** This restaurant is now closed. **
Every neighbourhood has at least a Starbucks or a Timmies, but not every neighbourhood is blessed with a Café Blackbird. Located in the west end community of Crestwood, Café Blackbird is locally owned and family-run. It's a disservice to just call them a coffee shop. They put on live music events, showcase local art, and have surprisingly gourmet food options (and wine!).
It was a lazy Sunday, a day to catch up with friends and Café Blackbird seemed like the perfect backdrop. Casual, friendly, and unpretentious. We came an hour or two before closing, so it was much quieter than it would've been during prime brunch hour.
How it works is you order and pay at the counter. You'll have to pick up your own drinks but our dishes were bussed out to our table. On the weekends, the café serves their regular breakfast menu (available daily) along with special brunch dishes.
Coffee beans and tea blends are both locally sourced, via Ace Coffee Roasters and The Tea Girl. I don't drink coffee too often so I settled on a chai latte ($5.00). I love when shops add a lil somethin' somethin' on the side. In this case, a small shortbread cookie. It's the little things that show they care.
The morn'n breakwich ($10.00) is a simple but tasty take on a classic breakfast sandwich. Toasted multigrain bread with two fried eggs, tomato, bacon, white cheddar, onion jam, and garlic aioli. Also, a radish garnish on the side because they #fancy.
Blackbird's chia pudding ($8.00) is a nice vegan and gluten-free option. Made from chia seeds, coconut and almond milk, maple syrup, berry compote, and nuts and seeds. They were running low on the chia pudding, so the cashier offered what was left and comped the next item on the house!
The avocado toast ($9.00) was the most elaborate millennial thing I've ever seen. Multigrain toast with garlic aioli, chunks of avocado, tomato, radish, sprouts, hemp seeds, and sesame seeds. Also a vegan option.
Brunch is the best portmanteau there is, so I went for the food equivalent, a breakfast food mash-up of sorts. The waffle benny ($16.00) starts with two quarter sections of a golden waffle. Topped with two poached eggs, crispy bacon, and generous spoonfuls of hollandaise. Between the yolks and the hollandaise, it's pretty creamy and rich. But I'm a sucker for anything salty and sweet. To help balance things out, there's also a lightly dressed mixed greens salad on the side.
A cozy gem in Crestwood. Before you cruise through the drive-thru for your morning cup, consider slowing things down at Café Blackbird.
Café Blackbird
9640 142 Street NW
Edmonton, AB
(780) 451-8890
- CT
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