Good ambiance in this new coffee shop on 17th, apparently geared towards the intellectual crowd (given a bookshelf to pick reads from, and of course the name "philosophy" itself).
Decent quality of coffee and pastries. I tried their latte, which was acceptable but nothing to write home about. Along with my coffee, I had the Nutella croissant which was good and fairly rich. The fact that it was warmed up enhanced the flavour.
I was not impressed however by their alternatives to milk. Whereas they serve almond and soy milk, they charge about $1.50 to have any of those choices instead of regular milk! That's about twice what any other establishment would normally charge. The excuse is that the almond and soy milk they use is of a superior quality and sourced from some exclusive brand, however for people with intolerance to lactose (such as my wife) it seems like an disproportionate price hike for a latte or cappuccino.
I am a believer in supporting local, so I will be back to Philosaphy in the future. Although it is an ok coffee shop as it is right now, there is definitely room for improvement.