Right on the corner of Richards and Smithe, at the southwest corner of the urban park there, is…read morethis small but funky and uber-cool café. I've passed it a gazillion times, meaning to visit and now, finally, after so many years, I've gone twice in two days (!).
That's how much I enjoyed it yesterday. I went back today.
First of all, the actual venue and building is fabulous. The cafe is a narrow triangular building of concrete and glass, with a retractable wall facing Richards, with a cute outdoor patio with cheery yellow bistro tables and chairs. The sharp angles of the planes of glass and concrete, coupled with the suspended lucite fixtures in yellow and orange, and the colorful neon strip of lights embedded in the threshold, all make for a fun, modern space. At night the top of the facade is bathed in ever-changing neon colors; it's super pretty. (Unfortunately, the cafe closes daily at 6pm, so it's not open in the later afternoons/evenings).
Yesterday my kid and I each got a Spanish coffee. It was delicious (although not as sweet as I expected. But still very good). And we shared a confetti cookie which was a HUGE hit: super fresh, slightly chewy, with a load of colorful sprinkles in it. I call it a "happy" cookie, and it was probably one of the best cookies we had ever had. We sat outside on the patio, watching the kids frolic in the water feature in the park. It was a lovely afternoon.
Today we returned, hoping to replicate the experience. We ordered the Spanish coffees but, alas, they were out of condensed milk so they were unable to make those for us. Ditto for the Vietnamese coffee I ordered. I ended up ordering a salted caramel coffee - and I gotta say, I preferred it to the Spanish coffee. It was SO good. My kid ordered a strawberry matcha concoction with whipped cream, and another confetti cookie for us to share. I waited over 5 minutes outside for her and finally went back in to see what the hold-up was. They were still making her strawberry matcha drink. I guess that drink takes a long time to prepare. When it was ready, it looked nothing like the photo depicted on the menu, but my kid enjoyed it, saying it was quite good. As for the cookie, it was not as chewy as it was yesterday, leading me to believe it wasn't fresh. But it still was delicious.
Other points to note for this place: they have free wi-fi inside (bonus!), and there were various sandwiches and light foods offered on the menu. Be advised, though, if you think you might need a washroom after having your coffees, there are no restroom facilities in this cafe. They have two outside but both were out of service and taped off, both yesterday and today.