Caffe In Gamba

I appreciate any place with a delightful Jesus painting where I can practise the world’s #1 religion: Coffee. It really brings everyone together. And this place is a great place to gather all your friends (or disciples) and sit with a cup of holy brew. Now, I wouldn’t say this is the heaven of all coffee, but it’s pretty darn good. I was once betrayed into thinking my latte was skim when it was not. JUDAS! They have a wide selection of beans for sale from many indie roasters. Check the expiry date cause I’ve been Judas-​ed twice now. Freshness commandment, broken. But, I do forgive. The space itself could use a modern spruce up. The vibe is stuck a bit in purgatory, neither here nor there, but with TLC, can easily see the light. Keep faith.

in gamba, a classic of 3^rd wave. well, I should say was a classic ’cause they are a shell of their former self. what was known as a very good one is more a case of meh today. nothing wrong with the shop itself, they are just very scattered and not focus enough.
located between st-​viateur and fairmount on parc avenue, gamba is pretty much one of the very few cafés nearby. in it, you have a very red décor and what looks like to be coffee heaven with its «amazing» display of coffee roasters. truth be told, that’s where lies the problem for gamba.
in short, we’ve all been told at least once in our lifetime to not spread ourselves too thin instead, we should be focusing on being very good to great at something. having that much roasters on hand, you don’t have a personality and most of all, how can one be great at something when you can’t do one great?
anyway, I was served the detour dark espresso coffee which was the coffee of the day. I’m no fan of detour and that didn’t change.
can gamba be good again? sure, if they would focus on 2 roasters instead of having 6+. even the great ones don’t have that many roasters at one point in their shop. have 2 main and 1 in small batches that you play with. that’s what the great ones do and that’s what gamba should do. until then, you’re not missing anything other than money.

Came here for a little pick me up while walking around Montréal and ordered a latte. It was made expertly. The coffee was obviously of a high quality and the latte was delicious. I would recommend this coffee for sure!

This café often gives me surprises for a truly delicious and rich drink. Always order a latte as my longstanding choice. Lately I tend to go for a full-​bodied version, but keeping a balance of bitter and acidic flavor. So I tried a Gibraltar, served in a small Libbey «Gibraltar» tumbler glass. To me it is pretty much like a Cortado, espresso-​milk ratio is about 1:2, but served in a 4-​oz glass. A place I would want to stay for hours on a summer afternoon or a weekday evening after a long day of work.

Le service, oh, le service!
Quelle attention, quelle gentillesse.
Un coup de cœur. Commande au comptoir. Prévoir quelques minutes d’attente car c’est généralement achalandé.
Café dans les prix habituels, excellent espresso. Mes attentes étaient élevées: on n’écrit pas «Maison de l’espresso» devant un commerce pour rien.
Au menu: pizze, panini, viennoiseries, muffins… D’ailleurs, le muffin chocolat-​betteraves est okay. Sans gluten, pour essayer. C’est sûrement pour ça que c’est juste okay. Les panini et pizze sont un peu trop chers à mon goût. Je passé mon tour!
Clientèle variée. Entre 20 et 75 ans, environ! Plusieurs places assises: tables hautes avec tabouret, tables basses, sofas confortable au fond. Joli décor, le petit Jesus dans les bras de sa maman Marie nous regarde manger et ça, c’est vraiment sketch.
Terrasse à l’avant et musique agréable, juste assez forte. J’y reviendrai!

The coffee shelf was impressive: 49^th Parallel, Intelligentsia, Counter Culture, and even St-​Henri beans neatly stacked. Unfortunately, many of the bags for sale were more than a couple weeks old (I found a few August 3^rd roast dates).
There was something wrong with my latté. I don’t have another Counter Culture Big Trouble drink readily in memory to compare with, but it tasted way too bitter for the caramel-​nutty-​round description of the beans. Gut feeling tells me it’s a barista failure. He was busy talking politics to another client while my drink was being prepared.
Overall I wasn’t left with a great impression. 3^rd wave coffee is about more than just big name beans. The attention here is wrong. It should be more on the preparation of the drinks than red sofas and chic décor.

Ce petit café de l’avenue du Parc est plutôt charmant. L’ambiance est décontractée et on voit défiler les habitués tout au long de la journée. On peut s’installer sur un sofa dans le fond si on a le temps de prendre son temps.
Ils reçoivent tous les matins des pâtisseries fraîches, croissants, viennoiseries, etc.
Le café authentiquement italien se boit bien. Ils réussissent à bien faire mousser le lait de soja, pour ceux qui né consomment pas de lait de vache.
Les prix sont dans la moyenne, rien à redire.
Il est possible de s’installer pour travailler ou étudier, il y a quelques prises de courant.

Définitivement un des meilleurs endroits pour prendre un espresso à Montréal. Le propriétaire est un barrista qui a suivi une formation en italie et la qualité du café servi en témoigne. L’ambiance est bien et ils ont le WiFi gratuit. Idéal pour étudier/​travailler. Pour manger, par contre, mieux vaut aller ailleurs.