Coco et Olive — Restaurant in Vancouver

We've passed by this cafe several times over the last few years and didn't get a chance to try it out until this past Saturday. We were excited to try it. The one star is for the clean bathroom and the bright yellow La Marzocco machine that was pleasant to look at. No stars for everything else.

Ambience: One side of the cafe is an area where they sell small homegoods/gifts, which was nice for browsing. The music was a little too pop-mainstream sounding.

Value: The vanilla latte was $6.50, in a small-ish cup. I don't know how many ounces it was, but it seemed a little steep for what it was. The coconut cake was huge and $8-9, and the small savory danish was $6-7. The quality was okay, but not worth it.

Service: This is why we will not be returning to this cafe, nor will we recommend it to anyone else. We decided on the three items we wanted to order, and I walked up to the counter. I said "Hello" (friendly, non-intrusive, like a normal polite human) and was met with awkward silence. Okay, whatever. I ordered the latte, coconut cake, and savoury danish. The cashier (a short-haired female) interacted minimally, only speaking when asking if it was for here or to go. We said "for here" and, afterwards, we realized this was a mistake—we gave a 15% tip on the bill. She thrust the receipt in mid-air and handed us the food items without saying anything. Her body language and expressionless face was enough to make this short exchange super uncomfortable and unpleasant. No "thank you", no smile, no genuine effort to make us feel good about our purchase or visit to this cafe. When we sat down, I asked my partner if it was just me, and he quickly said no, she was just plain rude. The interaction, or lack thereof, soured the experience for us so much that we had a hard time enjoying the food and coffee, and everything tasted like garbage.

Honestly, I'm not sure what the cashier's issue was with us. Was she having a bad day? Does she hate her job? Does she not like people who look like us? I guess we'll never find out, because this was our first...

I'm glad I gave this place a try. I came around 1:30 on Easter Sunday and was surprised to find myself the only customer, but the traffic (mostly to-go) picked up a lot during my visit. Probably a weird day because it was a holiday. The staff were really nice and genuine people and I felt at home in the shop. The only seating is the stools along the window counter - most of the floorspace is dedicated to the gift shop, which sells a variety of home goods and pantry items including but not limited to candles, tea towels, ceramic kitchenware, dried pastas, and sauces. The lunch menu is pretty small with just 3 sandwiches, but there's a great selection of pastries, plus all the usual coffee and tea drinks. I had the Tomato & Fior di Latte Sandwich, the Pistachio and Citrus Semolina Cake, and a Matcha Latte. The sandwich was basically a standard caprese but very good - I loved the fresh roll and garlic aioli. It was pretty small though. I like smaller portions within reason, but this was not the size I expected given the price. The cake was amazing! I love how semolina cakes are always so moist and the flavours here were really nice. Unlike the sandwich, this was a pretty generously-sized slice, but it still disappeared quickly because I could not get enough. The matcha latte was pretty good too. The strength of the matcha was very middle-of-the-road - I think they got right in the sweet spot where people who like strong tea like me can enjoy it but it's also unlikely to offend people who like their drink milder. It came unsweetened which is my preference. A little pricey - with dairy milk it's $5.50 which is totally acceptable for 16oz, but nondairy milk adds $1. If the cake I had is any indicator of the quality of the rest of their desserts, I would highly recommend trying a pastry and enjoying the positive vibe if you can...

I have been a customer for over 5 years, still they never greet you with any acknowledgement. Very straight faced, no smiles on any of the employees. I have been ordering their granola bowl with milk. It was always such a beautiful bowl with an ample amount of granola topped with beautiful berries, rose petals, sliced grapes or pear. I got hooked. Now they may give you a bowl with the bottom of the granola bag flooded with milk and barely nothing there. Stupid me is a gluten for punishment and keeps going back in hopes that they have improved again. So today I told the young man at the till that they haven’t been doing the best with their granola bowls but I’d like to order one anyway. It comes with either milk or yogurt which he didn’t ask me which one I preferred and I did not specify as I didn’t remember it also came with yogurt. When the bowl was done they presented it and the young lady with the short hair and zero expression on her face who has seen me a million times over the years handed me my coffee and bowl, I said oh I was wanting it with milk and she looked at the order receipt and goes oh well it has yogurt 🤷‍♀️. Would have been nice to hear let me get that remade for you since I am a repeat customer. I am angry at myself for coming back to this coffee shop but I will never be...