If you are searching for cute cafés in Scarborough, you may have noticed something fairly quickly. There are not that many of them.
At least not compared to downtown Toronto. Downtown, you can walk five minutes and accidentally discover three aesthetic cafés before you even finish your coffee.
Since moving to Scarborough, I have definitely noticed the difference. It still feels like a commuter-focused part of the city.
It is also not the most walkable neighbourhood when it comes to discovering cafés. Most café discoveries here involve a car and a very specific destination.
But recently, I have started noticing something interesting. A shift.
More cafés are opening. More modern spaces are appearing. One of the first new spots I want to talk about is Blue Cat Espresso and Padel Club.
A beautiful aesthetic café space
The first thing that stands out about Blue Cat Espresso is the aesthetic.
The colour palette is navy blue, white, warm wood tones, and marble countertops. When you walk in, the space immediately feels clean and thoughtfully designed.
Photos honestly do not capture the atmosphere very well. In person, it feels much nicer. It is not overly luxurious. But it has enough polish that it feels like a modern café you would expect in a trendy neighbourhood.
A café inside a padel club
What makes Blue Cat Espresso particularly interesting is that it is not just a café. It is actually attached to a padel sports club, which was completely new to me.
Padel is apparently a sport that sits somewhere between tennis and pickleball. I had never heard of it before this visit, but it seems very popular.
From the café seating area, you can see the courts stretching across the gym space. There are multiple courts and a seating area where people can watch games.
The café itself is also surprisingly spacious. There are plenty of tables, WiFi, and places to plug in a laptop. If you are looking for a quiet work café in Scarborough, this might secretly be one of the best options right now.
Mostly because not many people seem to know about it yet.
What we ordered
I went with my cousin and we ordered a couple drinks while catching up. She ordered an iced strawberry matcha, and I chose one of the recommended drinks called the white mocha frio.
The menu marks popular drinks with little star icons. I always appreciate when menus help indecisive people like me make decisions.
The white mocha frio is made with espresso, white chocolate, and roasted hazelnut. I ordered it hot. It was smooth, pleasant, and easy to drink. To be honest, I am much more critical about matcha than coffee.
I can explain exactly what is wrong with a matcha drink. Coffee is a little harder for me to analyze with the same level of intensity. So I would say the coffee was good. It just did not dramatically change my life.
The strawberry matcha
Now let’s talk about the matcha. According to the barista, the drink contains six grams of matcha, which is actually a decent amount. However, the drink still leaned very heavily toward milk.
When you look at the cup, it is filled almost entirely with milk. That makes it difficult for the matcha flavour to stand out. The strawberry syrup, however, was excellent. It tasted fresh and apparently is made in-house. But the matcha flavour was mostly hidden by the milk.
In the end, the drink tasted more like strawberry milk than strawberry matcha. This is actually a common problem when cafés make strawberry matcha. If the matcha is not strong enough, it disappears into the milk and the fruit syrup takes over the entire drink.
My ideal version would have been a smaller cup. Less milk and more matcha would have made a big difference.
Trying padel at Blue Cat
Another interesting part of Blue Cat Espresso is the padel courts. Renting a court is not exactly cheap. It usually costs over $100 for a session.
This means it makes the most sense if you split the cost with friends. However, they also run something called Padel Vibe nights every other Friday. For around $45, beginners can try the sport in a more relaxed setting.
If you have never played padel before, this seems like the easiest way to test it out.
Is Blue Cat Espresso worth visiting?
If you are looking for cute cafés in Scarborough, Blue Cat Espresso is definitely worth checking out. The aesthetic is beautiful and the space is huge.
It is also one of the rare cafés in the area where you can sit with your laptop and work comfortably. The matcha might not be the strongest in the city. But the strawberry flavour was excellent and the café itself is a really pleasant place to spend time.
And honestly, Scarborough deserves more cafés like this.
Hopefully this is just the beginning.
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