Starbucks

The Starbucks "red cups" are always a thing to look forward to when Christmas is around the corner. As finals are right around the corner (for me, literally next week!), I can't stop but think about how soon it will be until I am home. Living half way across the world also makes it hard for communication. I haven't really talked to my parents for a while, so I am even more excited to be heading home. Christmas is always a time for family. To keep myself motivated during finals, I decided to hit up Starbucks on University Street last week. Not only were the red cups such a nice reminder of the holiday spirit, being surrounded by Christmas decorations reminded me of home and how soon it will be before I am back.

During holiday period prior Christmas, Starbucks always release holiday drinks. This year, my favorite two coffees are the Caramel Brûlée Latte and Peppermint Mocha. The Caramel Brûlée latte tastes very similar to the normal Caramel Macciato drink and they serve year round. The sweet taste of the drink warms my heart during the cold weather. The Peppermint Mocha has always been an all time favorite. I love the chocolate-y taste of the Mocha (nothing more suitable during the winter), but also the refreshing taste of the Peppermint. 

Peppermint Mocha

As Starbucks is a huge chain around the world and are super known for their coffee, most chains are almost always full. The one on University is not an exception. When I went there, I stood around for a couple of minutes before I found seats. Next, because it is such a popular place, a lot of people gather there for meetings or chats, rather than to study. Although the music is very nice and cheerful, the combination of the music and the chattering around is very distracting. In addition, because there are always so many people walking in and out of the shop, it is also very distracting. Not only is there not enough space there, there are also very few outlets. Therefore, although it is nice that they provide free Wi-Fi, if your computer dies really quickly, it is also quite not ideal to study at Starbucks.

Regardless, Starbucks is always a nice place to hit up. Not only are their drinks always well made, the holiday spirit they host always makes me feel relaxed and comfortable. Classic coffee stores will never die down. 

Caffè Art Java

Today, as I was walking down University, I saw Caffè Art Java. I have passed by it before, but never really thought to stop by and go inside. As finals start to kick in, the library and cafés are becoming more and more busy. When I peered into the café, there weren't a lot of people, so I decided to head in to study and grab some food. 

Cappuccino

The food there is really good. I would not say there is anything that different from what is offered at most other cafés, but it is still a nice place to get food at. I tried their Cappuccino, and it was really good! The coffee wasn't too sweet or bitter, and it was just the perfect temperature for me to take a sip but not too warm that I felt like I was drinking a cold coffee. They also made it into a nice pattern with coffee art, which was really nice. Every time I enter a café and they decorate the coffee del with coffee art, it always makes me feel a bit more valued as a customer. It seems as if the store makes more of the effort to make my coffee more personalized. 

There aren't that many tables inside the cafe, so that actually makes studying nice and easier because there aren't that many people talking. The café is also quiet for the most part, so it makes it a good place to read, study or write papers. When I people watch, I often also get a lot of inspiration and new ideas. Furthermore, the staff here are also very friendly and helpful. It made my experience a lot more welcoming and it made me feel more at home, which is unlike most other café chains. I would definitely return to try their pastries. 

Olivier Potier

The next place I am going to recommend is Olivier Potier. This café is located on Sherbrooke down the corner of Mackay and Sherbrooke.

The interior design of this café is a modernistic homey mixture. When you first walk into the café, you are greeted by a wide selection of breads to your right and extremely delicately made cakes to your left. The wooden floors are paired up with some sofa chairs and wooden chairs. As you continue to enter into the café, you will see tables for people who want to sit down and grab a coffee or lunch. The layout of the café is very open and the tables are quite closely placed together, which I feel like takes away from people's privacy.

Cafe from the inside

At Olivier Potier, I ordered a Smoked Salmon Sandwich and a Cappuccino. It was surprising that they didn't have a variety of options on their menu—made it hard to choose what to have because some of their sandwiches were also sold out by 1:00PM, but there were no more than 8 to choose from to begin with. Regardless, their sandwiches were still delicious and the Cappuccino was made perfectly.

Smoked Salmon sandwich and Cappuccino

Overall, I liked the vibe of the cafe a lot. The number of options was disappointing, but the food and coffee was still good. As I was leaving the cafe, I got to take a good look at their options of cakes, which all looked amazing. Next time I come back, I will definitely try their cakes!

Nocochi

It has been quite a while since I have updated this blog, but to fair, I have been fairly busy recently with midterms, projects and papers. It also didn't help that I caught the flu all last week especially after my birthday. Anyways, the first café I want to introduce this month is Nocochi. My friend and I came here two weeks ago for afternoon tea, and it was purely amazing.

We bumped into this place by pure accident. But when we were walking by, we saw their window sill decorations and just could not walk away. Their decorations seemed so intricate and nicely put together that we were sure it would be nice on the inside. I am a very visual person, and their use of colors was so attracting—it was detailed in a very intricate way.

Nicochi Outer Window Sill

Nicochi is located on Rue Mackay right on the corner of Mackay and Sherbrooke. Although it lies fairly close to Concordia, it did not seem too full or busy of students, which makes it a good place to study at. The vibe of the café was very chill and relaxed, and the music playing was very smoothing and calming. The café is very big, so the cashier is not close to any of the tables. If customers came in to buy take-away, it was not loud at all or distracting. In addition, the tables are also very spread out, which gave each table enough space for their own privacy. The inside decor of the café is also very cool. Hanging on the walls are paintings and art pieces after another. They are all for sale. Some of the paintings complement each other in the subject and the colors, while others were vastly different. I really enjoyed looking at each of the different paintings. It added a nicer artistic touch to the whole café.

After we entered, we realized that afternoon tea sets was a big thing here. Nocochi pastries are honestly really good. They have two afternoon tea sets, one the Nicochi, and the other the English. Both include a pot of tea with a selection of finger foods such as mini sandwiches and scones. I had the Nicochi set. Everything included was delicious, but my favorite was definitely the scones. It was the perfect sweetness, so when paired with butter, it was the perfect combination between sweet and salty. Furthermore, it was also not too big, which made it easy to handle and eat without making a mess. They also serve a lot of dishes. For breakfast, they serve omelettes and other pastries. For lunch, they have a variety of salads, sandwiches and pasta. On the weekend, they also have special brunch sets that include mimosa's!

My friend and I were really only supposed to go in for a couple of minutes, but we ended up staying and talking for hours. Sitting next to us was a table of six ladies, also catching up on their week. This is definitely a nice casual place to hit up when you want some privacy with good food that is not too overwhelming. The artwork also makes the café that much more interesting and enjoyable. I would definitely recommend it.