Saint-Henri Micro-torréfacteur is one of the best known coffee roasteries from Quebec. You're likely to find their beans in your favorite coffee shop. So it's pretty safe to expect a wonderful cup of coffee out of their own establishment.
There's quite a few St-Henri coffee shops in Montreal, but the one in the St-Henri neighbourhood is - surprise - the original. Roasting is done in the back of the shop, while the barista prepared cups of caffeinated goodness for patrons sitting toward the windows. It smells good in there, and the church pews and rickety wooden chairs make the whole place seem warm and homely - the perfect stop after a long walk on a cool spring afternoon.
I got intrigued by their selection of rather unusual herbal teas (mostly from plants found in Quebec's northern wilderness), and went for the "thé boréal", a mix of what might be nettle, black currants and other plants. It was very good. We shared a banana bread that was moist and rich with brown sugar and chocolate. My boyfriend got the prettiest latte, with all these tiny bubbles in the delightfully rich crema. He loved it. We sat there blissfully for awhile, not needing to talk.
We'll be back.