3.5 stars ... solid spot on Bloor St where there is a lack of good coffee spot. They do get a nod from me from using Intelligentsia beans.
Whoa! I wasn't expecting to see Intelligentsia beans in Toronto but here we are on the edge of Koreatown and I see several bags of their beans for sale and in use. Good Neighbour here is a minimalist looking cafe. It's clean and has several bar stool seating upfront and a few tables in the back. I have to say I totally get why Toronto cafes are starting to ban the lap tops. I think of the 8 tables here, 6 of them had just 1 person sitting on a table of 2+ with a laptop and head phones on. Yes they're paying customers but this made for awkward searching for a spot to sit down and drink a coffee for 20 minutes or so. We saw everyone after us pop in, look for a spot, give up, and walk out instead of sitting inside.
Service here is polite and prompt. I would say the cafe is pretty chill... so you wouldnt be trying to fight to hear a conversation if people even tried to talk.
Flat white - Decent cup that was bordering closer to a cappuccino but still a good drink. The milk was too much and diluted the flat white a bit too much. The beans were good but I felt this was more milky than it should have been. BUT I still enjoyed the drink. It wasn't a true flat white though. Enjoyable 3.5/5
Vanilla latte - This was a very sweet version of a vanilla latte. There was a good balance of milk to espresso so it wasn't completely a milky hot drink. I actually liked the beans a lot ... deep and rich dark roast that had a bit of a nutty note. The Vanilla syrup though was primarily sugar with no vanilla flavour... not even artificial. I'm not sure if they used their own blend or bought. Either way, I felt the vanilla pricing wars hit Good Neighbour and made their syrup addition more of 'castor sugar syrup. 3.5/5
As much as I love the coffee scene in Chicago and was pleasantly surprised to see it offered here, I do think the Canadian coffee roasters can do well and could be offered as alternative. Good neighbour coffee is a decent spot for coffee on Bloor... just try to avoid the laptop mob and you may find a seat.