Innocent Cafe

It was a wet, dreary, bleak winter afternoon. Not wanting to be held captive in my own house, I decided to head out into the city with my best friend in tow. Wanting to burst out from my routine, I decided to go to a new cafe and my choice was Innocent Cafe.

Innocent Cafe is located on 1340 West 4th Avenue, just seconds away from Kitsilano and the famed tourist destination, Granville Island. It's one of those tucked away cafes so unless you're paying close attention to your surroundings, you might be miss it. To the untrained eye, it might appear to be just another building. It's located within a strip, surrounded by other businesses. Multiple windows decorated a square, block like tan coloured building. On the building a large white banner said "Innocent Cafe" in big black bold letters.

The interior of the cafe was very quaint and tiny. It felt like I was stepping into somebody else's kitchen. The seating was very selective and even more limited. It felt more like a grab and go compared to sit and stay. There were stairs that led to a second level. I never ventured up there, so I have no idea what was up there. The decor was minimal and abstract, not extravagant or over the top.

The service was awkward and standoffish. No words were spoken, no greetings was said. Instead, a pair of eyes looked through me, as if to say, why are you are. Maybe I caught the barista had a off day but I felt not welcomed and slightly uncomfortable.After a bout of silence, my friend and I proceeded to order our lattes. At most cafes, you move over to the bar after placing your order at the till. In this case, you stand in the same spot, patiently waiting for my latte to be ready. Soon enough, our lattes were ready. We thanked our barista, only to be greeted with a semi smile.

The latte was decent. I wasn't sure which beans they used by I was not wowed by the flavour of the espresso. I was impressed that I could taste the espresso though, as I've had lattes elsewhere that taste like steamed milk. With most lattes, I could pick up the flavour in the espresso be it chocolate, almonds or something fruity. This time, that wasn't the case.

Would I return to the cafe? Probably not. I live in east Vancouver, so Innocent Cafe is out of the way for me. Plus, I could get better coffee and service elsewhere. After reading the mostly positive reviews on yelp and similar sites, I was disappointed that my experience did not live off to the other ones. It seems like Commercial Drive and Main Street offer the best coffee in the city.

Prado Cafe Raspberry Bar

Guys, I'm not the most religious person, but I'm pretty sure I experienced a taste of heaven earlier. I decided to return to Prado Cafe (1938 Commercial Drive, just on the corner on 4th) for their Americano Misto. However, upon reading online reviews of the cafe, I noticed that everyone raved about the raspberry bars, and how they're the best thing ever. My sweet tooth was acting up, so I decided to try the raspberry bar as.

Well, I'm certainly glad I did! After taking the first bite, I felt instant ecstasy. The fruity raspberry taste did a happy dance on my taste buds as it lingered. The crumble bit was the perfect compliment, giving it a nice texture. It tasted fresh, not like it was laden with chemicals or preservatives. And even better, it's baked by someone who works at Prado, instead of it being shipped in frozen. If you support local food, than show it by ordering it. I wanted to take a photo of the entire thing but unfortunately, I succumbed to the delicious flavour. I will, however, post the remnants of it. I do highly recommend you try it when you're on the drive. Make sure to pair it with their world class cappuccino. In fact, I can confidently say that Prado makes the best cappuccino in town. Oh, and their Americano Misto is pretty damn good too. I'll have to try it again but next time, I'm going to pair it with their latte.

So next time you find yourself on Commercial Drive, (particularly on the corner of 4th), come in and order their raspberry bar and cappuccino. Your taste buds will thank you.