There's a Waves near Patterson station - let's be honest, nobody likes Waves. There's a Starbucks every time I open my eyes, and a Tim Hortons around every corner. There are a few non-chain coffee shops around Metrotown, but they've all lacked a particular lustre, character, quality of product, or service.
With my cell phone in one hand, and Totally Tammy's hand in my other, we walked over to Fondway Cafe (4462 Beresford Street) and hoped for the best.
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| Fondway Cafe (Entrance) Burnaby, BC Photo: Brewji, Totally Tammy |
We entered the cafe, and nobody else was in line, but it took about a full minute for the guy behind the counter to acknowledge us being present. Not kidding - he just stood there, knew we were standing there, and proceeded to ignore us.
He never greeted us, so we had to ask if we could place our order. So we're off to a grrreeeat start - they're not very courteous, nor do they have personalities. It was hard to find any passion for their products whatsoever. Trust me, if you go into EVR (East Van Roasters) in Vancouver, they know passion, because they love their product.
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| Caramel Nut Tart @ Fondway Cafe Burnaby, BC Photo: Brewji, Totally Tammy |
One of our first questions was "Do you have any lactose-free or non-dairy milks for coffee/tea/lattes?" - The answer was "No, we only have real milk." Big time failure on their part. How do you open a non-chain coffee shop in the Greater Vancouver area and not understand that 90% of coffee shops (outside of Timmy Ho Ho's) carry at least Soy or Almond milk?
I don't mean to be "one of those" people, but both of us are lactose-intolerant. Actually, more than half of us are lactose-intolerant, but the dairy/meat/wheat industries run the food business...and that's another rant in itself.
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| Menu @ Fondway Cafe Burnaby, BC Photo: Brewji, Totally Tammy |
If you're a rich, indecisive tea-drinker, this place might tickle your sack. They've got a wall of tea that looks pretty intimidating. Definitely not as friendly as David's TEA, but you might get that one weird tea you've been searching for. They've got printed details of each tea as well.
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| Tea Selection @ Fondway Cafe Burnaby, BC Photo: Brewji, Totally Tammy |
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| Detailed Tea Description @ Fondway Cafe Burnaby, BC Photo: Brewji, Totally Tammy |
The only real up-side to this place, is the decor. But even that looks like they bought it out of a "how-to-look-hipster-and-vintage-without-being-cool" catalogue. It just felt so...fake. So pretentious and "upper class".
Did you want a regular coffee? Sorry, you'll have to order pour-over or Americano only. Not only that, but it'll cost you upwards of $3 after tax (and tip, if you can afford it).
Well, my coffee fix usually involves hard, dark, and cold brews (just like my beer). I got a large cold brew, which wasn't very big. Tammy got a hot Americano, because they didn't serve regular coffee, and she didn't want to pay $5 for a pour-over. I also got a cookie, because I'm awesome (who doesn't like cookies?).
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| Overhead Hipster Foodie Shot (Cold Brew, Americano, Cookie) @ Fondway Cafe Burnaby, BC Photo: Brewji, Totally Tammy |
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| Cookie, Americano, Cold Brew @ Fondway Cafe Burnaby, BC Photo: Brewji, Totally Tammy |
The cold brew was poured on tap with Nitrogen so it has a smooth, velvety stout-like mouth-feel to it. It wasn't very bitter, and there were some fruity undertones to the brew. It was quite nice, and had a nice caffeine punch to it. It wasn't quite strong enough for $5, but it did its job.
Tammy seemed to enjoy her Americano, but you can read more of what she thought here.
The cookie would have been better left as a Toonie. Tim Horton's makes better cookies, as does Subway. This felt like one of those stale, Blenz cookies that looks like it's suppose to be chocolate-y and chewy but falls short on every aspect of being a cookie.
I don't mean to tear these guys a new hole, but it shouldn't feel like I've been screwed in mine.
Fondway Cafe gets a stop-opening-these-fake-coffee-shops-with-these-new-condos 4.5 / 10
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