In “sort of order” but the top 5 are all amazing;
Crema - 3079 Dundas Street West
Hank’s - 9 Church
Ezra Pound - 238 Dupont
Cherry Bomb - 79 Roncesvalles
Saving Gigi - 859 Bloor Street West
The Common - 1071 College
Jet Fuel - 519 Parliament
Caffe Brasiliano - 849 Dundas West
Le Gourmand - Spadina south of Queen
Ideal Coffee - 84 Nassau
I have a favourite eatery that’s nestled amongst the modest homes of what could be considered the Junction East neighborhood. Yasi’s Place is situated on the south east corner of Wallace and Campbell.
For a few years I’d pass by the vacant building admiring the “Comic Books", “School Supplies” and “Cigarettes” lettering stenciled in the window imaginiung what the shop must have been like when it was actually in business. One day someone started working it and I was mildly disappointing at first that this great untouched history was about to be violated …. but then Yasi’s Place appeared.
Yasi makes an eggs benedict I could eat 3 times a day, wicked hamburgers, very passable coffee/latte and a ton of other great stuff on the menu including a huge Turkish breakfast, french toast of the day, decadent grilled cheese and other comfortish type foods. They use local organic ingredients, and even grow some stuff in the front garden that makes it’s way into the food. Green Shift take out packages, movie nights, local artist work on display, eclectic salt and pepper shakers, a great patio and tons of people on weekends so get there early (10 a.m. opening)
The food is incredible. The atmosphere is slovenly comfortable, and the crowd is interesting and friendly. The proprietor Yasi is super nice, but doesn’t take any shit and she works with a host of characters that rotate on a fairly regular basis it’s never stale.
The introduction of business back into residential areas is so very awesome. I think Mitsi’s on Sauraren is one of the first I was ever aware of. It’s pretty good but way too small and busy. Julie’s Cuban Food at 202 Dovercourt is great, but call ahead for reservations. They make the best Mojitos one could hope to drink. There’s a pile of other places, and hopefully more and more establishments will nestle in amongst the living rooms of the city. I know many people would welcome the return to a business model that seems to have been sadly eclipsed by the car driving idiocy that dominates our city culture.
While I breath in with optimism about our “neighborhood", I have to exhale with slight dispointment at the new coffee place on Bloor east of Lansdowne which opened a few months back. Holy Oak is cool, the decor is suitably comfortable, the service folks are very nice, but the coffee isn’t the best I’ve had. It’s OK, but to rise above the heavy competition in this field they have to be spectacular. Better than OK.
Maybe I’m just the one customer that caught the person who had never worked the espresso machine before, or maybe they’d had a bad nights sleep or something. But I had a soy latte and it was so unremarkable I only drank half of it. I was thinking of telling the person who prepared it, but I opted to kiss the place off figuring that if you open a coffee place, make sure every coffee you make is spectacular even if you’ve got the right attitude and aesthetic. With so much potential in the area, I hope that they can get it together.
UPDATE
OK I went back. I got an Americano and a soy latte to go. The Americano I’m told was fine. Jill said she would go back to Holy Oak in future for another. The latte was OK, but I think the problem might not be the coffee, but my ordering. Next time I’ll ask for an extra shot. There’s a distinct possibility I’m just more accustomed to more potent concoctions. The latte I drank last night was just a little too mild/unflavourful and I imagine this could be remedied with more espresso. Both drinks came to 6.00 which is pretty cheap, so I think I can rationalize the extra shot.
To their credit they had a band perform out front for Big On Bloor, and they were highly entertaining. I haven’t enjoyed a band as mush in a very long time. I’m told the guy who owns the Tranzac owns Holy Oak so I wish them well in the future. The Tranzac is a pretty great place.
There’s great coffee available in this city and although Holy Oak has an interior that I’d be happy to sit around in it wont be my destination spot for coffee quite yet when there’s so many other places a simple bike ride away that offer consistent spectacular stuff. I’ll give them another chance, I’m sure with the extra shot approach I might feel different.
Other shops in the west end that do make spectacular coffee in preferential order;
Crema Coffee Company - 3079 Dundas Street West (east of Jane)
Ezra Pound - 238 Dupont Street
Cherry Bomb - a few blocks up from Queen Roncessvalle
Saving Gigi - Bloor and Roxton (east of Ossington)
Alternative Grounds - Roncessvalle by Pollocks (south of High Park Blvd.)
The Local - College east of Dufferin
If I lived over the river I’d be at Jet Fuel every day. They make a potent blend there that I love that usually leaves Jill a bit shaky.
Gone are my heavy boozing days. Don’t get me wrong, I still indulge in a few too many drinks now and again but rarely do those sessions leave me with a hangover or some weird forgotten wake of carnage where I wake up in my clothes.
That said I am excited about the imminent arrival of 3Speed which Google Maps tells me is located at about 1169 Bloor Street West. That’s on the south side of Bloor west of Dufferin and just west of the high school and east of Brock.
Rumor has it that this is to be run by the fine folks that opened The Communist’s Daughter on Dundas about 10 years ago. I’m sort of guessing at that 10 years ago shit. Peering through the window as I’m want to do, it looks awesome. Now let’s just hope it has a jukebox that will rival the one in the old place.
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