Kafein Café-Bar

La qualité des ingrédients est indéniables. Le menu est simple et savoureux. A smooth tasty soup and a fluffy salad with a tasty vinaigrette that doesn’t kill the greens! Rare and appreciated. Great teas and coffee.
I come here often now.

Food: they offer a variety of coffees, smoothies and drinks for 5a7! Also pastries and sandwiches are available~ we got regular coffee, well brewed~
Service: friendly, lay back
Price: reasonable for coffee
Ambiance: bonus++ vintage retro feel, upstairs is more industrial style and fairly big space. Downstairs is more like a lounge bar feel, like in ur best friend’s basement with couches and long wooden table. Most clientele is from Concordia~

Kafein is a great café and bar option in the Guy-​Concordia /​Peel area.
Their lattés are consistently great, but the mocha is also worth a try! Their food options are light, tasty, and made with fresh ingredients. The décor is very different upstairs vs. downstairs. The upstairs is fairly neat (exposed brick, industrial stools), whereas the basement is more dimly lit and intimate. As for their bar, they have a fairly creative cocktail menu that is worth trying and a pretty active roster of DJ events, poetry nights, etc.

I’ve gone to Kafein for lunch, a quick coffee, a snack, an energy smoothie and drinks. Each time I went, I was not disappointed. The food was fresh, whole! It did not taste like packaged food.
My advice is to try their Chai Latte or brownie smoothie for a healthy treat. Oh & their drinks, pleasantly strong & delicious. The staff is nice, too!

Beautiful atmosphere to really just let yourself go after a day’s work.
The interior is non traditional with sofas and couches scattered all over. When i was there, they were playing Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) on a project. The place in all its entirety is one word: hip. The lounge style interior makes the place look super chill.
The cocktails are bar standard expensive. $ 9-​$ 12. But they are REALLY good. Mostly original mixes.
A must go if you want to indulge in the amateur art culture.

Go to a Concordia poetry reading here and enjoy the excellent sangria that they make especially for you. Try their excellent cocktails as well. An impeccable and creative menu.

I’ve visited a few more times during the day in the past few weeks, and the music has been much more palatable. The staff has actively kept the volume at an appropriate level, and genre-​wise they’ve leaned away from angry grunge and toward jazzy pop, which makes for a much more pleasant ambiance.

I really like this café/​bar, for starters, the downstairs is cute and has a live DJ which is fun, and the setting is cozy (some rips in the couches but still cute vintage feel), their plates are super antique looking fine china, which only adds to the vintage feel, which adds to the charm. The best part, aside from the romantic lighting and feel, is the happy hour because their amazing drinks are cheap (~$ 7 for super fancy drinks), they come in really fun glasses — the mojito, which is my favourite, comes in a mason jar mug and has brown rock sugar at the bottom and LOTS of fresh mint, it tastes amazing. probably my favourite mojito in the city thus far.
Although I wouldn’t come here for dinner, the food is fresh and has lots of fun ingredients, I think the presentation is nice and definitely worth trying something if you’re hungry.
My only major complaint is that the bathrooms didn’t smell good and they were so tiny. but I’m not sure if they have nicer bathrooms upstairs.
Only giving it 4 stars instead of 5 because of the slightly ripped couches and the tiny bathrooms downstairs. I know it’s part of the charm, but I think they would be better off replacing them or throwing a blanket over top. but happy hour drinks and ambiance. would have otherwise won them 5 stars

Worst service ever. We had to beg for cutlery way after our food arrived.
Food was Ok (not great) but the service ruined the experience.

Great coffee shop! Creative and inspiring vibe!
Love coming here for a cup of coffee, tea or their awesome duck salad!

I went to this place looking for a sandwich around lunchtime. I ordered a veggie panini for takeout for my drive home. This is a pretty laid back looking place with small tables, large enough for a laptop and a plate. They had lots of kinds of tea and coffee available and also a wide variety of snack items like croissants and brownies. There seems to be a downstairs that is more lounge style with couches but I didn’t go down there to see. The sandwich I ordered came with some chips and a carrot salad. The chips were identical to Miss Vickie’s original chips and the carrot salad was sour tasting… The salad also made my sandwich soggy in the box. The sandwich itself was tasty but the bread was really dry on the sides because the veggies were all piled in the middle. Overall, it was okay… I might go back to see if they have anything better to offer.

Superb café right next to Concordia campus that’s perfect for a quick lunch, a study area (especially downstairs), a quick delicious drink or a relaxing weekend with poetry readings on Saturday & Sunday. Basically, they have it all! The half panini + soup combo is under $ 10 which is a steal for a student like myself. The lavender, rosemary lemonade is deliciously tart and full of flavour, which is wonderful because many a-​times lemonade is extremely watered down. Yes this may just be another «artsy» café that litters montreal, but the atmosphere and table arrangements create a comfortable stay, no matter what you’re there for! Also, i read a past review that there used to be shisha and i’d love to see that return! It would be awesome!

I absolutely adore this place! The upstairs is a coffee shop with great food and lemonades, the downstairs is a dimly lit bar with couches and a cozy atmosphere. The music they play is great and the coffee is delicious! Would definitely recommend Kafein to everyone!

Possibly my new favourite café/​lunch place downtown Montréal — less crammed than some of the others. I had a fabulous fried haloumi sandwich. I’m pretty fussy about my hot drinks, and had a chai latté that was just so-​so, but I’d go back and try the espresso-​based drinks to see if they’re better. The staff was super easy-​going and friendly, the atmosphere chill, and the décor clean and fresh, while also warm and comfortable. They have exhibition opportunities for artists, and are pretty open about what they’ll exhibit. Great vibe. Check it out.

Last night, my friend and I were looking for a casual place for a drink so we headed to Kafein on Bishop. I was not aware that this café by day turns to a bar by night. As I entered the bar, I was immediately taken by the cosy, home-​like vibe. The décor was lovely. With its Red walls, the lights dimmed, and red velvet chairs, Kafein is made attractive and welcoming. I ordered a Mojito. Served in a mason jar for 10 $, I was satisfied with my choice. I would recommend this place for a date. Though the music became increasingly louder as the night progressed, Kafein maintains a romantic atmosphere, which in turn makes you at ease and relaxed.

Dear kafein,
I wanted to give you 5 stars, I miss your shisha days. You had the best vibes, comfy couches, dark ambiance, old school jams. Why did you have to change? I don’t really see the point of coming back to you now. I had some of the best times in your basement. Maybe i’ll make a short visit and try one of your sandwiches upstairs.

Love that spot and try to hit it whenever I am in town, whether to get a (good) cup of coffee or specialty tea or a stronger drink in the evening in the downstairs bar. Caught some pretty nice DJ sets as well in the cosy space. Good service, good drinks, there are few places like this in this part of Montréal. Definitely worth checking out!

Kafein’s food is good but coffee not so good; however, they make a mean cup of mocha. I really liked their squash soup, and the size was pretty generous for a small. Not sure if they bake their own pastries, but their croissants were delicious.
Every time I’ve gone my wifi was unreliable, but if you don’t need wifi, the space is actually pretty nice. Its got the right balance of coziness with quite a bit of space.

Before the flood happened –x– months ago, the downstairs area of Kafein looked super cool, vintage, and mysterious. Now it’s lost its charm, however, that’s not their fault. We can put it on mother nature… for now.
I’ve come here for drinks, I’ve come here for small bites, I’ve come here for coffee, and I have never left unsatisfied. I wouldn’t say this is my favourite place to go, but it’s not a bad place to go either.
Most recently, I came here with a hangover, and their Ginger-​Thyme Lemonade cured my ailing stomach! The ginger was strong, the thyme added a nice touch, and the lemonade was sweet’ish. I’m going to make this at home from now on, and when I’m too lazy, I’m going to walk on over and order one… or two. I love it.

Kafein, why do you hate vegans so much? There’s like nothing on the menu I can eat since you changed it. And before, there was like, one item. What the heck happened to the vegie paté sandwich? Sandwiches on chewy white bread? White mayonaise pesto and cilantro and sautéd mushrooms? That’s what I make at my house when I’m lazy… Puh-​leaze… Accompanied with chips? Again: puh-​leaze… How about a thick vegetable stew once in awhile (curry mushroom-​kale or potatoe-​bean or lentil-​carrot) or some vegan cookies… I gave my vegan baker friend your business card and she got excited and went by and spoke to you then called and you never called her back.
And I wish you’d turn it around, Kafein, cause truth be told, you’re not a bad place. Your downstairs is comfortable and you’ve got a well-​stoked bar and I like your bathrooms though the urinals are set way too high, and I’m like what, 5’11″? You’ve got good djs and you don’t come down hard on the nice homeless fella who hangs around outside though so many other establishments would — and that’s kind of ya.
But come on… vegan it up for the rest of us, will ya?