Toronto is home to thousands of cafes; it was reported there were about 8,000 in 2019, and that number has grown exponentially since then. If you’re tired of your average cup of Joe, why now try out an Asian café instead? With Asian ingredients like matcha, black sesame and injeolmi in both drinks and desserts, you’ll taste that these delicacies are surely worth traveling for.
Tsuchi Café is a Japanese plant-based café, and their innovative drinks and desserts hit the mark. Try one of their fruit tarts in rotation, like their Muscat Grape Tart, with an oat, gluten-free crust layered with almond cake and topped with cream cheese and juicy muscat grapes, each bite is juicy and un-regrettable. Other desserts include Blueberry Basil Cheesecake, Peach Poundcake, and Matcha Tiramisu. Pair with a Hatch cold brew, which uses a Japanese-style cold drip method, to awaken your senses and start your day.
Asian ingredients are integrated in many of the dishes and drinks at Little Pebbles Café, including natural black sesame and ceremonial-grade matcha from Kyoto, Japan, perfect for an iced matcha latte. Order one of their flakey, buttery croissants to get a little taste of heaven. Each croissant is made from scratch and uses European style butter, giving it that extra buttery flavor with each bite. If you can’t choose which croissant to get, order the assortment box which includes delicious flavors like raspberry matcha, black sesame, chocolate hazelnut and yuzu coconut.
Lamoon Thai Café is a Thai-inspired café which serves up drinks and snacks with a twist. The drink, Sweet Violet, is a fun, popping purple drink that uses real purple yams to get the violet color. It’s pureed with condensed milk to finish this sweet delicacy. Try one of their Thai Pizzas which come in three delectable flavors: Tom-yum Shrimp, Chicken Satay and Green Curry Veggie.
Want to admire the architecture of your coffee bar while sipping your cup of Joe? Neo Coffee Bar was designed by architecture firm Dialogue 38 Inc., and the result is a clean, cool aesthetic with concreate walls meeting wood accents, making it on the list of “23 Most Beautifully Designed Modern Coffee Shops” by Architectural Digest. This Japanese coffee bar is not just for looks; the bar boasts delicious roll cakes, like the Peach Roll Cake, which uses fresh, juicy peaches with rosemary-infused whipped cream. They serve an assortment of Japanese teas with leaves sourced from Kyoto, Japan, including Kabusecha, which has an umami flavor and Gyokuro Genaicha which has a sweet, rich flavor.
The Social Blend is more than just coffee. Here, it’s all about their Korean-style desserts. Order their “Korean-style dacquoise – a cream puff/macaron hybrid, but bigger!” and choose among their three signature flavors, which include: coffee mocha, earl grey and strawberry crunch. Their macarons are also Korean-style, which means more of the good stuff – that sweet macaron filling, and popular flavors like matcha kitkat and injeolmi, are not to be missed. Go there early before they sell out of the baked goods!
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