Camellia Coffee House — Restaurant in Lansdowne

OK - so I will admit I am fussy about my coffee and my coffee houses. Not sure what I expected in my own town and hoped this would be a step up finally. So the coffee is basically Nilaa brand, which really is not a quality espresso but I guess it plays to the public because of its responsible sourcing. Just not a great taste. There was only a few melted cookies and pastries poorly displayed and not very appetizing. I went for the Zucchini bread which looked like it had been produced more recently. It was fair but overall bland in taste. The staff while they did greet me and apologize for any wait, were polite but stopped there. Again, perhaps I expect too much, but n a small town and for my first experience, I guess I wanted to feel there was more of a sense of community with a cafe at its center. I got the same sense from Camellia Coffee House when they were at the Lansdowne Farmers Market on opening day, polite but detached with no real sense of trying to create community. A cafe done right can be the hub of a smaller town...sorry you missed...

Food: The food at this café is very impressive for a café. I'm guessing one of the owners has a background as a chef or is an experienced home cook. I've tried two sandwiches, the quiche, and the olive oil cake (I don't like most cakes) and everything was very flavorful and fresh. I believe their sausage breakfast sandwich is the best breakfast sandwich in the area and the reason I keep coming back.

Service: The service is very good, your coffee is made instantly (although I always order the cold brew so it's premade of course). They bring out the food to you along with nicer metal utensils to reduce plastic consumption. If you require anything else, the staff are very friendly and helpful.

Atmosphere: The atmosphere of the coffee shop is very warm and welcoming. The lighting is very good and there's an assortment of seating options including a bar, tables, and sofa chairs to make yourself at home. They even have 2 outdoor tables although they are not used much in the...

The food here is delicious, however, there is often not much of a selection. I understand that they want everything to be fresh and maybe they are still trying to figure out how much of certain items to make, but the last time I was there they had no biscuits (after they didn't have them last time I stopped either) so they offered us brioche, which we accepted. Then they only made one sandwich after we had waited 15 minutes. We left since we didn't have time to wait for them to make another. Then today I stop to pick up just plain biscuits to take home and as I'm at the counter waiting to order, someone calls the cafe and buys the last two biscuits over the phone. The coffee is very good, we like the cold brew, vanilla latte and cortado. Plus the biscuits are amazing if you manage to get some. They do make very good miniature pastel de nata as well, which you can't get just anywhere. Overall the cafe is good, maybe it's just going through...