De Mello Coffee — Restaurant in Toronto

De Mello Palheta is unique in Toronto... after going to 75+ coffee spots in Toronto, I can safely say why I see this place sits in the top 50 across Toronto. Sure they roast their own beans (which is great) but they have a service that I haven't seen in a long time. Imagine a cafe that is boho hipster with baristas that know your name, your kid's name, your dog's name, how long you ran your last marathon, and your preferred drink... it would be De Mello Palheta.

The feel of this place sits better in Kensington than at Yonge and Eg. A chill vibe with a 'come as you are ... of course with many piercings' BUT there are a decent amount of families sitting cute in this small place. The back room has a haphazard wall mural that borders on artistic fun graffiti with it's wild colours. The front barista area has about 10 umbrellas opened up and creating a canopy in the front section... whimisical? Absolutely. The seats here are not really comfortable and though I did see people with laptops, I cannot imagine cozying up here fro a few hours. The lighting here in the back is quite dark too. Though the front shared table does have a window by it, I think the whole space is quite dark.

About the service here... its more like a neighbourhood stop instead of a coffee store. Honestly, I saw these barista chat up easily 9 people in the 30 minutes I was here. And it wasn't just a 'hey how are you doing?'. It was talking about how to find great new piercings for the cheap on the net or how their run and use of the newest fad to regen your energy or how the kids are doing with the new sports. I know this is overused term but it really feels like an extended family here.

The Flat white that turned into a Latte - I ordered a flat white with almond milk. And the person on the cashier scratches down your order onto a sticky note for the barista. Somehow my Flat White became a Latte in the translation. I actually like coffee flavour and so a good robust hit of it makes me happy. Lattes ... by it's very nature are watered down. It was good. So this wasn't a good judge of how the espresso is. That being said, I do like their Dancing Goat beans so I know it's a decent roast. 3.5/5

I did let the barista know of the mistake but I still got the latte... true that it is double the size of the flat white but I was looking for flavour and not necessarily a bowl of almond milk! Next...

I'm writing this review simply because I'm enjoying every sip of the coffee I'm drinking right now!

Okay, let me give some background: I spent quite some money buying a very good Rancilio espresso machine and a Barazza grinder. But the outcome? Not so good. I mean, It did not align with the budget I spent on the machine! Why? Simply because I was trying the coffee beans I could find on Amazon or Costco. I tried almost all of them: still not even close to my expectations.

I was lucky that a friend who used to work as a barista told me to get the freshly roasted coffee from "De Mello" - which fixes everything. And surprisingly, it did!

I got "Dancing Goat" coffee beans - freshly roasted and dated, so I knew when it was exactly roasted. The gentleman in attached photo (I got his picture from Instagram just for the sake of this review) was extremely helpful and answered all my questions. He even told me how coarse I should grind this coffee, the dry dose / wet dose ratio, what temperature to set on my machine for the best result, how long I should rest the coffee beans, and what I should do if the taste were sour or bitter, etc. I literally took more than 10 minutes of his time, and he patiently answered all my questions.

And the outcome is: I just got the best coffee I ever had - IN HOME! The aroma, the crema, the taste - EVERYTHING IS TOP NOTCH!

I will definitely subscribe to have my coffee beans shipped to my address regularly.

Thank you, "De Mello" -...

de Mello can do a solid espresso drink. They always have two different espressos to choose from, the rotating feature and their regular “Dancing Goats” house espresso. This is the best independent coffee shop in the Yonge and Eglinton area because the coffee is deep and flavourful. de Mello sells a variety of house and single origin beans as well as other coffee supplies. I pick up my Aeropress filters here and the price is reasonable compared to online vendors. They offer a unique coffee subscription service on their webpage which delivers samples of beans to your door.

I love that they have a load-and-pay app that allows you to pay by scanning the QR code on your phone and gives you points you can redeem at certain levels to collect rewards like free drinks and beans. The staff is friendly and are always chatting with the regulars. They seem to know more about coffee than most places and participate in barista competitions, as seen by the award display.

My only grumble about de Mello is that it’s often crowded around the counter and the seating doesn’t really encourage you to stay. I’ve spent some time working here and it is okay, but I’m usually distracted by people moving around...