A group of friends and I stopped in at Detour Cafe after a 3 hour hike at Dundas Peak. We got there at around 2:30pm on a Sunday afternoon, and even though it was a huge group, the staff was friendly and accommodated to the best of their ability.
Location/service:
The cafe is located about 8-10 minutes away from the Dundas Peak, on a busy King Street. Meter street parking is available in front of the cafe or on the street as well as side streets, but it is free on Saturday, Sunday and Holidays. The cafe itself isn't very big as there are about 10 (one-sided booth) tables and of course, these tables can be moved to accommodate a larger group. There's also a patio outside with umbrellas for the hot summer months, but unfortunately our group couldn't go outside yesterday as seats were all taken and there were just too many of us. The place also has a shelf of coffee beans, pots, other related materials to sell, so that's definitely an option if you are a coffee lover and wants to take a bag of beans home! After all, Detour is known for their coffee. They started as a coffee roastery in 2009 and they still roast their coffees fresh each week!
Food:
Coming as a large group definitely as its perks: you get to try a lot of things! I ordered an extra hot skimmed flat white ($3.71) and it was really good. The coffee is definitely strong. So if you need a boost in the morning, this will do (at least for me!). Since I only wanted a snack, I got the double chocolate pumpkin loaf (vegan) ($2.50) and it was just okay. It wasn't anything spectacular. The pastries change ever so often, so I'll definitely come back to check out some other stuff.
Things that my friends ordered and that I got to try:
A side of fries ($4) and it was quite good. They were those rustic cut kinds. I liked how it was only lightly salted (or if none at all). A friend got the BLT deluxe ($12.95) and for all sandwiches, it i served with either mixed greens, soup or fries. The soup of the day yesterday sweet and sour cabbage soup and it was very good. Lots of cabbage and the taste was just excellent! The BLT sandwich on the other hand wasn't so good. The bread was hard and cold and the filling was very mediocre.
Another friend got the mac n' cheese ($12.95). It came hot, but what's really good was that there was a generous sprinkling of panko bread crumbs on top which gave it the nice crunch in every bite. I liked how it wasn't drenched in sauce and it wasn't overly salty.
Several friends ordered the 2-cheese grilled cheese sandwich ($11.95) and the breakfast sandwich ($7.95). Both were good, and they satisfied our hunger, but it wasn't anything special.
I love that this cafe also served Ontario beers! For those who are more into alcohol than coffee, this is a nice option. They also have different in-house drinks like the sour cherry pop.
All in all, I would definitely come back again to enjoy their coffee and try other dishes! read more