Café Aries

Aries Café (5322 Yonge Street, North York, Ontario)

416-226-5434

I'm actually not sure whether this place is called Aries Café or if it's called Café Aries. The sign is a bit confusing. 

This Korean-owned cafe is decorated in a fun way with balloons on the ceiling. I kind of like the environment it creates. There are coffee and cake combos, but not with the hazelnut coffee I ordered.

Hazelnut coffee with cappuccino cake.

The coffee didn't really have that super strong hazelnut flavour that I get from the instant kind at the grocery store, but it was maybe a little too subtle. The cake slice was a bit small. The cream was more of a mousse, and the flavour was really light. The top had a clear, shiny, glaze over it. The cake had that not-so-sweet Asian dessert feel to it. Makes sense since this is Koreatown after all. 

Dolo's cheesecake.

It had a homemade taste to it. I thought it was nice, but Dolo prefers denser cheesecake. It also had the clear, shiny glaze over it.

Would I return? I might. It seems like a good, relaxed environment to sit and talk over coffee. The prices aren't ridiculous, and the cakes were okay enough. I actually read that the ginger tea was supposed to be pretty potent, so I might go back to try that.

Total damage: approximately $5-6 for my cake and coffee.

L'Opéra

L'Opéra (5291 Yonge Street, North York, Ontario)

416-733-8830

The first thing I thought when I walked into this cafe was "date night". It has that dim lighting, comfortable atmosphere thing going for it and judging by the patrons that night, it works. 

Clockwise from top left: lychee mango cake, tiramisu, cheese pie.

The mango mousse was really light, but flavourful. The tiramisu might have been missing some liquor-soaked biscuits. The cheese pie tasted like creamy cheesecake, but not as creamy as the cheese pie I had in Montreal. (Hm, that reminds me...) It didn't have sauce on display, but the options were some sort of berry sauce or chocolate. I asked to verify that I'd get chocolate but that was the only sauce I was offered anyway. 

Cappuccino

The cappuccino was very fragrant and milky. 

Mocha drink

James's drink looked very pretty. 

Would I return? Yes. The desserts were tasty. I don't know if they were authentically French, but I liked them. They seemed more like French desserts modified for Asian taste buds. It makes sense since the cafe sits in the heart of Koreatown North. I like the effort in the frothy swirls of the warm drinks.

Total damage: approximately $7-something for my cheese pie and cappuccino.