Vomero Coffee House — Restaurant in North Vancouver

Awful coffee, terrible service.

My wife and I started boycotting Starbucks since their lawsuits against the states of Vermont and Hawaii due to mandatory GMO labeling; we should all be scared and demand true and accurate labeling on what we put in our bodies.

We thought we would support the local guy (who happen to be 5 blocks from where we live) and have bought coffee from Brazza since, as reently as last weekend I bought my wife a coffee from there for Mother's Day. The coffee there is not great- I typically ask for a Tall Dark, which tastes similar to the Denny's brew, but I felt better not going to Starbucks.

So the other day I drove away to make a deposit at the bank and realised that my wife had made me coffee to go, but had not put sugar in my coffee. Not the end of the world because Royal Bank is right next to Brazza and I would grab a sachet of sugar from there, right?

So I approached the condiment bar, but the owner or manager was right at the corner of the bar watching the condiment bar (there was nobody in the place to be served). I did the right thing and mentioned that I buy coffee from there and asked for a small bag of sugar. His response? "I WORK HERE 6 DAYS PER WEEK AND I HAVE NEVER SEEN YOU HERE BEFORE. You can have some sugar if you buy a coffee", said in the most stern tone I have heard in my adult life (I am 40). I then asked if I could buy a pack of sugar. He said sternly again, 'You can get one for free if you buy a coffee".

Needless to say, I will never be going there again and will tell everybody I know for years to come about the terrible experience I had there. It just so happens that my doctor / chiropractor was having a coffee there with his buddies. He will be the next person I tell about my experience.

This place rarely has more than 2-3 people in it. I now know why, and will recommend Bean Around the World in Westview Mall or Ambleside, or Savary Island in Ambleside. They offer friendly service, a lively atmosphere, 'real people', and in turn have lots of happy customers... and they will probably let you use the washroom, or have a pack of sugar in a pinch.

Bottom line? Don't get into, or remain in the service industry if...

First-time customer alert 🚨‼️ Came here for after-lunch coffee and snacks.

We had an Ice Matcha Latte, Mocha Latte, and Banana Loaf. ☕️🥐

Pros: The first walking-in place looked nice and clean and quite busy for around 2 pm. on a weekend. They had a good amount of seating to enjoy a nice cup of coffee or food. They had a large selection of gelato/sandwiches/drink menus. The Mocha Latte tasted really good, not too sweet.

Some improvements to think about:

Banana Loaf was half soft and a bit stale, but another customer got this cake across from us, and it looked really fluffy and soft. The ice matcha latte could have been better as the matcha was not fully blended. Every sip had bits of matcha powder and was not sweet enough. 🍵 The layout of the line can be better. The very end of the line is too congested. Maybe get guests to have a seat or have signs on the floor of where to stand to best ensure no entrances or utensils are blocked.

Definitely would come back to try other dishes. Cost is moderate to expensive pricing, but I would like...

The coffee shop is at a convenient plaza where there’s plenty of parking. The coffee shop itself was pretty nice, but a little bit dark on the inside of the restaurant and then the windows were taking in quite a lot of sunlight on only a small section of their cafe which is extra bright. I’d say it would be beneficial if their shop had brighter lights in the shop and something to block too much of the natural light.

Overall, the service was really good, drinks were really good (ordered the Mocha). It wasn’t too sweet. The food was quite expensive though, I remember a slice of pie for almost $10 which is very expensive. The set up of the restaurant in terms of the tables were nice, not necessarily the best place to potentially study but I think would be a great place for those who want to have coffee and have a chat.

Ordered the banana loaf as a snack, I'd have to admit that it was really good but...