Exploring the best cafés in Kensington Market
You may be asking: “Another café review? How many of those does UV need?” We’ll put it in perspective. The average Canadian drinks almost 1000 coffees a year. And the average law student? We rest our case.
In this article, two coffee addicts compare the product, place, and vibes of five cafés in Kensington Market. As Yorkville’s younger, cooler sister, Kensington is a vibrant neighbourhood. Luckily, it is also home to some of the best coffee the city has to offer—so you can get back to work as soon as your tears, and cup, are dry!
- The Arch Café
Located on Augusta Avenue, the Arch is an intimate café with an exciting selection of Persian-inspired food and drinks. Open for breakfast, brunch, and dinner, its menu features unique hot drinks, like the honey and cardamom and saffron lattes. The Arch has both front and back patios decorated with fairy lights and lots of pillows. Also sporting a diverse selection of teas, the Arch is a strong contender for the cosiest café in Kensington.
The Order: Decaf cappuccino (Thomas) and affogato (Haya)
Product: 4/5
We ordered a decaf cappuccino and an affogato. Both had a rich, mellow flavour—would definitely return to try their other offerings.
Place: 5/5
Among the smaller patios of the group, but what the Arch lacks in size it makes up in style. The Arch stays close to its roots, decorating its interior walls with old family photographs, heirloom ceramic works, and colourful tapestries.
Vibes: 4/5
The Arch’s soft ambiance makes it ideal for a quiet study period or romantic sojourn away from the law school.
Last Word
T: Great decaf.
H: I’m not one to experiment with spice blends, but I would come back for the coffee and intimacy alone!
- Café Pamenar
For a more lively experience, Café Pamenar, located just north of the Arch, features a full bar in addition to its caffeinated beverages. With a spacious back patio that regularly hosts live music, Pamenar bridges the gap between cosy café and hopping venue. Students, however, should be aware of Pamenar’s “social zone” policy, which prohibits laptops for most of the workday.
The Order: Iced latte (Thomas), vanilla iced latte (Haya), and iced matcha latte (Haya)
Product: 3/5
Pamenar knows the Toronto market and serves the staples of both coffee and alcohol! As a quasi-café bar, Pamenar is the perfect segue between reading cases with a latté to spending happy hour with your colleagues.
Place: 5/5
Pamenar ranks first for its place. With both a front and back patio (and have we mentioned it has a full bar already?), guests can curate the type of café experience they want!
Vibes: 4/5
Pamenar makes us feel like we are in rustic, vintage Europe. From the trees to the picnic benches (and the lack of laptops), it is the perfect place for a study date or a real date.
Last Word
T: Okay coffee, hip venue.
H: I thoroughly enjoyed my iced latte, so I came back a second time to try the matcha. I would come back a third time!
- Moonbean
Moonbean is the Kensington café. Located on St. Andrew Street, Moonbean boasts a super menu of drinks and baked goods. Using beans from all around the world, Moonbean has its own coffee roaster to ensure freshness.
The Order: Cappuccino (Thomas), cappuccino shake (Haya), and iced London Fog (Haya)
Product: 4.5/5
Moonbean has it all: coffee, tea, shakes and smoothies. With over 40 loose-leaf teas and several in-house roasts, its sprawling menu spans the back wall and makes for a potentially intimidating sight upon first arrival. Despite this breadth, its espresso is rich and well-made. Also, the London Fog keeps us coming back almost every week.
Moonbean personally recommends you try their thundercloud and mocha, using freshly-made chocolate sauce!
Place: 5/5
Moonbean has both a front and back patio, as well as indoor seating. Its space is insidiously big and quaintly decorated. It feels as mystical and chaotic as its handwritten chalkboard menu. The ladies’ bathroom is filled with graffiti of kind messages and doodles for anyone to add toーthe perfect pick-me-up for a stressed law student.
Vibes: 4/5
We never know what to expect from our trip to Moonbean. A quiet date? A movie shooting? A coffee roasting show? What keeps us coming back to Moonbean is the allure that we won’t know what we’ll have the next time we go.
Last Word
T: Can’t go wrong here, but really wish they stayed open past 5 pm.
H: I feel like a brand ambassador for Moonbean. It is my favourite café in the city, and I rock a Moonbean tote bag to the law school at times.
- Found Coffee
Nestled between a vintage clothing store and a restaurant serving exclusively hot dogs is Found Coffee. On first glance, we feel like Found Coffee is trying way too hard to be cool. From the awning that announces “COFFEE SHOP” to the faux-modern practice of renaming existing beverages as a cheap shortcut to a unique menu, Found Coffee seems like it belongs in a suburban hipster’s daydream rather than its current location adjacent to Kensington Market. But Found Coffee won us over once we got inside. The staff, including the owner, were very welcoming and happy to spend time explaining their menu to us.
The Order: Iced white coffee (Thomas) and iced matcha latte (Haya)
Product: 2/5
The white coffee is just an iced latte with way too much milk. The matcha latte was severely under-sweetened.
Place: 4/5
The covered front patio is less a patio than a few tables and chairs, but we appreciated the shade and cushioned seats. The back patio is the smallest of the cafés we visited, yet once we found a seat it was hard to leave.
Vibes: 4/5
We liked hearing Mac Demarco coming through Found Coffee’s stereo, and appreciate that the proprietor donates $1,000 every month to a charity of their customers’ choosing. If you decide to visit Found Coffee, don’t forget to cast your vote in-store.
Last Word
T: Not my first choice, but it’s hard to hold a grudge against such a friendly bunch.
H: I would give Found Coffee another try, partly to hear Mac Demarco again.
- Film Café
Film Café, another trusted spot on Augusta Avenue, seems hardly like just a café. With drinks, food, and entertainment, it could be the next bar night for the Law and Film Society. If you want a spot to take your law school crush, Film Café is a coffee chat, dinner, and movie all in one!
The Order: London Fog (Thomas) and matcha latte (Haya)
Product: 3.5/5
Film Café’s menu offers everything, from coffee to cocktails and baked goods to entrées. It makes a mean matcha, using the proper whisk method (I’m looking at you, Starbucks). For students looking to get an extra jolt, Film Café also serves nitro-brewed coffee.
Place: 5/5
Film Café has the most spacious interior of the cafés we visited. It has two levels of seating, and an outdoor patio big enough to host its famous movie nights. While it may be too dim to study inside the café in the evening, the skylights deliver a lot of natural light in the daytime.
Vibes: 4/5
Serving its matcha stirred, not shaken, there’s no doubt that Film Café is suave. From mellow indie music to delicate latte art, it reminds us of a film noir. Speaking of which, following its namesake, the café regularly hosts film nights and curated documentary series, providing a quasi-theatre experience.
Last Word
T: The dessert counter is very tempting.
H: Big yet cosy. I hope to attend their next documentary screening!
The Winners
So which café reigns supreme? The rankings, on our 15-point scale, are as follows:
1. Moonbean – 13.5
2. The Arch Café – 13
3. Film Café – 12.5
4. Café Pamenar – 12
5. Found Coffee – 11
These are our rankings. But you’ll never know which one is truly the best unless you try them for yourself. Take a friend, a date, or even a law school professor to Kensington Market for your next coffee chat. And feel free to drop us an email about what your rankings are, so we can make the next inevitable café review even better.
