My friend has always raved about Nemesis coffee and brought me back a box of their beautifully packaged Allan & Senel Campos La Toboba Jocotes beans for me to try. I was HOOKED.
During my last trip to Surrey, I made sure to stop by and fill up on caffeine and pastries.
This location looks like an Apple Store from the outside with a modern glass exterior and minimalistic interior. From what my friends have told me, this location is much larger than their Downtown Vancouver location.
Upon entering, the first thing I saw was Nemesis' vibrant colored boxes nicely lined up on a table next to the window for purchase in addition to merch (shirts, mugs, etc.) featuring their simplistic upside down blue heart logo. They switch out the coffee varieties on a regular basis, and so make sure to check their site first if you are looking for a certain bean!
After perusing the merch, I made my way to the line and was captivated by the fancy high-end pastries in the glass counter. The company that makes the pastries is called Dope and they had everything from cookies to croissants to cakes and crullers. Prices were reasonable and I paid under $20 USD for four pastries. They had unique flavors including: strawberry & pistachio danish, tiramisu croissant, churro cruller, iced cap cruller, apple hojicha fritter, ube donut, and more. Like the Nemesis packaging, the Dope pastry boxes were art pieces on their own and probably the prettiest to-go boxes I've ever seen; they are a bright vibrant blue with their signature smile and tongue character logo and metallic writing. They literally look like designer shoe boxes.
Nemesis features two seasonal drinks at a time, but they don't offer any flavored drinks otherwise and so if you're looking for a basic vanilla latte, this is not the place. The two seasonal drinks they were featuring in February were the Beet Root Latte and the Black Sesame Corn Latte (no coffee in this one though). Personally, neither quite appealed to me and so I just ordered a basic OAT MILK LATTE sweetened with simple syrup (you could alternatively get it sweetened with honey). The espresso was smooth and the oat milk was nice and creamy. To share with my family, I also ordered the...
- APPLE HOJICHA FRITTER ($4.75 CAN) - as someone who doesn't normally like donuts, this fritter was the best fritter I've ever had and definitely on the not-to-sweet side. It was crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and full of apple pieces, apple spiced compote, and cinnamon. The hojicha dusting was subtle but added a nice slight earthiness to the pastry. I liked this pastry so much, I ended up ordering another one later on!
- The ICED CAP CRULLER ($4.75 CAN) - this cruller was also fantastic and full of espresso flavor. The espresso cream filling and the condensed milk glaze were delicious and tasted like I was eating a Vietnamese coffee. 10/10 would get this again!
- BROWN BUTTER BANANA CAKE ($5.75 CAN) - this cake was super moist and had a beautiful piping of cinnamon espresso buttercream on top. I'd say this one was the least unique of the pastries I ordered, but was a solid slice of banana bread and the buttercream was smooth and light.
- CHOCOLATE ORANGE SUISSE ($7.50 CAN) - this pastry was the most interesting texture-wise as it has a crispy exterior that reminded me of chowmein noodles, wrapped around a croissant. The candied orange was very distinct and could be tasted in both the chocolate orange filling and the outside. While the most expensive of the pastries (probably because of the extra labor it takes for this one), I thoroughly enjoyed every bite and would order this one again too.
The seating areas and bathrooms are clean. Service is excellent- we got our orders within 10 minutes after ordering and they come by to give you water and silverware as needed.
TLDR, Nemesis is 1000% worth the stop and I can't wait to be back whenever I am in Surrey next.
Overall, 5/5 for coffee and pastries, 5/5 for service, 5/5 for atmosphere read more