I Deal Coffee

Had a great couple hours here w emails and wifi and some drinks — managed some seats together at a bench in front of the window — and with reliable wifi, soft music, and great ways to satiate your caffeine addiction, I’d highly recommend iDealCoffee.

I’ve visited I Deal Coffee several times. I’ve never been to their other locations, so I can only speak for Ossington. I have to say I really enjoyed this place, coffee and ambience wise. My go-​to beverage is their americano misto, which always came out nicely balanced and barely needed any sugar. Price is very reasonable, and I believe it’s 5 or 10c off if you sit in. Some people have complained that their mugs are «ugly» but I don’t mind, it’s like the ugly Christmas sweaters of mugs and a part of their coffee shop identity. Service is always just-​right friendly, the way I like it. not trying too hard but not too aloof either.
I find myself craving to go back every now and then.

Awesome coffee and sweets. I love that you get a free cup when you purchase a pound. Space is a little limited for sitting but that makes eavesdropping on hipster conversations that much easier. A reliable cuppa joe!

This coffee shop was nice and homely. The coffee was really fresh and tasted amazing. They also have free wifi so it is a great place to spend a couple of hours.
Tip: the place is small so you might not be able to sit there.
Also, hipsters are welcomed and encouraged to come to this location.

One thing I love the most about here is the wooden benches and tables. Makes it very warm and cozy environment. Great prices for specialty drinks considering there all doubles. They have a decent selection of baked goods, which all appear fresh and delicious. There’s a solid amount of seating for a small café, and somewhat friendly staff, experience can vary. Will return.

Pretty cute. Nice coffee. Not the first place I might choose to go, nevertheless, I’m never disappointed when I do.

Awesome café. The coffee is great, and the green onion cheese scone is delicious. Loses one star for cramped seating, but at least you can usually find a seat.

This is my favourite location of this tiny Toronto chain. Can we call three coffee shops a chain? I’m going to, but it certainly isn’t a chain in the evil sense of the word.
Lush patio with huge shading umbrellas. Decent music (if you’re a Daft Punk fan, if you’re not you might go crazy.) Their coffee is strong, and I don’t like to fly away, so I stick to their very reasonable $ 2.25 earl gray teas. Tea-​lish.
PEPPER POINTS for their strong wifi and excellent outlet accessibility. Outlets are the new biscotti.
PEPPER’S PISSED About the lack of food. I know they aren’t called «I Deal Sandwiche», but a little something would be so lovely.

Kitschy little coffee shop overlooking Ossington that serves delicious americanos.
I am writing this from the coffee shop itself, where I have sequestered myself in an attempt to finish a long overdue article. I have been watching cyclists and cars pass by and I have drank so much coffee I feel woozy. I have shared my table with a few other patrons now and everyone has been so lovely and kind. This place has such a nice friendly vibe. I am surrounded by others also working on things. Some are reading books and writing in notebooks. It almost feels like a café for post-​grads, though there isn’t a university in this area. It is early Sunday evening and it is not busy, kind of quiet actually. The cute barista boy is talking to a couple customers about touring and festivals while he grinds espresso beans. I am not sure what band he is in. I quite like it here.
I have been listening to Arcade Fire, played at a soothing level through the shop’s speakers. The treats here look delicious, white chocolate cranberry cookies, but I will have to try those another time.
My article is no where done, but there is not a drop of coffee left in this mug, which, by the way, is an old Christmas mug that says «dad» on it written in clouds. There is a teddy bear driving a red and green train. Kitschy? Yes. Lovely? Yes.

WAY nicer location than their Kensington location. I had a delicious hot chocolate, and my husband had a very satisfying espresso. Drinks made with love! Sunny corner spot, with some seating. A few baked goods available for sale too. Simple place, but they do good coffee!

Café’s in Toronto fall into three categories:
Cool, charming and yet unique, very rare like Merchants Of Green Coffee.
Alright, but you cannot discern them from the rest. Not a bad thing, just not a great thing either.
And sometimes dirty (or not) but uninspired, perhaps bad service, overpriced and the place seems like an afterthought, or ironically, too much thought/​forced, which can make you wonder: «What where they thinking?» (Aka: Monarch Expresso Bar)
I Deal Coffee falls squarely in the middle. It is smallish, narrow, not many tables and although mostly clean AND painted white (for those hipsters or Mac lovers out there) there is not much to make it memorable or stand out from others cafes other than «Hey, that’s the café on the Ossington stretch with white walls, the one at the corner!»
Coffee is average… BUT THEY HAVE A BLACKBOARD! WHERE THEY WRITE STUFF! How unique and different is that?
Meh.
I have mostly been there because I needed coffee and it was open… and you know, it’s painted white. Meh.
Would I come here outside a dire need for a joe shot or using the Indie Passport? Probably no.
The reason I am unimpressed is because I cannot shake the feeling they are trying a bit too hard, albeit that is highly subjective.

If you go to enough cafes like I do, you would probably recognize i deal coffee. i deal coffee has three café locations: Ossington, Kensington and the recently opened, Yonge and Lawrence. I will be reviewing the Ossington location in this review.
i deal coffee is known for selling their own coffee beans. The coffee beans are roasted every Sunday at their Kensington location, so they are always fresh. They like to keep their focus primarily on their coffee so you won’t find any syrups here.
I ordered a mocha. Whenever I think of mocha, or anything chocolate-​like, I would automatically assumed it is sweet but this one was bland and I had to sugared and honeyed it up before I was satisfied.
The café’s design is lacklustre for my taste and I felt could’ve been better decorated. It has that worn-​down and mismatched look that just didn’t strike me. However, I do prefer this one over their Kensington’s location. Though what lacked in the interior decorating department is compensated in their customer service. Heidi, the barista, is a perky happy girl who answered my questions regarding the café. She even took back my mocha and added more foam to make it more appealing for picture-​taking purposes.
The café definitely had its peak time, I noticed. I was there from approximately late 3 PM till it closed at 7 PM. The peak time was around 4 PM before there was a slow-​down. More people came to buy a bag of coffee, rather than staying at the café. For any of the purchases of either half a pound or pound of coffee (check menu for price), you will get any free drink or coffee of your choice!

I’m not a coffee drinker but I’ll have the occasional tea latte so I stopped here for one. It’s busy, but the barrista was quick so I didn’t have to wait long. They use ethically traded and locally roasted beans for their coffee too. My tea was made with hand bagged loose leaf tea and served with a funky hand knit cover to keep my hands safe. How thoughtful. I sat for and hour and saw that the staff were friendly to everyone and seemed happy to be there.

As I was trolling the alleys for some cool art, I found myself walking down Ossington. I took the opportunity to finally try this coffee joint.
It was comfortable from the moment I walked inside. (I discovered a bit later that there are two doors to enter from. I entered from Ossington not the side street). I had always thought because the exterior was stark white and unassuming that the interior would be, too! Completely wrong! They should makeover the outside because there are weirdos like me that might just pass it buy for its cold white shell.
But I was determined to give it a whirl and was extremely happy I did. A pleasant barista welcomed and made me my order. It was an incredibly smooth americano with subtle undertones and no bitterness at the finish.
I savored my drink as I read a book from my snazzy ebook reader. Mmmmmm… a fabulous read with my incredibly warm and satisfying companion, Americano.
The only points off I would give, is for the bathroom. That’s all I will say about that one.
I plan on going back and buying some of their beans so I can have some of that warm loving from my americano in the comfort of my own home. We need the privacy.
LOL

Initially I was planning to skip this spot altogether due to the poor experience I had at the other branch of this place.
A fellow Unilocaler who happens to be a coffee aficionado suggested I try it nonetheless.
Unfortunately this spot didn’t fare much better than the monstrosity in the name of espresso drink that gets served at the other spot.
Setup admittedly is much better than other location.
I ordered my Cappuccino with a sweetener and they didn’t have any. Its OK I skipped my sweetener I got my drink for here. The drink was served in a crappy mug the drink had no crema to speak off and the milk was frothed poorly. I had a couple of sips and then just walked away.
3 stars for setup
1 star for drink.

Sorry hipsters; you’re just too dirty for me to ever join your ranks. This coffee shop seems like a cross between my high-​school detention hall (not that I EVER was sent there) and a cottage. All the furniture is really and truly on its last legs, and that means you should prepare to tip merrily away on tippy chairs at tippy tables. This is in fact a sparsely populated furniture graveyard, but I’d rather let it RIP and make my way to someplace less precarious.
And then there is the surly stare from the oh-​so-​cool barista.
Look, I realize this isn’t McDonald’s and smiles might not be free, but there ARE safe and healthy options to misery, really there are.
The coffee was surprisingly good, but not worth the $ 2.50 + 0.50 tip offered in lieu of being glared to death by said barista.

The 2 stops I spent the least amount of time at during the whole indie coffee passport period was at the two «I deal coffee» locations. While this location is miles ahead of the Kensington Market location I still found it to be too small and crowded with random seating arrangements.
Sure the drink was not bad by any means but it did not do anything special for me. I’m also not a fan of the menu location as it is directly behind you when you are ordering a drink.
Staff was friendly, drink was good but there are a lot better options in the area if you want to actually go in and take some time off to enjoy your drink.
I give it three stars because I enjoyed my drink and it is a good enough location if you want your coffee to go.

The Barista was dressed/​styled so he reminded me of the Movie «Grease» because of the slick Hairstyle. Also gave me the feeling I went back in time like «Back to the Future» where Michael J Fox goes back to see his Parents in the 1950s. Not my scene, not my decade but those Movies did provide enjoyable entertainment although they were made in the 1980s.
The Cappuccino was served in what seems to be a Cup stolen from someones Grandmother. I felt so out of whack I wish I asked for either Tea or Americano so I can be in-​sync to the general environment. Apparently Grandma lost her Tea set because my Friend’s Cappuccino Cup was different size and pattern than mine. The TRUTH is I felt a bit awkward in here and wanted to dash out to the DeLorean.
Cappuccino was made the authentic Foamy non-​Latte Art style. Much like the Kensington locale, their Espresso shot is much too bold and deep for my preference. It’s A-​OK but the vibe it felt so weird… I’m not sure if I should start doing the Bebop on the Roof or what?

I Deal Coffee is the only place I regretted that I told the barista I want to stay in with my cappuccino…
It is the most unique and ugly cups I ever drink from… worse than my Blue Jay’s souvenir keepsake cups from when they won the World Series!
Sofas and armchairs here are all mismatch… and some of them are like all been chewed up by my dog… and I wondering if they have any bed bugs…
Maybe it is charming for some, like having a drink in a retro place… but just not my cup of «coffee»!
BTW, the cappuccino here is quite A-​OK! The barista is nice and cheerfully accept my Indie Coffee Passport…
Free WIFI is nice but I really rather go across the street to Crafted!

C O F F E E P A S S P O R T S T O P (#20)
Drink: Large Mocha
Atmosphere: Almost entirely opposite of it’s sister location on Nassau st. First of all this place has actual matching furniture that is neatly placed in the shop. Plus you could actually SEE the stuff here whereas at the other location it was cramped and just overwhelming since it was full of stuff. This place is clean just how a coffeeshop should be and the outside is similar to that of Hoof Café — painted white and at a corner.
And yes, when I mean opposite I mean opposite. Even my drink was great. Id have to say that this was one of my favorite mochas! It was not overwhelmed by the espresso, but it was strong enough where you could taste all the elements such as the smoothe milkiness
of it. But sadly near the end, it was getting a LITTLE bit thick and grimey. Nonetheless not unbearable like Moonbeans. (yes, I sorta bash them a lot)
3.7
Verdict: Come again? Yes.