#de maisonneuve

[thegracefulphoton]

After a movie some night.

[studysearch]

February 28, 2011, 1470 De Maisonneuve Cafe Depot Guy/Concordia Metro

Ok, so first off, I think this is the very first study spot that I’ve been to that can boast about the presence of it’s chandeliers. Seriously. I have at this very moment a chandelier hanging over my head, and while yes I have thought about the many ways in which a person risks their life when standing beneath a chandelier, I’ve taken the risk in favour of an honest review(no set of lights is going to scare me off!).

I walked in around 1000am and the café was pretty empty at that time. The service was quite nice although I had to repeat several times that I wanted my tea for here before they realized that I didn’t want a paper cup. 

So the first thing you might notice is that after the eccentric light choices is that there is another venue that shares the interior of the space. It is (depending on your perspective) the bane and saviour of so many students...sushi. 

Yes, this café depot has a sushi shop in the same floor space as itself. Consequently, if you’re hungry, you can walk over, buy some sushi, and get right back to studying without even putting your coat on. This is great for continuity in studying, not so great for your wallet though. My hats off to the two venues though, it’s a very smart set-up. Nearly every student I know loves/needs caffeine, and there are no few who also don’t love sushi. 

Moving on I was initially a little wary of the workspaces provided. The tables were a couple of inches smaller than 2x2 feet, and there wasn’t much room for more than 2 text books. That being said, there are are enough tables that if you come with a group, you could probably make a good multi-table study space.  

All was not lost though, I noticed that there was a very long window side table/ledge lined with chairs along an entire wall that was facing large bay windows. I was initially reluctant to try it out as I had attempted these placements before and didn’t really enjoy them, but it had the most space so I gave it a shot. Surprisingly enough it worked out quite well. All along the ledge there are outlets hiding underneath, providing ample access for power, especially if you add that every primary column (x4) in the café also has two plugs in it. It’s also very nice to be able to just look outside and enjoy the natural light. I didn’t mind the high chairs, but after a few hours I realized that because I was against a wall I couldn’t stretch my knees, forcing me to migrate to the smaller island tables. 

Now, when I walked in, and after the first initial two hours, I was rather fond of café depot. Decent space, nice lighting, food, oh and before I forget -free internet- but after those 2 hours things started to decline a little bit. 

1) As I mentioned, my knees started to really get stiff, up to the point where they were distracting me from studying. What’s really unfortunate about this is that I had to give up the best workspace for personal comfort. 

2) Cafe Depot was empty when I started, but it became very popular right after 1230, and it stayed that way for at least the next three hours until I left. This isn’t bad in and of itself, but since the tables were so close to each other, If was able to over hear 3 conversations quite easily. There was one table with friends exchanging relationship advice (one of them compared dating to marketing...methinks a business or communications student is in our midst), and another table was talking about how their life had changed since they had kids. It was a little distracting and I couldn’t quite make it into white noise, so I had to plug myself into my ipod to help out. 

3) Maybe it was sitting on the high chair in front of the window for so long, maybe it was a poor nights sleep, but I developed this very distracting crick in my neck that I just couldn’t get rid of. I really can’t specify where it came from, but it developed while I was here and so I assume it had to do with my sitting position. As a result, the whole study period was less enjoyable.

Because of all these aftertastes of the Cafe Depot experience, I’ve lowered my initial judgement. 

Would I come back? No

  ★★★★★★★☆ 6.5/10 Stars

It may be great for some, as I said it was very popular and I saw several students studying here, but a combination of factors results in this study spot being subpar compared to others. 

Cheers!

[studysearch]

JAVA U BELOW STANLEY AND DE MAISONNEUVE

Java U was recommended to me by a friend of mine who went through the civil engineering program at Concordia University. Joke however much you want about engineers, but they need to do a heck of a lot of work in their programs. They build our bridges so they need to do dam well before they pass. As a result, you can bet that they know a thing or two about studying. 

From the outside Java U looks like a fairly small cafe. If you look quickly it appears to have only a few tables and only one window facing the street. Go inside though and you’re treated to a completely new landscape. 

First off, there is a lot of space in here. 6 booth/comfy bench areas, lots of tables without crowding in on other tables, expansive walking room so that you don’t hit anyone with your bags, and lots of light throughout. There is no feeling of being closed in or squeezed to side even if you’re sitting in a corner. 

In terms of quality comfort, the tables are a nice height with about 2 square feet of space to work with. if there’s no one around you can snag a second table for 8 square feet and you’re sitting pretty. The bench areas are quite comfortable, but were a touch low, and as a result my arms were slightly uncomfortable after a couple of hours. The seats are hardwood chairs with a polished chrome frame, but are a little bit higher then the benches and so were at just the right height for me. You might feel a little stiff after a little while from the hard seats, but they’re quite good nonetheless. 

Because most of the area is indoors, you might miss the feeling of natural light. Like I mentioned in my last post of Van Houtte, a number of coffee shops have gone the direction of warm wood and cozy (dim) lighting to create a good ambiance. Van Houtte went in the opposite direction to acquire a more brightly lit, energetic, and modern style and sacrificed that calming atmosphere as a result. Java U however has found a wonderful middle ground. 

White walls reflects the light of the room and provides the feeling of more space. The back far wall has some light wood panelling with some stonework to give a unique rustic feeling to the area. This combination of bright wide space, with soft comfortable wood and stone, makes Java U the best of both worlds. Oh, and the wood panel flooring also makes a big difference. 

Free internet; no account, no sign up, no time limit, completely accessible, the way it should be. :)

There are a few outlets scattered about but they’re slightly hidden underneath benches and around corners, so you might find yourself asking to get by other customers to get access to the plugs. You should also be willing to share as while I was there I saw no fewer than 8 laptops scattered about, so be a good neighbour and if your battery can spare a couple of hours, share the plug. 

Location; immediately next to Peel Metro Stanley exit, Java U is well situated right in the middle of downtown. You can access a number of restaurants, shops, and access the underground mall in under 5 minutes. Want to work out? The downtown YMCA is right across the street. 

Costs: Java is very popular, I studied through lunch hour and the place filled up to the brim very quickly (more on that soon). If you compare the price of food to other similarly sized meals you’ll probably feel that it’s a bit expensive. Going the route of a healthy deli brand, JU will provide you with delicious healthy meals(sandwiches, wraps, salads, ect.), but you’ll probably feel that you could make the same meal for 1/8th of the price at home(but would you make it is the question), as it was, I purchased a sandwich for 8$ tax included and it filled me up quite nicely and tastefully. The beverages are average price and maybe a bit cheaper than Starbucks or Second Cup. That being said, I think their mugs are also a bit smaller…

Foursquare tips: Ahmed K. says “Get the big salad it’s great!!”, and Sebastien T. says “Monster brownies are awesome there if you need a sugar rush.”

The downside of Java U is unfortunate because it’s a positive for JU but a negative for me. Right around lunch time (1200-1330) the cafe filled up completely. Every table was filled and every seat taken. Make sure you buy something and you’ll be ok, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable working straight through; plus, if you do need 2 tables to spread your books (you greedy person you) then if you have any sense of common decency, you’ll go down to one. Associated with this, if you’re the type of person who needs silence to study, this isn’t the place for you. There is always noise whether by music or by people so you’ll have to find somewhere else to sneak yourself into. 

Would I go back? Yes (but I’d probably try to avoid the lunch rush)

★★★★★★★★☆ 8.5/10 stars

M-F: 0600-2100

St-Sn 0800-2000

[studysearch]

BISTRO VAN HOUTTE CORNER STANLEY AND DE MAISONNEUVE

A view of the plateaus and grasslands

Van Houtte isn’t as popular as Second Cup or Starbucks, but it still has it’s neat little niches around Montreal. I originally passed by Van Houtte on my way to the YMCA that’s right around the corner and returned afterwards when I had some free time before class. I’ve been there three times over the passed couple of months and they’ve impressed me. 

Walking in you immediately see the open layout of the café. Lots of natural light coming in from 2 walls worth of windows accompanied by nicely arrange artificial light gives the student a good feeling of area and space. There are 3 types of sitting areas which I’ve dubbed, the foothills, the grasslands, and the plateaus. 

The grasslands are small closed-in tables with two chairs a piece. The tables are acceptable for two books or one book with beverage. Two book and a beverage and you’re playing cowboy. Not too much outlet access. 

The foothills are tucked to one side of the café and they have comfy benches and seats where a group can sit together on. Unfortunately they also have the smallest tables, meaning that a beverage and textbook is at it’s limit here. Very comfortable though and it has outlets next to both booths. 

The foothills

The Plateaus are my favourite, they have ample room with two tables pushed side by side. They have comfortable plastic seats, and also have easy access electrical outlets. If you’re lucky enough to get one of these, you’re golden (possible issue; they’re supposed to be for 4, so as long as all three aren’t being used, you haven’t broken any courtesy laws. 

Another nice thing is that every time I’ve come here (granted, that’s always been around 1200-1600), there have not been very many people, so it doesn’t get overly crowded and you’re not in danger of being told to leave if you’re not buying anything. 

You also have access to the internet but you need to purchase something first. Not unreasonable, but it means that it’s not free access such as Second Cup or Starbucks have. 

Service was pretty good. Unfortunately on the day that I did this review their internet was malfunctioning. As it was, a gentleman who I assume was the store manager would periodically ask me if the internet was working yet and would explain that they were working on it. When it finally did work, he gave me a second coupon code for their internet for future use, so pretty good treatment overall (he didn’t know I was doing a review so I don’t suspect any fake treatment).

 In terms of Ambiance VH has a pretty nice feeling to it. It doesn’t have the warm wood intellectual feeling that so many other coffee shops have though. In fact, now that I think about it, I’ve become so accustomed to that atmosphere that it’s almost become the expectation and so because of that, it slightly diminishes the experience of Van Houtte(if that isn’t a testament to good branding on the part of SC and Starbucks I don’t know what is). 

Would I go back? Absolutely, but with a caveat... 

if you get the one of the four plateau tables, you’re golden, otherwise your experience goes down. Since it’s not often crowded though, I would say your chances are pretty good. 

★★★★★★★★ 8/10 stars 

:::::::If you look below you’ll see that comments have now been enabled. There was an issue with the Themes html coding which prevented comments from being accessed. This has now been resolved, so please share your thoughts and let me know if you have any suggestions for areas to review!::::::