Cafés
The local roaster that took over the old Starbucks unit at Terra Nova, bringing house-roasted beans, a bakery case and a big neighborhood room to Richmond's west side. Handy before or after a walk at Terra Nova Rural Park.
Terra Nova is the quiet northwest corner of Richmond, where the street grid runs out into farmland and the West Dyke Trail takes over along the edge. L'aromas trades from the Terra Nova plaza, in a unit a large coffee chain used to occupy, which registered as real news out here. A chain outlet became an independent roaster. For a residential pocket at the far end of the city, that is the difference between somewhere to grab a cup and somewhere to spend an hour.
What the west side gets out of it is coffee roasted in house and a room that works as a neighborhood meeting point by default. Richmond does not have a surplus of those outside the City Centre towers. Most of this city's cafes are mall units or Golden Village tea counters built around takeaway, and a room where people can spread out with a laptop or meet somebody properly behaves differently from a counter with a queue behind it.
The obvious pairing is a walk. Terra Nova Rural Park is right there, the dyke is a few minutes further, and the loop out to the north arm and back is flat and easy in anything short of horizontal rain. Dogs are everywhere along that trail. Small independent cafes in this part of the city tend to wind down earlier than the chains do, so treat the coffee as the start of a morning or the reward at the end of the loop rather than an evening plan.
In the Terra Nova neighbourhood of Richmond.
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Other cafés and nearby businesses in the Richmond directory.
A genuinely small-batch roaster and tasting room off Lansdowne Road, run more like a workshop than a cafe. Limited seating, rotating single origins and staff happy to talk through the roast. Closed Wednesdays, so check before making the trip.
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A long-running Cantonese bakery near Brighouse station where you grab a tray and tongs and load up from self-serve shelves. Portuguese egg tarts, pineapple buns, pork buns and sausage rolls come out through the day, and it stays open until 9pm. Cash only.
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An unusual pairing across from Richmond Centre: a coffee bar from the Fresh Press team sharing its floor with a travel agency. Good espresso and pastries in a bright modern room, with enough seating for a long laptop session.
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Airy independent cafe just north of Richmond Centre with hours that stretch to 10pm, which is rare in the neighborhood. Popular with students and evening study groups wanting espresso, matcha and a table long after other cafes have closed.
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A long-running Richmond independent that brews ethically sourced coffee to order and bakes its own cakes and pastries in house. Tucked into a strip mall on No. 3 Road, it keeps a steady weekday crowd of regulars who know the baristas.
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A small specialty bar in Empire Centre near Aberdeen Station that takes coffee and matcha equally seriously, with careful pour-overs in a tidy, minimal room. Free mall parking makes it an easy weekday stop for Golden Village office workers.
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From the blog
Longer reads from the editor, with the places worth a detour linked inside them.
The Night Market's final season is the loud story. The quieter one: free admission at the Cannery ends Monday, Britannia keeps summer hours through Sunday, and Steveston does sunsets better than anyone.
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Nothing on Alexandra Road is a secret. It is just in a strip mall with bad signage and no patio, which is why visitors never find it. Here is how I actually use Richmond's plazas and food courts, which specialists are worth the drive, and when not to bother.
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The West Dyke Trail is about five and a half kilometres of flat gravel between Terra Nova Rural Park and Garry Point, and I ride it most mornings. Here is what is actually at the north end, which way to walk so the wind is on your side, and why winter is the better season for it.
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