Neo Coffee Bar on Bay
Neo Coffee Bar has this second location in addition to their original spot on Frederick Street.
They're known for serving some of the city's best Japanese desserts, muffins, cappuccinos, pour over and lattes.
Both spaces were designed by Dialogue 38 with Japanese and minimalist influences in mind, incorporating lots of raw wood and industrial textures.
The main difference to the space here is that you can see into a back production area where desserts are made throughout the day.
Mini sandwiches are assembled on site using Blackbird baguette, and come in varieties like maple tahini chicken, smoked salmon cream cheese ($8) and ham with brie ($6).
They're especially known for their spongy, picture-perfect house Japanese roll cakes ($6.20) in varieties like grassy Kyoto matcha with organic red adzuki bean, everything bound together by airy cream.
All house pastries are made with organic whole wheat pastry flour, cane sugar, milk and free-range eggs.
A fresh strawberry roll cake is simple but addictive, with the tangy, sweet strawberries punching through the creaminess of the cake. Other varieties include black sesame, London Fog and gluten-free orange dark chocolate.
Cookie varieties include matcha white chocolate, dark chocolate, gluten-free ginger molasses and even vegan sugar-free breakfast.
An espresso blend is custom roasted exclusively for Neo by de Mello Palheta. Beans from Brazil have chocolate, pecan and maple syrup notes, and a shot of espresso ($3.40) is always served with a small glass of carbonated water to rinse the palette before and after tasting.
V60 pour over single origin coffee sourced from featured roaster Glitch from Tokyo goes for $6.50. Glitch coffee is only available here, whereas the featured roaster at the other location is Onibus.
Available hot or iced, this method takes a little longer but brings out the acidity and more subtle notes of raisin, dried fig and citrus of the Colombian beans.
A cappuccino ($4.20) is made with 3.8 per cent organic milk, making it full-bodied, sweet and creamy.
These and the lattes ($4.75) are made with the Neo Blend espresso by default, which was actually designed to be especially good with milk.
Matcha lattes ($5.95) are available hot or iced, whisked to order and are made with Uji matcha sourced from Kyoto.
Watch out for seasonal roll cakes and choux specials, as well as combo deals available at certain times of day. Also be aware that the cafe functions as a laptop-free space during certain times on the weekend. Neo Coffee Bar is part of the Kinka group also responsible for Kinton Ramen, Ja Bistro and more.
Hector Vasquez