Gion Tsujiri

We couldn’t go to Kyoto without a sampling of matcha; on the way up towards Kodaiji, we passed several shops selling matcha soft serve, but we were all too full to partake.

Gion Tsujiri
Location: 東山区 高台寺ねねの道 京・洛市「ねね」
Shimokawaracho, Higashiyama-ku
Kodaiji Nenenomichi, Kyoto 605-0825, Kyoto Prefecture

Coffee Shops in Gastown

We had a lot of coffee, tea, lattes, and the like during our trip to Vancouver. Staying in Gastown, we were surrounded by coffee shops around every corner, and we tried a new one nearly every morning (and sometimes afternoon).

JJ Bean

Upon arriving in Vancouver, we dropped off our bags and showered, and had lunch before stopping by for our first hit of caffeine. I went with my fail-safe London Fog, and was decently satisfied, but unbeknownst to me at the time, this would end up being our most-visited cafe.

Europe in a nutshell: the Netherlands

Here begins the long overdue summary of my Europe trip, the food-centric version. If you were curious about other aspects, it is currently about 2/3 of the way through here.

Amsterdam. The Netherlands. Meat and potatoes. So many potatoes…

My favourite part was definitely the beer, cheese, and desserts. I must say I wasn’t terribly impressed by Dutch food other than frites.

The best start to the day: stroopwafels and tea. My favourite stroopwafels were the honey ones from Albert Heijn. I would also highly recommend trying one fresh from a street vendor!

Craft beer at Oedipus Brewery. I’m not generally a huge beer fan when it comes to domestic beers at home, but the beer here was so delicious that it made me rethink my feelings for beer. Highly recommend trying some craft breweries over a bottle of Heineken!

And here marks the best coffee I’ve had thus far; the honey vanilla latte macchiato in Den Haag. Presentation, taste, and cafe decor is just about perfect at the Barista Cafe here.

My favourite cafe in Vancouver

Full Vegetarian Baguette; sub egg for avocado

I just came back from a week in Vancouver, and living in Gastown, we made it our mission to get our daily caffeine kick from a new place every morning.

Finch’s was not originally on my shortlist of cafes I made before we came, but we passed by it one morning and thought it was adorable – so we made a mental note to come back another morning.

Finch’s Tea & Coffee House
Location: 353 W Pender St
Vancouver, BC
V6B 1T1

Kung Fu Tea Shop 2.0

Rose milk tea, Uji matcha latte, tieguanyin milk tea

I was pretty sad when I found out Kung Fu Tea Shop closed their location on Dundas and University two years ago. It was my go-to spot for bubble tea when I was downtown and I would go out of my way to get my fix.

So I was pretty excited when they finally re-opened on Spadina, with a much bigger location and definitely with more foot traffic.

Kung Fu Tea
Location: 264 Spadina Ave
Toronto, ON
M5T 2E4

Coffee Shops in Markham

I’m one of those people who have trouble concentrating at home. There’s always something to do, clean, watch, make, etc., and so I also find myself sidetracked or seriously distracted even when I manage to sit down and work. Studying or finding a place to work in Markham isn’t the easiest thing to do – libraries fill up fast here and aren’t that plentiful.

I love the cafe atmosphere of nursing a drink for a couple of hours while working, or just catching up with friends over a a cup of joe. There have been more coffee shops popping up over the last few years that offer exactly that. 

Funky Munky Cafe

I was on the hunt for a place to work after dinner on a Tuesday night, and found Funky Munky Cafe. I wasn’t looking for bubble tea, but imagine my surprise when I walked in to find that they offered bubble tea in addition to coffee and tea.

Funky Munky Cafe
Location: 9275 Markham Rd, Unit 7
Markham, ON
L6E 1A1

Kekou Gelato

I love gelato, but combined with tea flavours? I’m sold.

Kekou Gelato
Location: 394 Queen St W
Toronto, ON
M5V 2A6

Perfecting the Matcha Latte

I first started writing this post over two years ago, but sadly, was not able to perfect the matcha latte until now. There is definitely room for improvement, especially with my latte art skills, but I am finally satisfied with the end product.

The main issues I faced were clumpy matcha, lackluster foam, and an absence of the vibrant green colour that adorns so many matcha lattes I’ve bought. 

Café Medina

Tagine, Le Sandwich Peameal, Fricassée Champignon, Fricassée

Café Medina is located in the heart of downtown Vancouver, nestled along a rather blank street; if not for the long lines of people waiting outside, you might miss it when you walk past. The first time we went there, we were told a party of 4 needed to wait an hour, so we walked around Marshall’s until about 45 mins past to leave a buffer. When we arrived back at the restaurant, we actually just made it in time as the hostess had already called our names a few times and was ready to strike us off the list.

Café Medina
Location: 780 Richards St
Vancouver, BC
V6B 3A4