After being on the hunt for the perfect cafe to be my regular spot for studying, blogging, reading, or whatever one does as cafes, I have found the perfect place. My hunt was over when a few months back I stumbled over Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters, and after my fair share of visits, I can safely say this is my new favorite stop. Finding a cafe to call your home away from home when the need for that caffeine boost is no easy task, but Dessert Oasis has all the variables to make it perfect for me.
Menu//Taste
This is by far the most important consideration when looking for a regular coffee stop. There needs to be enough selection and have the taste to back it up. I don't care if you can make 100 different variations of my coffee order, if it doesn't taste good there is no point. Dessert Oasis has the wide selection you would see at most coffee places, offering a range of cold and hot drinks. I typically find myself going for the caramel latte(I'm a sucker for the designs the foam makes), but on occasion I have strayed from my new found favorite, and have yet to be disappointed. The flavoring of the drinks are perfect, the coffee is not too strong, but has enough strength to give me that extra caffeine kick I want. I would say the taste is comparable to that of Starbucks drinks. There is not necessarily anything special about it to make it standout, but with that being said, its still a good cup of coffee.
Their menu also has a wide selection of food ranging from sandwiches to desserts. With this being a cafe, and not a chain coffeeshop, this is an area that Dessert Oasis excels in. The taste and selection of food is better than you would find at a Starbucks or Tim Hortons. Overall for selection and taste I would give a 9/10, the only thing missing are the blended beverages.
Quantity//Price
Another factor I look into is how much bang for my buck I am getting. I think you can feel my pain when you go into chain coffee shops and fork over $5 for a medium latte. I want my delicious camramelly goodness without feeling as if I have to sell my soul to afford it. It was refreshing to see that I would pay $4 for my caramel latte and the mug it was given in was the size of my face! I have since learned that for me the large is too much and can go for the cheaper, and smaller of the two sizes, and be just as content. For the serving size you get, the prices really are great. The quantity to price ratio gets a perfect 10/10 in my books!
Atmosphere
When I sit down to start working with my coffee to my left and my books to the right, I need to be able to get in the zone, and to do that the atmosphere around me needs to be good. The worst thing is when your super focused, but then you hear the barista yell out order after order, disrupting your perfect concentration. This is now a struggle of my past, as at Dessert Oasis when you order you are given a card to place on your table and your order is quietly brought out to you. The only noise you here is the quiet typical coffee house music lightly playing, and the light chit chat of other coffee goers around you. The cafe is kept kind of dark, but not to the point where you need to whip out your own personal flashlight to see, just enough to create a calm mood. Another nice touch is that Monday through Saturday night there is live music. Its that little something extra that changes things up which is nice. My rating for the atmosphere is 8.5/10, my only complaint being that sometimes it gets a little too crowded due to the smaller size of the building,but it is made up for with the comfy seating!
Overall if you are looking for a good cafe to try out I would recommend Desert Oasis. Between the selection, great pricing, and comfy cozy feel it has become my new go to coffee stop!
xxAshley
