coffee Archives - Page 2 of 2

In Cafe

Waves: $2 Lattes for January

January 22, 2014

Waves $2 latte deal is back! Now I don’t need to have a Starbucks Treat receipt to wait for a coffee after 2pm. The deal is pretty good and its a medium sized latte. I always drink lattes, so as you can see, it hurts my wallet if I always buy it at regular price.

My girlfriends and I came on the weekend to just chat and chill over the $2 lattes.

Waves on Commercial Drive was packed on the weekend. Lot of people studying and hanging out.

The latte was pretty good and is a great size. It is an espresso based drink that is bold and balanced. The steamed milk that sits on top makes the drink sweeter. Some people add sugar, but I just like it as is. The latte art is definitely a plus.

Go grab one before January ends.

Website:
https://wavescoffee.com/

In Fast Food

Starbucks New Caramel Flan Latte

January 12, 2014

Starbucks has turned the traditional custard dessert – Caramel flan into a new drink at all their locations. As the weather is still chilly sometimes we need to huddle inside with a coffee and enjoy the rainy Vancouver weather.

Thats just what KoreanGirl and I did this weekend. We both had a Starbucks reward available to redeem a free drink, so we both decided to try the new Caramel Flan Latte. If we hated it, it wouldn’t be a loss since we used our rewards on it.

The Caramel Flan Latte is composed of espresso, steamed milk and caramel flavours of creamy flan. Topped with caramel-infused whipped cream and caramel flan drizzle.

KoreanGirl ordered it with it’s normal sweetness and said it was way too sweet especially with the caramel flan drizzle. I got mine half sweet and it was much better. There’s definitely a lot of caramel going on here.

I’m still not sold on this drink, so I will still stick to my usual lattes.

If you tried it, what do you think about it?

Website:
http://www.starbucks.com/menu/drinks/espresso/caramel-flan-latte

In Cafe

JJ Bean: Now open in False Creek

November 28, 2013

JJ Bean has open their latest location in False Creek on 1st Avenue. It’s spacious and has a good amount of seats to just chill and have some coffee or even set up your laptop and study.

There’s lots of natural light that shines through the windows and is very relaxing. They have excellent coffee, but as we already had our morning coffee, we opted for juice and some yummy lunch.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup (Large) was had it for here, so we got a side of salad. The large size was quite big. Magz had a hard time finishing it, so she had to take it to go.

Spicy Southwest Chicken Wrap has a spicy chipotle mayo, cilantro chimichurri rice, corn, black beans, tomato, monterey jack cheese and roasted chicken breast in a spinach tortilla. I had the wrap here, so we got a salad on the side.

As a quick lunch and it was pretty good. Lunch with no fuss. It’s a good addition to the area.

We Rate JJ Bean:

Address:
188 West 1st Avenue
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://jjbeancoffee.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=188+West+1st+Avenue+Vancouver,+BC&t=m&hnear=188+W+1st+Ave,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver,+British+Columbia+V5Y&z=14″]

In Cafe

Brioche: Soup, Sandwiches, and Lasagna in Gastown

November 6, 2012

Brioche is located in the Gastown close to both SFU Vancouver and Woodwards. They are known for their yummy comfort foods like soups, sandwiches, and pasta. M and I came here since it half way between both our offices. My last visit was about 2 years ago, so I wanted to see if there were any improvements.

The space is great for chats with friends over coffee and food.

Latte was OK. Couldn’t have been a bit stronger.

Grilled NY Striploin w/ Wild Mushroom Sauce is also served with soup. There are so many different ways of eating this. You can eat it like a sandwich, or eat it like an open-faced sandwich. This item is on the special board usually and is quite pricey when you decide to order it. The menu doesn’t specify price, so it’s really going to hurt your wallet since it’s just lunch.

I tend to order this item when I go to Brioche because it’s filling and the mushroom sauce and the tender striploin is super delicious.

Seafood Bisque was very watery and had more of a lemony tang to the flavour profile. The seafood taste wasn’t as prominent.

Bolognese Lasagna w/ 8 Layer Sauce and contains Bechamel, Salsiccia, Mushroom, and Bolognese. M did enjoy the dish, but for $18 was not worth it. He wouldn’t have ordered this if he knew the price before hand.

Overall, the food is great, but the price is way too much for a lunch. You can end up paying $20 for a dish and a drink.

Words of Wisdom:

Food is a pricey and no visible pricing on dishes
Best in small groups
Panini’s are really good
Parking garage across the street. Discounted parking for SFU students after 6pm.

We rate Broioche:

Website:
http://www.brioche.ca/

Address:
401 West Cordova Street
Vancouver BC

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=401+West+Cordova+Street+Vancouver+BC&hnear=401+W+Cordova+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver+Regional+District,+British+Columbia+V6B+1E5&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Cafe

Salt Spring Coffee: Fair-Trade Coffee Shop in Vancouver

September 26, 2012

Salt Spring Coffee was just named Best Fair Trade Coffee Shop in Vancouver for 2011 and 2012 according to The Georgia Strait. The coffee shop sells a variety of drinks such as Happy Planet, San Pellegrino, juice, tea and of course coffee. They also sell pastries and sandwiches.

I came here since I needed some wi-fi to get some work done. Plus, I was getting bored with Starbucks coffee. This place is a definite refresher.

I also needed a snack and caffeine to make my day complete.

Soy latte ($3.05 +$0.75) was very smooth and had a nice strong flavour. I had to add $0.75 cents for soy, which was a bit much in my opinion. Nonetheless, it still tasted good.

Chocolate Croissant is flaky on the outside with 2 chocolate stick inside. It tasted alright.

Overall, it s a good atmosphere just to study or do work. When I was here, there was a bunch of people on their Macbooks.

Words of Wisdom:

Complementary Wifi and electrical plugs available
Tables inside and outside
Friendly service
Great tasting fair-trade Coffee

We Rate Salt Spring Coffee:

Address:
4295 Main St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
http://www.saltspringcoffee.com/

[googlemap width=”620″ height=”480″ src=”https://maps.google.ca/maps?q=4295+Main+St+Vancouver,+BC&hl=en&hnear=4295+Main+St,+Vancouver,+Greater+Vancouver+Regional+District,+British+Columbia+V5V+3P9&gl=ca&t=m&z=16 “]

In Cafe

Kona Beans: Chilling at a Cafe in South Korea

August 29, 2012

Kona Beans was the closest coffee shop to my hotel. On my last day in Seoul, I decided to chill here before my bus arrived to take me to the airport. It has 2 level, upstairs is smoking and downstairs is non-smoking. It’s great that they give people this option.

Kona Beans is a cafe that originated from Hawaii. There are several franchise locations all over Seoul.

When ordering, you get the electronic beeper to indicate when your order is ready for pick up!

It’s really relaxing inside and you can do your work and have a drink. Its a good place to work since wifi is available.

Kiwi smoothie tasted alright. I don’t know why I didn’t order a coffee at a coffee shop, but I guess I felt like juice.

If I do come back next time, I will definitely order coffee instead. Nonetheless, it’s a nice cafe.

Words of Wisdom:

Another location at 42 Apgujeongro-gil is opened by a few of the mothers of the Super Juniors group
Non-smoking area
Friendly staff

We rate Kona Beans:

Location:
All over Korea

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In Cafe

Piano Cafe: Patio, Coffee, and a Grand Piano

August 20, 2012

After having Samgyeopsal, Steven and I walked around several blocks to find a nice cafe with a patio. We walked through the wet monsoon weather and found ourselves here. It was a nice little cozy cafe with a grand piano in the middle of the room.

There are lots of tables inside too. As we were here, there would be lots of couples celebrating anniversaries and playing the piano to impress their girlfriends. Lot of happy memories are made here.

Even Steven tried impressing the server at the cafe.

Steven ordered the Iced Coffee and the Affogato. If you are a coffee lover, those are a few of the items you should order! They are good items to cool off from the hot Summer weather.

I got the Caffe Latte. I enjoy it and it was pretty good.

Overall the experience was great! Chilin on their patio and catching up over coffee…as we spy on the couples inside the restaurant.

Words of Wisdom:

Great coffee
Great place to take a date
You better learn piano before coming here if you are on a date

We Rate Piano Cafe:

In Back Bay

Au Bon Pain: It Came From Boston, Not Paris

June 11, 2012

Au Bon Pain is a chain of cafes that originated in Boston. The cafe can be found all around the world from Taiwan to Kuwait with over 250 locations. The idea came about at Faneuil Hall Marketplace in 1978, where founder Louis Kane wanted to bring fresh-baked goods to the people of Boston.

While I was visiting Boston, I would constantly bump into this cafe. At first glance, I would not think it originated in Boston. After Ange bugged my to try something besides Starbucks, I decided to check it out.

The interior remind me of a cafeteria. It’s layout is a little bit strange for my liking, but it’s layout is supposed to resemble a marketplace. They have an assortment of baked goods, soups and a bunch of other items.

There is also a counter to order freshly made sandwiches, wraps and salads that can be highly customized.

As I was just needing a snack, I grabbed a cappuccino and a chocolate croissant.

Cappuccino was quite bad. It was very heavy and it seemed more like a latte instead. There was barely any foam and was not representative of the calories indicated on their menu.

Chocolate Croissant was a bit disappointing too. It didn’t have a flakey texture that a croissant is supposed to have. It has powdered sugar and a chocolate drizzle on top.

On the inside, the croissant has a bread-like consistency and hollow is the center. It was quite mediocre and nothing too special. You could tell it was sitting out for a while. It might be good to heat it up in their microwave for a few seconds.

Overall, Au Bon Pain is good if you want something quick and decent. It’s not good if you have high expectations. Service is also quite mediocre.

Words of Wisdom:

Complementary Wifi
Quick and fast

We Rate Au Bon Pain:

Address:
26 Park Plz
Boston, MA

Website:
http://www.aubonpain.com/

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In Cafe

Cafe Artigiano: Latte, Yogurt and Sandwiches

April 9, 2012

There are days in the office when I really don’t want to venture far for some breakfast or lunch. Downstairs from my office is a Caffe Artigiano, so it’s quite convenient to just grab and go. Even though there are lots of other cheaper coffee places around – Tim Hortons and Starbucks don’t even compare.

I found their lattes a bit of a hit and miss depending on who is there making the drinks. Sometimes I will get some amazing latte art and sometimes the art will be very very sloppy. I am not an expert on coffee tastes, but I know it was good enough to give me a jump-start for the day.

For breakfast, I just had some mango peach yogurt and a latte for breakfast.

Mango Peach Yogurt with Granola ($3.49) looks promising, but there really wasn’t enough mango and peach compote inside. Once I mixed everything around, it still tasted like the normal yogurt.

Then, I came back for lunch since their sandwiches did look quite good, but that means I didn’t have to walk far for lunch either. Clearly, I was having a very lazy day.

I grabbed a Green Tea and it comes in one size when you dine-in. If you need more tea, you can ask them to fill it up with more water.

Chicken & Brie Panini Sandwich ($8.59) has roast chicken breast, brie cheese, spinach, ﬁg jam, roasted garlic mayo served on a ciabatta bun. It is then grilled in their panini machine. You also get a side of salad too.

The sandwich was very warm and melted to perfection. The brie cheese complimented the chicken well and make it a very gooey cheesy experience.

Overall, Caffe Artigiano is a great place to have a chat with someone over coffee or lunch. It’s not great for studying as there is no wifi. The food is pretty good and makes for a quick lunch. They have tons of locations in Downtown

Words of Wisdom:

Quite busy during peak hours
No wifi

We rate Cafe Artigiano:

Address:

574 Granville Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.caffeartigiano.com

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In Cafe

Cafe Artigiano

February 23, 2011

Cafe Artigiano serves up some of the better coffees in Vancouver. They serve italian-style coffee and are famous for their award winning latte art.

They are a coffee shop chain that have locations all around the Lower Mainland. Cafe Artigiano use to be owned by the Piccolo Family in 1999, but a few years ago they sold it to Earl’s owner – Willlie Mounzer. Even though it has changed ownership, the expansion of Cafe Artigiano has not slowed down. They have even opened locations in Victoria.

All their locations have a similar look and have a warm feeling. There a lots of tables to sit and chit chat. People also like to study or have meetings here. Their menu is located up on top of the wall for drinks.

If you have some thing else in mind that is not on their menu, you can always ask them to make you a custom drink.

Besides coffee and tea, they also sell soup, sandwiches and other pastries.

I ordered a medium Latte. By far, this is 103933 times better than Starbucks. It has a bold and strong taste to it. This will wake you up for the day ahead. What I love most about Cafe Artigiano is their latte art! I think it’s quite unique that they take their time to do latte art on all their drinks.

We rate Cafe Artigiano: