Stopped by this place for a coffee and a bite to eat while I was visiting some friends with my wife. The café is in an excellent location near the business centre of the island. As such, it feels like a required stop for any visitor to the area. The atmosphere was lively and colourful, and the prices seemed quite reasonable for a locally-owned establishment. The coffee was great, I believe it’s locally roasted organic beans. For food, I had a grilled chicken panini and my wife had the Mediterranean-style veggie wrap. The panini was a little dry, but overall it wasn’t too bad for the price. All in all, I’d say the service was excellent, and definitely recommend you check this place out. The only strange thing I can think to mention was a little incident that occurred roughly halfway through the meal. My wife and I were enjoying the food and started to talk to some locals about island life when suddenly there was a lot of shouting outside and there appeared to be some sort of argument going on. I turned to see what was happening when a man, clearly drunk, and wearing nothing but a leather jacket, stumbled in to the establishment screaming at some unseen person outside. He walked up to the counter and started verbally harassing the poor teenage girl working at the register. Another guy,(I assume the manager), came out of the kitchen and tried to tell Leather Jacket Man to leave. Jacket Man then shoved him in to the baked goods display, shattering the glass display case. I thought it best that my wife and I leave, but before we could get up, the man reached in to his jacket pocket and pulled out a gun. He started wandering around the restaurant and I couldn’t help but notice a distinct smudge of white powder underneath his nose. Now, I’m not one to judge on what people choose to partake in in their spare time, but the fact that he had a gun and didn’t seem to be calming down was, as you can imagine, quite the cause for alarm, especially as I was with my wife. Everyone in the restaurant seemed terrified at this point and I started to wonder where the police were. I decided to call 9/11, but the man saw me take out my phone and yelled at me to put it down, or else he would«blow my brains out». Needless to say I put the phone down. Finally, with everyone terrified and me wondering whether the one day I had decided to visit this supposedly peaceful, sleepy little island was the day it ended up on CNN, the man dropped his gun to the floor, stopped yelling, and proceeded to stare straight in to the wall at nothing. After about three minutes of the man standing dead still, the first couple people, still sitting down, decided to take their chances and attempt to leave. As soon as they got up however, the man started yelling again and they sat back down. He began to once again wander around the restaurant yelling, but thankfully he never picked up his gun, which was still on the floor. I was beginning to get sick of this whole ordeal when the man once again stopped, this time right near my table. He stared at the remnants of my chicken panini and then pulled out a full baggy of cocaine, confirming my earlier suspicions. He proceed to grab a large handful and then blew the powder out through his nose on to my plate, yelling«HERE’S SOMEPARMESANCHEESEFORYOU, CITYSLICKER» — that is an exact quote. Finally, after what had felt like hours, the man sprinted out of the café and ran in to the nearby woods, after which the police came and took statements. In conclusion, I would recommend you try the veggie wrap and don’t come to this place when the cycling club meets.
Liza R.
Place rating: 3 Lake Oswego, OR
This is an aesthetically pleasing café with a couple of long tables, cozy armchairs, a raised sitting area and an outside patio. The drinks are quite nice as are their pastries. The staff however are downright unfriendly and snooty — not what we’ve come to expect from Canadians. The clientele seems to be mostly of that ilk as well. It’s also noisy. For a more relaxing vibe, try the Old Crow a Café.
