Le Cagibi

I recently found myself exploring the Mile End area for a school assignment with my adventurous, coffee-loving friend K, which is the location of this week's café!  My fellow explorer and I found Le Cagibi – a very hipster café located on St. Laurent in the heart of Mile End, which we inevitably had to try out.

K, being an espresso man, ordered an Americano. For those of you who are not big Espresso fans (or don’t know much about them like moi) an Americano is a shot of Espresso with hot water. It’s usually quite strong and is great if you are up late working on an assignment and need that caffeine kick to keep you going. K described his Americano as “delightfully balanced” and “not too harsh and not too mild”. He finished by saying the best part of this Americano was the “nutty finish”.

Staying true to my simple coffee and hot-chocolate-loving-self, I ordered a Mochaccino, which is an espresso based drink with milk and a hint of chocolate. My drink was huge and literally came in a bowl! Needless to say, it took me a little while to drink it but it was delicious and I enjoyed every sip. It was the perfect blend of coffee-base and chocolate without being too sweet – I actually had to add in a teaspoon of sugar, even though I often don't enjoy drinks that are too sweet.

Le Cagibi was quirky, cozy and super hipster. I loved the relaxed atmosphere and homey vibe. It’s a great study spot and we saw a lot of students reading and doing work, which made me feel a little guilty for being out and not labouring over textbooks. The music was relaxing but nothing I recognized - again very hipster. After looking into this café a little more I learned that Le Cagibi invites artists to perform all the time. Click here to see their calendar of events. They recently hosted a panel discussion among various artists about art and social activism. Le Cagibi was definitely a hit and if it weren’t so far I’d be studying there all the time!