Crown coffee, the newest coffee shop in the city, is a nice place, but nothing extraordinary

I can see myself going back to enjoy another afternoon at Crown Coffee

Looking at the sign, you might think that crown coffee is just for royalty or super-rich people; but don’t be confused, I’ll tell you what you can really expect from the newest coffee spot in the city.

Besides being a coffee shop, Crown Coffee, open from 6am until 9pm, has many of the features of the neighbouring restaurants on St. 51. After parking in the crowded space in front of the café, we walked in and the staff ushered us towards the first floor, which was crowded and noisy. We asked to go upstairs instead, but we were told that the 2nd floor had been rented for a birthday party, a common occurrence according to the wait staff, so we had to settle for the bustling first floor.

Our visions of a relaxed, intimate conversation were fading away, even more so when we were told that the place stays busy until late in the evening. The drilling going on inside the restaurant didn’t help the situation. This place is so new it isn’t even finished!

Unable to focus with the noise around us my friends and I asked the waiter to advise us on the most delicious drink choices at his establishment. He said a special drink called Blue Crown was the best option and assured us that the slight red wine taste wouldn’t affect us.

We all would have tried it out, but I wanted a bit of diversity for photographing purposes so we ordered a cappuccino, ides coffee and a few other menu items to mix things up. As we were waiting for our drinks Justin Bieber’s song Baby began to play over the speakers and we finally began to settle into the place. There’s nothing like Bieber to make me feel cool and comfortable these days.

Some of us passed the time by checking their email and news updates on their cell phones, taking advantage of the free and relatively fast Wifi.

Before we knew it our drinks had arrived. The lime soft drink I ordered looked like it was just lemons and water but it actually had a slightly sweet, slightly sour taste that was quite pleasing.

The appearance of Blue Crown didn’t disappoint, with layers of flavour and a bright blue ring in the middle. My friend was hesitant to ruin its beauty but the waiter said you should really mix it up to get the best taste.

We sat back and began to enjoy the ambience of the place, especially once we drew the curtains of the window by our table that looked out onto traffic and trash cans lining the road.

Since it was mid afternoon we didn’t have much interest in eating, but a quick look at the menu told us that the prices are typical for this kind of establishment, as was the relatively unimpressive selection of food. It was clear from the customers around us and the menu itself that coffee is the speciality of this place, despite the other options.

I have mentioned the waiters and waitresses, but they were really one of the best parts of the whole experience. Besides being friendly and helpful they also looked really cute with light yellow shirts matched with black skirts for the women and pants for the men. Simple and sweet, just like the yummy drinks we were served.

The waiters and waitresses wished us good night and told us to come again. We may wait until the construction is finished, but I can see myself going back to enjoy another afternoon at Crown Coffee.