An overall disappointing effort in all areas from this well known Gastown name; Coffeebar Gastown. Average food and drinks, unwelcoming staff and appalling bathroom practices.
Coffee
Latte: $4
They have a really interesting espresso machine, its pressure is controlled by a giant hand pump that the barista clearly didn’t know how to use. The espresso was massively over extracted. The milk temperature was decent and the consistency was good.
Food
There was plenty to chose from – wraps, pastries, cookies and brownies. I chose a brownie. It was above average but had a slightly alcoholic taste to it, which was strange, but not unappealing (don’t judge me, I love my booze!).
Location
Right in the heart of Gastown, they couldn’t have a better place really.
Venue
They have an interesting enough venue – it’s got that Gastown trendy look to it, there’s a decent amount of seating and you can look out either onto Water Street or out into the courtyard of the building it’s in.
Bathrooms
Here’s where things got really bad for this particular snob. The bathrooms themselves were clean enough, but were messy. Scraps of paper strewn about and pools of water on the floor. But why the score is so low here is because the bathrooms are locked and to get them open you needed to get a communal key… which is stored on the same surface that they serve food on. So to reiterate – the key is taken into the bathroom by anyone, then put back onto a food surface. I’d eaten before I saw this and I will never eat here again.
Staff
Mediocre at best. The employee that took my order did just that – no chit chat, no smile. The barista that made my coffee was more pleasant but didn’t really elaborate much when I asked her about the unique espresso machine.
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