Café Sardine

Ooo, sad, the Sardine is at an end… :((The sardine is canned? There must be some kind of pun here…)
Anyway, fair warning guys — this business no longer exists.

I loved this place.
The homemade doughnuts and lattes were exceptional. The doughnut was a simple cinnamon sugar; soft on the inside and «crispy» on the outside.
The staff was super friendly and there is a pitcher of water on the corner of the bar, which i think is really thoughtful.
Though it is a bar, people had laptops and were working, getting coffees, and hanging for a while.
We grabbed a seat by the large open window and people watched for 2 hours.
If I lived in Montréal, this would be my spot.

Je né suis jamais passée au café sardine pendant la journée (bien qu’on m’ait dit que les beignes y sont excellents). J’ai par contre beaucoup aimé mon expérience le soir, où on nous propose une expérience bistro japonaise (izakaya).
Les ramen étaient très bonnes, bien assaisonnées et parfaitement cuites. Vous aurez droit à de généreuses portions pour pas cher (5 – 9 $ pour les entrées et 12 $ pour les ramen)!

This café made me smile with its quality and lack of complication. This cutesy hole-​in-​the-​wall makes good coffee as well as fresh donuts and an interesting mix of food items, be it the daily salad or the chicken karaage with asian slaw or the pork sandwich to name a few.
Drag yourself here on a sunday morning with sore eyes and shit hair and you’ll feel comforted by this little warm place and its fried and flavoursome deliciousness.

Café Sardine:
Une étoile seulement pour eux, parce que ce matin l’accueil a été des plus désagréable…
Resto Iwashi Izakaya:
À cette même adresse, Café Sardine se transforme en brasserie japonaise,” izakaya «l’équivalent japonais du bar à tapas, génial! La soupe Ramen est un délice! J’y suis allé deux fois cette semaine et j’ai hâte d’essayer les autres plats! Et le service n’a rien à voir avec la nonchalance vécu ce matin, il est des plus attentionné et généreux. Bravo au chef Fujise vous faites les meilleurs Ramen en ville!

Coffee Shop during the day and Restaurant in the evening.
Dropped by Café Sardine for a hangover coffee… The lighting is perfect as it was dark and dim.
Donuts I found them decent, didn’t wow me.
Cappuccino was fine. but I had better.
Café Sardine was A-​OK. but doesn’t really worth a special trip just to come for their coffee and donuts… but the evening experience might be totally different!
Sadly Café Sardine had closed the week after I visit…

Mon latte était bon, mais il aurait pu être plus chaud. Les beignets sont délicieux. Le local est sympa. Le bar est hallucinant! Juste pour en apprécier l’originalité, ça vaut la peine d’y aller. Wifi inclus.

On y sert des lattes et de bons beignes chauds au chocolat & orange ou encore cardamome & sucre, qui disparaissent en moins de deux.

I arrived at Café Sardine on a Sunday night thinking it was a coffee shop, equipped with tables with students being… studious? I’m pretty sure that’s a word. It still may be during the day, but I didn’t get that feel at all after walking in the door. My intention was to merely purchase a coffee and research what Montréal really has to offer — which is a lot.
I was greeted right away, and sat at the bar. After realizing I wasn’t going to get any research done here I decided to stick around and see what was offered on the menu.
I opted for the Bison dish with figue, mache, airelle and cameline — whatever those are. I wasn’t asked how I would like to have it cooked, so I guess it just comes standard as medium rare, which is just how I prefer it. The Bison itself was delicious and tender, though it was a ‘half serving’. The figue portion of the dish I could have done without, as I was never a fan of the newton variety anyway, even as a kid.
I spoke in length with the host, bartender and chef about ‘must dos’ while in MTL, and they were VERY helpful with their insight and suggestions. We even touched on the debate on which sandwich and bagel shop truly has the heart of Quebecians.
Café Sardine definitely have a great staff and a nice intimate ambience, which was the deciding factor in the 4^th star. I really dig their hardwood floors too. Keep up the good work gentlemen!
*Beantowns Finest*

Best doughnuts I ever had! Especially the Bourbon/​Mint!
Plus, they use Phil & Sebastien coffee, it’s so damn good!

Most of the other reviews to date review Café Sardine from the perspective of somewhere to hangout in the afternoon with a coffee in hand. For that I would agree Café Sardine is an excellent spot. Furthermore, its evening atmosphere is also lots of fun making a great spot for a drink with some friends. Their gin and tonic, made with home made tonic, is amazing.
However, if your primary objective is food, this is not your best pick which is why I’m only giving them 3 stars. We were a group of 5 so we were able to sample almost the entire menu. The best item by far was the trout and potatoes, with the lamb coming in 2^nd. The balance of the items were not particularly note worthy. In particular I would recommend that you avoid the tomato bread and herring (or was it sardines) both of which were very underwhelming.

Love it but shh, don’t tell anyone! It’s tiny and we still want to be able to sit here quietly reading and drinking lovely lattes and eating fresh lime donuts!

4 stars because of 4 things: the ambiance, the location, the coffee and the DONUTS!!! The cakey goodness, dusted in sugar and cinnamon and they come in a toolbox: that’s brilliant. I have to avoid walking by here too often as I tend to drool even if I am a full block away. I would have given them 5 stars, but the baristas here would make a sloth look snappy.