#whyte ave

Can’t believe I was able to see this from Whyte Ave

This place makes me think I’m in a diff city haha it’s so lovely; I love the fact that it’s hidden behind the residential area of Whyte Ave. There’s also not a lot of ppl here. A part of me think it’s bcos their name doesn’t really suggest that they are a coffeeshop. Like it sounds like it’s a “factory” or shop vs a cafe that you can sit down in. I think that’s why.. . *shrugs* But that’s good for me! Bcos I’m not that into crowds & I wanna keep this place a *secret* ... as I blog about it on my public blog -.-”

Their wall of products amazes me. Definitely come check it out. The store is divided into several sections. They have an in-house roasting area, a pro-shop where you can bring in your faulty coffee gears & they can fix it for you, the merch section obviously, & by the window, there’s a comfy lounge space. Their “cafe” is located in the middle of the space; it’s like an island, with seating all around. It’s completely open; & also due to the abundant lighting, it really expands the space visually. So it’s nice!

Their doughnuts! Nutella -> custard -> strawberry rhubarb cream & orange jelly -> vegan coconut -> toasted almond (& -> honey-glazed).

Christina got the honey-glazed; it was a simple but excellent! Right condition of sweetness, & the texture was neither too yeasty nor cake-y.

For myself, I got the custard one. I was leaning towards it to begin with bcos tbh, none of the other flavours attracted me at all. My 2nd option was the honey-glazed! When I asked the staff which one he preferred, he said custard. So it all worked out!

I did not expect the Cat Cafe on Whyte to be such a magical experience. When I first heard there was a place in Edmonton that contained all the things I love I thought there was a catch - there had to be some kind of rule against letting people and coffee and cats mix. Luckily there is no such rule, and this place is real (and amazing). My fellow blogger Jenn booked us a reservation for a Saturday afternoon. For $15.00 you get one hour with the cats, and as many drinks as you’d like. The drink menu includes cute cat-themed coffees like the Catpurrcchino or the Meowcchiato. We each got a drink and went through a door and a little gate to the cat lounge, where we washed our hands before touching any cats.  At first it was crowded in the cat lounge, and we had nowhere to sit. I worried about my chances of actually getting cozy with a cat. It began to clear out as the previous hour’s group trickled out, and a couch freed up for us. From our seats we spotted a little face peeking out of a tent.

We had a good feeling about this cat, but let him be. Just when we let our guard down and started drinking our coffee, Jenn felt a paw bat at her foot.

Our little grey friend had come for a visit. It didn’t take long for him to climb onto the couch and snuggle up with Jenn. I sat next to them and got some good pats in.

The great thing about this cafe is that all of the cats are adoptable! There’s a short bio on the wall for each cat, just in case you fall in love and need one in your life forever.

We spent most of our hour interacting with Jackson. Once he fell asleep on Jenn she was trapped, which prevented us from getting any more coffee. Not that anyone can complain about being trapped by a sleeping cat. The hour went by pretty quickly, but I felt that the price of admission was worth it since the money goes towards taking care of the cats. The coffee was good but it became an afterthought once we found ourselves in cat paradise. The entire time we were there soft piano versions of songs from Studio Ghibli films were playing, helping create the ultimate calming atmosphere. There is something therapeutic about the experience, and I left feeling all kinds of warm and fuzzy. Rating: 3 sleepy cats out of 3. (please see further sleepy cat photos below)