Cafe Oranje

289-260-5279

312 King Street East

Hamilton, Ont.

Chris@cafeoranje.ca

Tweet @cafeoranje.ca

www.cafeoranje.ca

**updated**

This cafe has been a long journey for the 2 owners, I have been following Cafe Oranje on twitter and Facebook for quite a while thinking it was open already.  When it was announced on the last week of August it was official! I quickly gathered one of my partners in cafe hopping and planned a trip to King Street!

I was greeted and served by Amy one of the owners of the cafe and she was happy to tell me about the coffee, why they picked it and the roaster (everything is locally sourced).  We found street parking very easily and seating as well.  I ordered a medium roasted coffee, pour over method and it came nice and hot and fully flavoured. Lovely!  

I was really happy with my coffee, free parking across the road before 9 (we didn't get that) and the service.  The day we went the poor airconditioning was working overtime and not keeping up too well. We understood because it was the third day the cafe was open.  We enjoyed the location because the great bookstore next door, we got a book and figuratively chilled (I'm not listening to the OED description of literally).

1)coffee- $2 8/10

2)roasted- locally roasted by Rob House called Hero coffee (special blend to enhance the properties of the beans to be flavoured like the beans that were originally Dutch sourced. 8.5/10

3)service- fast and friendly 9/10

4)assessibility- some street parking but a city lot is directly across the road 8/10

5)flavour- great, full flavour 8.5/10

6)Eco- friendly- china cups in house, unknown if the cafe recycles, cafe Oranje carries soy and almond milk 9/10

7)cup size- attractive, large mugs 9/10

8)food- Neil had a tasty cookie baked by Cake & Loaf on Dundurn, freshly baked 9/10 (vegan food now available)

9)ambience- clean, austere furniture paired with rustic, brick antique building (very cool). 8/10

10)wifi- yes, upon request.  10/10

*Cafe Oranje is one if the biggest social media savy cafes around! Check them out and enjoy the regular tweets and Facebook updates!

* 9/10 overall for wonderful new cafe to enjoy great coffee with a Dutch theme!

Cafe Amore

49 Argyle St. North
Caledonia, On
N3W 1B8
905-765-3878

First of all, I don't think that Cafe Amore should be called a diner. I went to Cafe Amore with the hopes that I would be trying a new shop that would be interesting and tasty. There wasn't anything particularly wrong with this cafe; it was just unremarkable.

1) coffee - $1.45 small, $1.67 large 8/10
2) roasted in house - no 5/10
3) service - 9/10
4) accessibility - street parking on the min road in Caledonia 8/10
5) Flavour - bland, not interesting, unremarkable 5/10
6) Eco-friendly - no, no milk alternatives available either 5/10
7) Cup size - fine 6/10 (bottomless cup)
8) food - turtle square I bought for my son was good (7/10)
9) local ingredients- no 6/10
10) wifi? No 0/10

*overall rating 5.9/10. I really wanted to like this one, the server was sweet, friendly and prompt...just not the greatest place.

Mulberry Street Coffee House

193 James Street North, Hamilton
(905) 963-1965

It looks like I am keeping it in the family for the last two blogs. My daughter Maggie and I found ourselves on James Street on Sunday morning thinking that a coffee while we wait is the perfect thing to do...well it was because it was the only place open >:(. I am pretty sure that I say this every time I go to James Street on a Sunday or Monday (my only days off) and I "pinky swear" it won't happen a gain. That being said, I had an incredible experience at Mulberry. I already knew I loved the place, it's treats and ambience but I hadn't stopped to appreciate the coffee before. I had a cafe Americano as usual, Maggie had a (let me get this straight) sugar free, vanilla chai latte made with soy, as well as we shared a vegan macaroon. I would normally give Mulberry a glowing review, the coffee was superb, the ambience was cool, comfortable seating, clean bathroom, music was just the right volume....BUT. The server forgot my macaroon, the latte was put down so crazily that it slashed all over without any apologies to Maggie for getting it all on her hand, there was no offering of napkins....just really odd. I am glad that it wasn't my first time in because newbies would be intimidated. I just found the bald lady kinda funny (no smiles).

1) price? Damn forgot to check....anyone remember?
2) roasted beans in house? No, doesn't matter
3) service - 6/10 (unusual for the place, messy service and forgetful today...party last night?)
4) accessibility - no problem, one street over - 7.5/10
5) flavour - 9.5/10 (amazing flavour and in a Christmas mug...sooooo good)
6) Eco friendly - 9/10 (china cups for in house, paper cups for take out are made from reclaimed paper:)
7) cup size - 8.5/10 ( I had a single shot and the cup was really nice, not huge though)
8) food - 9/10 (our macaroon was delicious and full of nuts and coconut and big)
9) ingredients local - not what we had but I think their food is if in season
10) ambience - 8/10 ( not rated as highly today, the servers are normally really bubbly and awesome, no one seemed happy today....tired?)

* Maggie and I agreed the art was cool on the walls and the restaurant was really clean and splendid

* I love the fact that Mulberry and it's sister cafe My Dog Joe both have free wifi and encourage people to come an stay for a while!

My Dog Joe

Westdale is just cool. I have a hard time believing my kid will be this age soon, as of February she's old enough for university and that's the majority of the crowd is here at My Dog Joe. Neil is with me today, we ordered our drinks (cafe Americano for me and latte for him). I toiled over my treat but settled on a Hello Dolly which frankly, "kicks ass". My first choice was a vegan cupcake that was chocolate espresso but couldn't compete with Maggie's baking.

The cafe is lovely for those that love a calm, hippy atmosphere with awesome music and free Wiifii!!!! I love this place, my Americano is delicious, full flavour, no bitterness and a nice size cup. It's probably a good idea that this isn't in my neighbourhood because I pretty much guarantee I would be spending too much time and money here.

1) Americano - $2.50 (one of the cheapest I have had lately! What???)
2) Roasted in house? No 7/10
3) Service - excellent and friendly 9/10
4) Access/location - most likely need to walk a distance but easy enough 7.5/10
5) Flavour - 9/10 delicious, full flavour, no bitterness
6) Ecofriendly - china available, paper cups a green! Wonderful! 8.5/10
7) Cup size - good size, Neil's was a MDJ mug :) 8/10
8) Food - made in house, the Hello Dolly is incredible and vegan/vegetarian options available 9/10
9) Ambiance - fun, mismatched furniture with awesome hip tunes playing <3 9/10
10) Salman Rushdie lookalike comes here (it really did look like him). 10/10

1020 King Street West,
Westdale
Hamilton, Ont.