates. I ended up having their drip coffee, not wanting to venture into anything that I was unsure about, and had their avocado toast as well. The toast was AMAZING - I never thought it could get any better than what it was. It was really fresh and flavourful, and the pairing with ricotta cheese was perfect. Definitely a must-get if you're hungry! The interior of the shop is also really simplistic and everything that a typical coffee shop is - lots of wood, clean white walls and brilliant greenery everywhere.
0 Comments
55 Powell Street / 54 Alexander Street, Vancouver (Gastown)
Birds and the Beets is a adorable little cafe that is sweet, kinda hippy, and just like coming home after a long day. The cafe has two addresses due to the fact that it can be entered on two different sides, making it super spacious with plenty of room to hang out, work, or chill with friends. The front counter is on the Powell Street side. I was greeted with tons of green plants, lots of wooden furtniture, and just an overall cozy vibe that made it a welcoming place to work and get stuff done. Birds and the Beets is best known for their fresh bread and sandwiches, making them rivals with nearby Nelson the Seagull and Finches Tea and Coffee. Knowing this, and having eaten anything, I decided to have a drip coffee (always) and a featured veggie sandwich. The bread was freshly baked ciabatta bread, and it was incredible! There were tons of veggies as well as something that looked to be turkey stuffing mixed with curried spices, topped with tzatziki. In all the sandwich was super flavourful and really filling, making it the perfect solution to my lack of lunch! The sandwiches that they offer all sound amazing, and I look forward to going back soon in the future to try more! 100 W Hastings Street, Vancouver (Gastown)
Coffee is one of my favourite things in the world, and in Gastown, there are a number of great places that serve up not only amazing coffee but pastries that go well with it. Prado Cafe is one of those great places. With three locations (Gastown, Commercial Drive, and Fraser Street), Prado l definitely help you with your coffee fix. Serving up 49th Parallel coffee beans, delicious teas, and treats such as oat bars, waffles and danishes, Prado is one of the best looking places for a coffee date, to study, or to people watch: the massive windows facing Abbott Street are perfect for that. Walking into Prado, you are greeted with the stark contrast of dark hardwood floors and tables and clean white walls. The modern and sleek main counter houses the delicious looking pastries and a gorgeous looking fireplace that makes the place look like home. With free WiFi, Prado has an excellent atmosphere for working and studying, making it one of my favourite places to study. I had a cup of 49th Parallel coffee, which was amazing (and served in a cute Mason jar!) and a raspberry oat bar, which was just the right amount of tartness and sweetness. If you love coffee, go check out Prado Cafe to get your caffeine fix! 36 Powell Street, Vancouver (Gastown)
Coffee shops in Gastown keep sprouting up, and all of them are so, so good. Milano Espresso Bar is no exception . With 75 years and counting into the business, they are serious about their coffee. I dropped by Milano the other day to find a quiet place to do some work, and I was happy to find not just that but also finding out that this particular shop closes at 9 PM - on a Sunday. This is unheard of, with many shops closing up at 6 PM at the latest, particuarly on a weekend. Milano definitely climbs to the top of my list for late night stops. As I ordered my cafe latte, I was prompted to choose my beans, as they have three featured beans rotating through each day. I chose La Futura, a nice medium bodied coffee. To pair with the latte I had one of their delicious (and vegan!) lavender bars, which was AMAZING. I have never tasted anything like it, and you can't tell that it is vegan at all. Many of the pastries and cakes offered in shop are vegan and/or gluten free. A great place to be with cool furniture and not too loud, and super friendly baristas! 221 Abbott Street, Vancouver (Gastown) I had the opportunity to check out this beautiful tea house the other day with my friend Erika. Gastown is dominated with coffee roasters and shops, but on Abbott Street there is the lovely Capilano Tea House that serves up organic teas and house made, small batch botanical sodas along with traditional savoury and sweet food offerings - a refreshing and delicious alternative if you aren't feeling coffee! The interior of the store is, in a word, adorable: strong brick walls with wooden and clean white furniture. There are lovely flowers and packs of tea for sale sitting on the shelves that line the store. It is a tiny store that could potentially seat just under 20 cozily packed people, with one long wooden table and a little window side bench. I went on a hot day, and Erika and I enjoyed the refreshing and cool taste of their rose lemonade - it was refreshing, light, and a gorgeous baby pink colour. Topped with rose petals, it was an interesting twist to traditional lemonade that was in no way sour - it was great. Along with that, I had a mini mixed berry crumble in a jar, which was so, so good! I really loved the tartness of the berries and the cute portion size. The only downside is that they don't list out prices for their drink/food items, so you have no idea how much you have spent until it is rung up for you. The rose lemonade and the berry crumble came to just over $13 together, which was a shock to me. Since it was a first time, I decided to just suck it up, though next time I probably will just stick to drinks and maybe have food if I am really, really desperate or intrigued. All in all, if you aren't into having coffee that day, go check out Capilano Tea House and have one of their teas. It's a super cute place, so get ready to take tons of pictures! ***** OCTOBER 1, 2016 UPDATE: Due to high rent, Capilano Tea House is closing their Gastown location down. Sad to see such a unique place go because of high rent costs. ***** 356 Water Street, Vancouver (Gastown)
Yet another amazing coffee shop that is available to add to the bustling Gastown scene! Located in the triangle of the flat iron-esque building on Water Street is Buro Espresso Bar. The vast windows enable natural lighting into the airy coffee shop, and the clean white walls contrasted nicely against the wooden furniture. It made an excellent place for people to come together and meet, and despite how busy it gets the atmosphere is generally quite quiet, making a stylish and simple place to study or to catch up with friends. I studied at Buro for a bit, and while I studied I had Buro's mocha and banana bread with chocolate chips. This mocha is probably one of my favourite ones in the city, and I loved the banana bread! There definitely is a great abundance of choice in Gastown for coffee shops, and this is one of my favourites! 311 West Cordova Street, Vancouver (Gastown) I've been doing a lot of coffee shop hunting and hopping recently, and the latest shop that I stopped by at was Timbertrain Coffee Roasters in Gastown. Running inside on a raining Saturday afternoon, I was greeted by a rustic charm meets trendy minimalist decor and the aroma of coffee beans. The coffee shop is very small with tables and red couches down the side, the coffee bar and single bar seating along the window. Before a wild night, it was nice to sit down in a mellow environment and warm up with a cup of coffee and a sweet Liege waffle. I had a house cappuccino and a green tea waffle. The cappuccino had just the right amount of sweetness and bitterness and was incredibly smooth, and the art was really nice to see! The waffle had a greenish tint to show off it's green tea taste. It was yummy though just a touch bland. Those that work in Timbertrain really enjoy and love what they do, and it is really evident by the smiles on their faces and the food and drinks that they serve. Go check them out - Timbertrain is only about a year old and definitely making their mark on the coffee scene in Vancouver! 33 West Hastings Street, Vancouver (Gastown)
Finally had the opportunity to go to Lost + Found Cafe! I first learned about this cafe when I saw it on a family friend's Instagram feed, and ever since it has been a place that I have wanted to go to. In contrast to some of the other coffee shops that are in Gastown (with the exception of Coffeebar), Lost + Found is MASSIVE. It has a very vast and open space that seems to go on for miles. Aside from its openness, what also struck me was the amount of artwork that was hanging on the walls, the antique furniture and the historical pictures that covered the walls. There was a wide variety of baked goods to choose from as well as smoothies, coffees and teas of all kinds. I love the unique concept of Lost + Found, and it definitely will be one of my go to places to study whenever I find myself at SFU Vancouver! I had the Ranjana's Chai and the cranberry lemon bar - an excellent choice, according to the barista. And I couldn't agree more! 325 Cambie Street, Vancouver (Gastown)
Gastown is an awesome hub for unique and independently owned coffee shops. Revolver is no exception. For the coffee connoisseur, Revolver offers a wide variety of coffees from coffee roasters all over North America, and the menu and offerings rotates every so often. When you walk in you are greeted by the whirring of their equipment and the smell of fresh baked goods. All of the people behind the counter are dedicated in serving you the best cup of coffee possible, and my experience was a wonderful one. My knowledge of coffee is not great (read: Starbucks), and I really don't know the difference between a macchiato and a cappucino. So when my macchiato came in a shot glass and a side of water in a flask, I was really confused. But nevertheless, it was really smooth and bold. The artistry at the top was also lovely to look at. And of course, their raspberry coffee cake was a perfect pairing with my macchiato. Revolver has cute wooden furniture in their main serving area with an adjoining seating area, Archive, right next door. Within Archive you can hang out among coffee making artifacts and enjoy your carefully crafted cup of coffee. I look forward to returning to Revolver for more coffee, and exploring the coffee scene in Gastown further! 10 Water Street (Vancouver - Gastown) -OR- 1695 Marine Drive (West Vancouver - Ambleside)
Outside of your usual Starbucks or Blenz coffees, I've found that Downtown Vancouver has a lot of stand alone and independently owned coffee shops that have their own character. Being one of the first coffee shops that I have gone to, Coffeebar exceeded my expectations. One of my favourite things about coffee shops is the chill vibe, the sounds of cups of coffee being made and the simple decor - in particular, wooden furniture. It was clear that everyone in the neighbourhood congregated at Coffeebar to study, meet up or chill out. I had a chai tea latte and shared a tiramisu with my friend, which was delicious. I am a stickler for chai tea lattes, and this one was not too sweet with just the right amount of cinnamon. I highly recommend this place if you are passing through Gastown and are looking for a cool place to chill out! with photo credits to Jamie |
Delicious Destinations