#discovermtl
Location: 1250 Ontario St E
Metro Station: Beaudry
Ever since I was little, my grandmother would bake me this yellow dessert. She would call them Sfouf and would tell me she would always make them for my dad back in Lebanon. We are Armenian, but my dad’s side of the family is entirely from Lebanon. You can imagine how much of the Lebanese culture has stuck with my family and how much they enjoy recreating dishes and activities that remind them of their childhood. For me, “Sfouf” was more than just a dessert, but also a little memory I would always associate with my grand mother and my father.
When I heard that there was cafe in Montreal named “Sfouf”, I was definitely intrigued. I wondered if it was a coincidence, or if the owners intentionally wanted to name their cafe after a yellow dessert. When I saw their yellow logo, I knew it wasn’t an accident. I decided to go there myself and take a look at this original-sounding coffee shop located close to the Plateau.
Walking in, Sfouf looked like a normal indie coffee shop. Obviously, it looked unique with its beautiful decor but nothing too extravagantly different. It blended in nicely with the Montreal coffee scene.
I especially loved the plants that were decorating each corner of the cafe. Plants are very important to me as they liven up a space and make it feel like Summer despite Montreal’s cloudy weather.
There were many corners to this coffee shop. They have your usual huge desks that were filled with students & their laptops (including me). They have couches, great to hang out for some chit chat. And… they had a little corner for children! They call it “Le Petit Sfouf” and they have provided toys for kids to play with while their parents enjoy a nice cup of coffee. Very nice addition!
I ordered a cappuccino off of my Indie Coffee Passport and quickly opened my laptop to get some work done (AKA pretend to work while I take at least a hundred pictures of the coffee shop).
As I was “working”, the barista brought my *beautiful * cappuccino.. along with a piece of Sfouf! That’s right - they offer a free sampling of Sfouf with their drinks for those of you who are curious. And it was delicious.
I deeply appreciate coffee shops like this one. They have created a wonderful spot for Montrealers to hang out, all the while keeping their culture and spreading it around. Now more people will know about Sfouf! It definitely feels like the world knows about my little family story now. I will for sure bring my grandmother here one day.
Small tip: When you go, make sure you take a picture of their “corner” pictures below; it’s their most photographed corner!
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Hello beautiful people!!!
So… I have some pretty big news for you.
As you may know, I’ve been using Tumblr as my primary blog but I’m so happy to finally announce that I have made a Montreal Cafe Crawl blog online!!!!
It would mean the world to me if you checked it out <3
Insta:legendoftamar
Facebook:exploringmontrealcafes
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Cafe Perko
Location: 753 Rue Villeray, Montréal
Metro Station: Jean Talon
Hello lovely people!!! I have finished finals and am currently in my summer semester (already, I know). I’ve been in the process of also applying to almost a 100 internship positions for Fall 2017 as a “software engineer intern”. It’s been hard. It’s been tiring. Exciting, but energy sucking. What could possibly help me in these stressful times? What could possibly fuel me up to be motivated and alert in my job application process?
You guessed it. Coffee.
I came here last weekend and it was a true refresher. My cousin drove us in this lovely spot in Villeray since she wanted to work on her writing (she’s amazing by the way, you should check out her poetry on her account @doekent).
In contrast to other coffee shops in Montreal, I hadn’t heard of Perko too much. I had stumbled upon it on a few posts on Instagram but hadn’t noticed any hype. So why did we go? By the time she picked me up it was around 5 and almost all coffee shops close early - except Perko, which closed at 9. So we went for it. And I’m VERY glad we did.
This is how you discover hidden gems. And it is the best feeling. Stepping inside this relatively big coffee shop, I immediately noticed the one table that was open. The place was packed. We bolted for the one table. The picture I took and posted above is from right before their closing time and does not represent the amount of people that fills the cafe on their regular times.
The space was gorgeously decorated and felt almost home-like. There were cute signs and sayings all over the place. The baristas were very nice too.
I ordered a latte (obviously) and my cousin ordered a chai latte. Both were very delicious and my latte definitely fuelled me up and motivated me to continue writing my cover letters.
One thing I noticed was that there were a lot of kids and babies around. Some really loud… I wondered why there were so many babies in this one coffee shop. I got my answer when I saw that Perko had a little section for kids where they put many baby toys and couches for parents to relax on. I found it very cute and inviting for families. There were also changing tables in the bathrooms.
Another cool aspect about Perko is that it’s a student friendly coffee shop. There are many plugs, AMAZING wifi, a room you can rent (I think for 10$/hour) to study in… and they even have a PRINTER. Isn’t that unusually cool? And very nice of them? You can donate some money if you do print but they’ve made it completely free which is… amazing. And generous.
In conclusion: I got a lot of work done here. I loved the vibe of the cafe, I loved the coffee, I loved the people, I loved everything about it. I will definitely go back. And you should too!!!
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Leaves Cafe
Location: 2051 Rue de la Montagne
Metro Station: Peel or Guy-Concordia
Hello!!! I know I’ve already posted about this spot, but since I come here a lot, I felt like updating my pictures for you guys! I first came here when it had just opened and it has evolved since then.
If you haven’t read my old post about this place, worry-not! I’ll give you a nice little summary of this wonderful cafe.
First off, this cafe is located very close to Concordia University (and relatively close to McGill University). I enjoy the short walk through downtown to get here from my school. Especially if you have classes in Hall building (Concordia students), Leaves is about 3-4 block away.
What I love about this place is its peacefulness. Every time I come here, I feel instantly relaxed. Their playlist includes relaxing acoustic songs (a lot of them I listen to regularly myself). Their simplistic and minimalist decor strips down your stress and reveals peace of mind. Almost everything here is white, with touches of pale wood and plants. So many plants. And cacti. Leaves is here to satisfy your love for cacti. Mini plants fill the cafe and introduce color and nature to their little space. A lot of the plants are planted in little white coffee cups with their logo printed on them. Perfect for Instagram.
An interesting aspect of this cafe is that it is the only all vegan cafe in Montreal. Yap, no milk. Any lactose-intolerant person’s dream. And paradise for vegans too, of course. But don’t worry, if you order a latte, you won’t just get latte minus milk (basically an overpriced espresso). They have some yummy substitutes: Almond milk, Soy milk and Coconut milk. I find that the coconut milk tastes best but almond milk results in better latte art. So for your Instagram junky (like me), get the almond milk!!!
My absolutely favorite drink here is also the favorite of almost all their clients: MATCHA LATTE. If you have never tried matcha latte, I’m sorry but I cannot be your friend. Please come here and try it and then maybe I’l consider talking to you. That’s how good it is. And what is matcha latte? (If you don’t know, please don’t even approach me) It’s basically powdered green tea that’s mixed in with milk (in this case, substitute milk). It tastes a lot like green tea. It’s very good and it’s very healthy! If you don’t like coffee, this could be your go-to coffee shop drink. And possibly your go-to cafe.
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