Creekside Coffee Factory is a mini-chain that has locations in Coquitlam and Langley. As Google Reviewer (and local guide) Tariq wrote, “In the cafe, my experience was okay”. I completely agree. That sentence perfectly sums up my experience too. It’s Langley location, located in “SmartCentres Langley” aka a suburban paradise, my expectations were not overly high walking in to the cafe. However, upon opening the doors, I had reason to believe that I may have judged this book by its cover. The decor was surprisingly modern and the abundance of natural light (although full disclosure, I went at night) from the large windows was a plus. They also had a massive stuffed bear that greets you at the entrance which was neat.
Here’s where things get “just okay”. The service was average. While the man behind the counter was friendly enough, there was nothing that made the exchange memorable.Not that I need that memorable exchange each and every time, but still… The cafe was not overly busy when we went. However, it took longer than I would’ve expected to get the drinks out. Again, this isn’t that big of a deal to me, but stringing a bunch of these little instances together adds up to a much bigger problem.
As for the coffee itself, it was simply average. There were some good things to like about it, such as the chocolatey notes present in the espresso as well as the foam. The foam was decent, and it had a nice texture to it. This offered up hope for the rest of the drink, yet with each sip, that hope became increasingly dashed. The milk didn’t really mask the espresso, which normally would be a good thing. However, in this case, the espresso had almost a stale taste to it that made the chocolate notes far less appealing. Overall, anything positive that this latte had going for it was soon cancelled out by a negative.
Atmosphere: 3.5/5
Service: 3/5
Coffee: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
Matt's Coffee Chat 