Guest post by Nathalie D.
I was searching for 49th Parallel‘s shop hours for the West 4th location. I wanted to get their fantastic coffee for my boyfriend’s parents who just recently came into town. Arley N., Paul (my boyfriend)’s dad, told me he loved coffee. I knew 49th Parallel would be a good Vancouver thing for him to try, but they were only here from Alberta for a short bit. I decided to send them a 1/2 lb of coffee. I noticed Forty Ninenth Parallel Cafe & Lucky’s Donuts on Main Street, which would be an easier route for me coming from Electronic Arts in Burnaby where I work.
Boy was this a good choice!
The service was fantastic. I needed help picking a speciality coffee for Paul’s father and decided to pick up one for my dad as well. Paul’s father – I think – is a versatile coffee drinker. My dad on the other hand hates dark coffees like Starbucks’ Sumatra for example. (Don’t blame you dad, it does taste like coffee filtered through old socks.) The worker was extra helpful and told me Epic Espresso was a good choice for mainly drip and breakfast coffee. It has that full body flavor but it is still light enough to drink in the morning. I also noticed they had donuts!
These are the fantastic Lucky Donuts. I had a Glazed Donut with iced coffee. I was supposed to have dinner after, but this filled me up. It was not as sweet as I thought and full of dough instead of air. It filled me up and just had the right amount of sweetness to keep me addicted. I came out with a box of bacon apple fritters for my family, a honey crueller for my auntie and two 1/2 lb bags of Epic Espresso without any buyers remorse.
I loved it so much I came back with my boyfriend on the weekend and we had a salted caramel and old fashioned donut. The salted caramel donut was like eating taffy candy the whole ring through. It was not sweet considering the thing was covered in caramel, but like the glazed, it had the right amount to keep you eating and not feel guilty. The old fashioned was good even though it was plain. The sugar melted in your mouth and the dough wiped it down for you.
If you are a donut lover or just need an excellent coffee shop to read in, this cafe also has an old, industrial ambience to it too. If you are an asthestic whore like me, you will love this place plus the good looking people in here. Another Main Street gem!
