Sequoia Coffee — Restaurant in Victoria

Great little coffee oasis, located in the east end of the Royal BC Museum building. Their coffee is outstanding, and their Americano - which currently costs only $2 if you use a Sequoia mug or bring your own - is the best value in the city. Staff are unfailingly friendly and helpful. They also offer a small selection of pastries and sandwiches, priced a little higher than average, but always tasty. If you're a regular (or expect to be), get a loyalty coffee card so you can score the occasional free drink. Clientele are a mix of local office workers and museum/IMAX visitors. Sequoia's seating is somewhat utilitarian, as befits a walk-in coffee area in an open space, but more comfy museum-lobby seating is close by. The place is family-friendly and thoroughly accessible, and washrooms (including accessible/baby-changing facilities) are available a short distance away in the...

Ordered a Cortado and a Chicken and Brie melt. Suffice to say the experience was underwhelming and I expect better from the gift shop/foyer of a museum.

The Cortado - Way too foamy. “Barista” obviously doesn’t know what a Cortado is. The espresso was bitter, weak, lacked conviction.

The Chicken and Brie Melt - Too crunchy, bordering on stale. The chicken was mealy and cold, despite the attendant warming up the sandwich. The sandwich was cut asymmetrically making it difficult to eat. There was so much aoli in the sandwich that when I bit down on the crusty, asymmetrical bun, the aioli shot out, covering my jeans in oily sandwich excrement. I had to endure this look for the rest of my trip since I only brought one...

Poor customer service - won't be back again! It was towards the end of the day and there were hardly any other customers around. We ordered 2 drinks to enjoy on the comfy couches. I kept looking over to see if our drinks were ready. After 10 minutes, I went closer, and realized that from where we were sitting, it was not possible to see if drinks were ready. Turns out the drinks had been sitting there all along, getting cold. They weren't labelled and so I had to ask which drink was which. I was disappointed the barista didn't let us know when our drinks were ready, like most other coffeeshops I've been to or worked at. I had a mocha and was disappointed with how bitter it was. I wish I had...