A great place to study, read or relax in Waterloo, with an exquisite interior and delicious coffee and desserts.
By: Kaden Nanji
(Kaden Nanji/CanCulture)
This article is part of CanCulture’s food review series, where our writers explore some of the best food finds across the nation.
I discovered Smile Tiger Coffee Roasters by chance when stuck in an unfortunate predicament on my trip to Waterloo, Ont. My train home was scheduled for 3 p.m.; however, at 5 p.m., I was stranded at the train station in the freezing cold. Then from across the station, I spotted it, a small rustic-looking coffee shop.
I hurried inside to find that the interior of the coffee shop is beautiful. Abstract art is framed on the walls; modern geometric chandeliers hang on the ceiling; wooden couches and tables spaced out on the floor of the cafe. The use of exposed pipes throughout the cafe added to the intended rustic look as well. The peaceful atmosphere allowed for various customers to study, read or write at the tables, as well as chat amongst each other. This overall ambience of Smile Tiger Coffee Roasters is enough to make me go back.
The rustic Smile Tiger Coffee Roasters features wooden furniture and warm lighting in industrial style. (Kaden Nanji/CanCulture)
Then comes the food. As it was a cold, rainy day and I had a few hours to spare, I decided to order two drinks and a small dessert. The first drink I ordered was the peppermint mocha, which has the perfect ratio of peppermint to chocolate and coffee. A lot of the time when making peppermint drinks, the peppermint taste can be overpowering; however, at Smile Tiger, you can distinctly taste their world-renowned coffee. As well, the foam at the top of the mocha helped to texturize the drink.
The second drink I ordered was hot chocolate with oat milk, because I have lactose intolerance. I ordered a large size; however, the serving was smaller than I had anticipated. I also felt that the drink lacked a bit of chocolate after tasting. I am personally a fan of more decadent hot chocolate, and this particular type had a much lower concentration. The taste reminded me of the nighttime drink Ovaltine or warm hot milk. Although the drink was refreshing, I wouldn’t call it hot chocolate.
To accompany my drinks, I purchased a salted caramel brownie, recommended by the waitress. At first glance, the brownie looked fairly large, with nice colouring and visible pieces of salt. Then when I went to cut the brownie, my fork almost broke! The brownie was extremely hard! However, after a bit of a struggle, I got a nice bite of brownie and it was delicious. It reminded me of a brownie I had once had at a French restaurant — quite thick, but so flavourful it makes you salivate. The bit of saltiness helped balance the sweetness of the caramel as well, without overpowering the chocolate undertones. If I were to go back, I would ask for the brownie to be heated up a little so that it wouldn’t be such a hassle to cut through.
Smile Tiger’s salted caramel brownie, hot chocolate with oat milk and peppermint mocha. (Kaden Nanji/CanCulture)
Overall, I had a great time at Smile Tiger Coffee Roasters. The tasty food and beautiful demeanour paired together make a great experience. I would definitely recommend the peppermint mocha and brownie, which are around $4 and $6 respectively, so they make for a nice $10 snack combo.
I like to end all my articles with my restaurant rating scale, which contains six different categories: taste, presentation, service, ambience, price and creativity. Each of these categories are ranked from 1 to 10 on the scale. For more details on the restaurant rating scale, check out the end of my first article, a review of Hong Shing.
Taste: 7.8/10
Presentation: 8/10
Service: 8.3/10
Ambience: 10/10
Price: 7.7/10
Creativity: 8.2/10