City Cafe Bakery
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I don’t find myself at City Café Bakery often, and when I
do, it’s because I’m totting around my niece and nephew along with my sister.
Nonetheless, she’s resolute: City Café Bakery’s da bomb. And, as I am a
democratic eater, I thought I’d give it a good mention, because many recommend
it. I personally do not have any major qualms with it, though I feel its
offerings are ordinary in the baked goods department. What appeals to the
masses, aside from the food, for City Café is the ethos of community it offers
and always has. It polices consumer ethics with the honour system. Inside its
garage/loft/diner interior customers buy goods and place their change in a jar.
That’s right, cash only. But, if you’re feeling a little anarchic you can
always stiff the bakers and literally vote with your dollar. You could very
well refuse to pay if you don’t think the goods are up to par. An assortment of
bagels, tarts, and bars, as well as pizzas are offered. The loaves come at a
reasonable 3.25. Smaller goods, like bars at a questionable 2 dollars; but
there’s never tax. Coffee’s fair trade. Again, community ethics.
Ottawa Street South
Kitchener, ON
N2G 3S7
CASH ONLY
The Princess Cafe has a popular following and is favoured,
if anything, for its quaint space. Although I myself appreciate it far more for
its rare novelties. Offering meal options I think better suited for lunch, the
Princess Café offers a great array of potables not merely restricted to coffees
and teas. It is the only café I know of in town that offers beer and wine in
the setting, so when you’re feeling a little grizzly you can drink like a
sailor while your friends all choose pinkies up. Its baked goods are supplied
by local suppliers and change frequently based on what the outside bakers have
to offer. Great for people looking for constant highs. A word of caution: the
Princess Café boasts no barista expertise, so a cappuccino could be nice, able
bodied, and foamy one day, but wet and deflated the next, depending on who
makes it. So know your help well, and demand they do what they can to make a
good and honourable memory of all those Capuchins, tea, or whatever. My novelty
of choice? The Italian hot chocolate: a cup of cocoa made as thick or as thin
as you like it. Alas, after the Cheeses Murphy debacle (Click here), I’m blackballed from
the place, or like to imagine I am, if only to prevent myself from drinking
someone’s spit- unless, of course, it’s Laura’s (light of my life, fire of my
loins).
46 King Street North
Waterloo, ON
N2J
(519) 886-0227
Any Payment
Sabletine Fine Pastries
Sabletine Fine Pastries is my chart-buster. A quaint
retrofitted home, unfortunately overshadowed by a high-rise of late millennial
capitalism, Sabletine connects eaters to a very romantic French culinary past.
It has a monopoly on any other patisserie, all goods being born and bred by its
pâtissier, trained, I’m told,
in France. It offers all café fair, from coffee, to tea, to an espresso with a
rich, heady crema, slight almond body, toothsome aftertaste and sugary aroma I
liken to a honey glazed donut. One of my favourite novelties of the place is
regal cups and saucers given to the humble and well mannered customer ordering
tea. Its chocolate croissants, sprinkled with sugar and pearled with chocolate
centres are flakey on the outside, chewy in the middle; and if you can, I
recommend going early and getting them warm. Don’t even get me started on the
joys of the French Éclairs. Its macaroons are a rare breed in these here parts,
and the rich almond meringue that encapsulates a flavoured butter cream worth
the exalted 1.50. It may be a lot, but nothing compares to that crunchy, chewy,
perfectly balanced dessert, rich enough to have you satisfied with just one.
203 King Street South
Waterloo, ON
N2J 1R1
(519) 568-7373
Any payment
The Cake Box
Straight and to the point, the Cake Box offers a cupcake
that eclipses all competition. And aside from that you can have sugar cookies,
prettily dressed, and if you’re lucky, a hearty piece of artisanal cake. Though
memory recalls there being more coffee options, the cake box limits itself to
coffee, tea, and a small choice of cold beverages. These, I take it, are mere
courtesy’s, the coffee being rather tannic in nature, but still tart. The
cupcakes, however, are what’re worth the trip, and the lovelies working the
line of cake decoration give a good reason to sit, watch, and make anyone feel
uncomfortable under the gaze of someone stuffing his face with sweets that have
the most unique and impressive flavours, like chocolate mint, coconut, and
rocky road. I opted for red velvet as I always do anywhere. A moist chocolate
topped by a butter cream with a touch of acidity and a whole lot of sweet. A
safe bet for anyone wanting a little familiarity. Cupcakes will set you back
2.50, but quite frankly, I’d pay for them even if they were more. Cookies are 3
dollars each, so I advise a little leeriness, lest you accidently get a stale
one. I am also told its legatee was also schooled in L'hexagone as well. Fancy. Check out the new location!
70 Victoria Street North
Kitchener, ON
N2H 5C2
(519) 579-6230
Any payment
Cafe 1842
Café 1842 is the underdog in this culinary battle for café
contest. Though I wouldn’t dare suggest a great coffee here, I’ve recollections
where my lattes have had great foams. Again, it all depends on the help. But
that’s not what makes it a coveted place for this self-conscious culinarian.
Yes, its tables are wobbly and its matcha latte at times resembles the eggy
aura of an omelette, but if you need a place to go in the late hours of the
night, Café 1842 seems a fitting place. Open late, and often in the company of
other peaceful café-teers, 1842 is a clean well lighted place for anyone seeking
solace, and with the Jazz Room opened next door, you can stay awhile and swoon
over the smoke-and-honey voices of the singers that grace the stage Friday and
Saturday nights. But its baked goods are my raison d’etre. Don’t be fooled by
its lackluster qualities, I’ve never been disappointed with the stuff baked by
the cooks upstairs every morning. The lemon squares are my favourite: a crusty,
gooey, lip puckering dream. Its array of brownies are another chewy reverie,
and the ones that are gluten free expel all guilt, not that I need them.
59 King Street North
Waterloo, ON
N2J
(519) 886-3350
Any Payment
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