Coffee at Aroma Espresso Bar

This is supposed to a coffee shop, but they also serve sandwiches. I'm not sure if its like a chain or a small independent operation.

Its a fairly big space, they have two seating areas that flank an order counter that faces another counter with stools that looks out onto the the street. Its got a bit of modernist look to it. The tables are dark in colour and the chairs have redish/burgundy upholstery. It has a bit of a club/lounge feel to it because they play house music/club music quite loud. The furniture in the back room is pretty low profile as well, which adds to the club vibe. The tables in the front seating area are a little higher. There's a patio in the summer. The place is really busy -- doesn't really look like there's a slow time or night.

The crowd is all over the place. Some really young, some really old and pretty much everything in between. The staff is really young, and not very competent.

I ordered an americano and i got a dark liquid with a little foam on top. I tasted it. It wasn't coffee as far as I'm concerned, but I suppose some people might consider it to be so. This is one of those times where you should be allowed to throw the hot "beverage" in the face of the person who made it, so maybe they might actually try to make what is ordered the next time -- kind of like when a dog shits in a house you shove its face in the shit and it won't shit in the house anymore.

The coffee was so appalling, it should get a negative rating. Unfortunately, my rating system doesn't have this sort of feature -- so it gets 0 bunnies.


Rating: 0 Bunnies

Notes on the Bunny Rating System:

• 0 or no Bunnies, it's a waste of time; don't go.
• 1 Bunny, the place is worth checking out.
• 2 Bunnies, you should go out of your way to check out the place; the food is really good and the place is cool.
• 3 Bunnies, you absolutely have to go there; the food is exceptional and the place is really cool

American Apparel Ad

Even though the company has been sold to a private equity group I guess the old management team is still in place. This is a classic. I like that's it kind of like a proof sheet where you can pick the best image. My personal favorite the first one on the right side. I'm not sure if it comes through on the scan, but in the newspaper ad you can actually see her skin has a sheen to it.



They also provide a little bio on the model.

Jessica works in the Montreal store and is working on a business degree at McGill. But I'm not sure on how many people would read the bio part. In any event, the visuals are quite nice. She's also got a few slide shows on the American Apparel website if your into that kind of thing.

Big Bunny's Girl of the Month: Lucy Liu

Star of television and screen, immortalized in Outkast's "Hey Ya", the seductress Lucy Liu gets featured this month.
Yummy.

Coffee at Ella's Uncle

It's a tiny coffee shop on Dundas West between Bellwoods and Claremount.

Pretty simple layout to the place there's a room with a counter in about the middle. The staff are one side and the customers are on the other. It's got a bit of a retro kitchen feel, with the black checkerboard tile setup. There are some counters along the window and one of the wall with stools (seats 8 or so). The other wall has the sugar, cream, milk etc. There's a print of some streetcar track being laid from way back. They usually have music playing. The times I've been there they've played Beck and Marvin Gaye. Combined with the service, it gives the place a pretty laid back feel.

The place is pretty busy on the weekends and you can see the hipster douche bags out. But during the week days its not as busy especially in the early afternoon.

I'll have to admit my first visit was really disappointing. I had an Americano that tasted like it was made at Starbucks. However, they do have a very skilled guy working the machine, his coffee is substantially better. He's got a beard. I'm not sure if they've got a bigger crew working the machine, it looks like a pretty small operation. In any event, the Americano here when its made properly is quite good. There's a decent thickness of crema on it, which suggests that the espresso would be worthwhile. They also make a really good iced latte if your into that sort of thing. They can sweeten it for you as well -- to your preference. I'll have to say that I prefer this one to the stock iced latte you can get at Manic Coffee, which doesn't taste as good (at least to me) unless you get it with soy milk. The prices are really reasonable, a small Americano for $2 and nothing over $4 for the larger size -- lattes, machiattos etc.

There's a dark skinned woman who bakes stuff, I haven't tried any of her stuff yet but it looks pretty yummy. I guess that most (if not all of) the treats they sell are made in house.

Places like this give me hope. It's worth a look. It's a solid bunny, could be two if it didn't matter who was behind the counter.

Rating: 1 Bunny

Notes on the Bunny Rating System:

• 0 or no Bunnies, it's a waste of time; don't go.
• 1 Bunny, the place is worth checking out.
• 2 Bunnies, you should go out of your way to check out the place; the food is really good and the place is cool.
• 3 Bunnies, you absolutely have to go there; the food is exceptional and the place is really cool