Michi Waffle & Espresso

Oh Nooooo! Are they closed? I hope not for good.
I love Michi Waffle. I rave about this place to friends. I have cravings for the OMG which is a green tea waffle with a scoop of green tea, with green tea whipped cream, and caramel drizzled on top. I also like to order the matcha green tea and red bean smoothie. Mmmm.
This place is always bustling so I put off reviewing this place to avoid making it even busier.
The owner is really nice and works there almost every day. He’s the hardest working man in the waffle business as far as I am concerned.
Please please dont be closed!
Service: Good
Food: Orgasmic
Ambiance: Cozy

I had discovered Michi Waffles via a Unilocal search while planning a trip to Vancouver about 2 months ago. Upon reading past reviews as well as looking through the establishment’s website, I decided I wanted to check this place out. I thought a morning visit for coffee and a waffle would be a great idea. So I made my way – about a 15 – 20 min walk – from my hotel in Yaletown to Michi, only to discover a locked door and dark place, contrary to the posted hours. When I arrived, it was well after 10:30am, nearly an hour and a half after their posted opening via their website and this Unilocal page.
Later that afternoon, I did wander back to the West End, and Michi was open! I ended up ordering a what they call an «O.M.G. (oh my green tea)» waffle as well as a cold drink, an espresso frappé. I was asked about the sweetness level for the cold coffee drink, and I requested it to be medium sweet. What came out was what I’d call hardly sweetened, but against the ice cream topped waffled drenched in caramel, it was ok – just not a drink I was able to finish. As for the waffle, great green tea ice cream on top, rather funky but ok combo w/​the caramel; not enough green tea flavor in the waffle, and it should have come out almost overdone or crispier to off-​set the melting ice cream.
Some great ideas here, a bit lacking in the execution (including some sort of mysterious problem of opening that morning), but given the chance, I would visit here again and hope for a better experience. Two and ¾ stars.

Michi is alright — the cappuccino was definitely better than the green tea waffle (and I’m not particularly picky about my ice cream and waffles, how can you go wrong?). I wouldn’t see myself going back again if in the area.

A brussels (Belgian) waffle should stand on it’s own. This one does not :) it was more like a toaster waffle fresh from the freezer. make sure you order at the very least the whipped topping you’ll need something to choke this thing down.
Also I ordered a double espresso and got a single :(
Service was also a little lacking.

Very disappointing experience! Never had worse than that before!
What do you think if a coffee café sold out of coffee, gelato shop sold out gelato, sushi restaurant sold out sushi, at 1pm?
Yes, a friend of mine, my wife and I went to Michi WAFFLE & Espresso today at 1pm, intentionally to try out their promotion «Weekday afternoon tea time set: Belgian sugar waffle + your choice of gelato + 8 oz cappuccino or 12 oz tea for $ 6. Valid Monday-​Friday 12pm-​6pm!», which is a highlight promotion on their current website. We arrived there at about 1pm, we saw absolutely no sign for such a promotion we saw on their website, so we asked the only young staff and he felt no embarrassment nor no sorry to tell us that the promotion is valid however they ran out of waffle cuz all waffles have been sold out! We asked when the next batch of waffles would be coming out, he answered about next 2 to 3 hours! And no, without any kind of apology. We already felt very disappointing and ridiculous, but since we drove all the way from Richmond and so we decided to wander around the area and to try out our luck to go back later and see. After an hour or so passed by and we went back, we had no luck but to see a «sold out» sign placed in front of all waffle displays… .
Don’t they say the promotion is from 12pm-​6pm weekdays? Despite the promotion, none waffle is available even we wish to pay for regular price. Hello??? Isn’t it a WAFFLE shop? I don’t care anymore about how good (or bad) the waffles are, but regarding for the extremely bad service and poor marketing, we don’t think we’ll go there again, not even worthy to try out our luck again!

Have had better Liege waffles before. I was glad to hear that each one is made fresh, but when took my first bite I was extremely disappointed. Hunt for a good Liege waffle continues…

I have read what other people said about this place as I have been trying waffle caffe/​coffees in Vancouver.
I have heard a plain and the green tea waffles at michi are awful. But I gave it a try.
It turned out to be… true. Bloggers were right… green tea waffles are not for me. As for the coffee, people said they used the beans from 49 parallel. With use of the same beans, I am surprised to learn that the cappuccino or latte can be tasted differently depending on who the barista is. Mine was too milky. Didn’t taste the coffee much.
Their service was slow and made me feel bit frustrated.
Next, I am trying out Miura Milk Bar.
I hope that’s good!

I like this place. Four of us had a meeting here, had a cup of cappucino or latte, and I was impressed with the taste. It had the right consistency and strength which I look for in a cup and no burnt smell+aftertaste which I don’t want in a cup.
A nice small place, my sister had waffles, but by the time I ate them it was already a bit cold so can’t properly judge whether it was very good or not. I would come here for coffee again though! The service was good, nice and friendly.

Oh how I wish we found this place on our first day here, not our last! It’s so good, that we’re going back again tonight!
The guy working here is really, really nice. He might be the owner, but I’m not sure. I will never eat Belgian waffles again, the liege is sooooo much better!
We had the chocolate lover’s and the platter, and both were awesome. Can’t wait to go back later tonight!

wow — this place is fantastic.
I went here for dessert not really sure what to expect and I was wowed.
My friend had the OMG — «oh my green tea» one with a matcha sweet waffle, green tea ice cream, and a green tea whipping cream. While it sounds sweet, it was a really great combination.
I opted to make my own peanut butter cup-​esque concoction — nutella, peanut butter, and vanilla gelato on a their lighter waffle option. It really hit the spot — especially when paired with a bottle of San Pellegrino or an Espresso.
For those on the go — they have gift boxes etc and pre-​made waffles ready for purchase deli-​style. Open daily until 11pm –also, they had great music and candles on each table. When we were there, we heard the acoustic version of «I will survive»…classic

Tremendous coffee — great service and the waffles are amazing.
Next time you’re on Robson, make the effort to walk a couple of extra blocks and escape the crowds. The espresso is so worth it.

This bright, modern, boutique café hosted a second Likemind Vancouver event this week (free waffles?! Are you kidding me?) and I again enjoyed the space, the great espresso drinks, and especially the waffles (try the matcha green tea flavour).
Not only does this independently owned café understand what makes them different from the various coffee chain options less than a block away, but they support their community with events like Likemind, and for that I applaud them and will continue to support them.

I have really been enjoying Michi since it opened. The décor is beautiful and the staff are friendly and do an excellent job. I love their lattes — so incredibly smooth and delicious. For a special treat, try their mocha — it is made with a chocolate ganache they make on site. I highly recommend checking it out! Michi even has free wi-​fi and a spacious (and clean) bathroom.

On a recent trip to Vancouver, we tried coffee at Caffè Artigiano (across from the Vancouver art institute) and 49^th parallel in Kitsilano and Michi was quite simply the best. We tried espresso drinks, french press and loose leaf tea and in every case were more than happy with what they produced. Just wished we had discovered them sooner than we did.
When it comes too food, they don’t serve your normal café fare. They seem to have good bite sized desserts, croissants and waffles. Wish they offered more. I’d knock off half a point off for food, but Unilocal doesn’t let me give 4.5 points.
Great place for coffee, tea and desserts. I wish I could drag the people frequenting the *$ next door to michi :)

Cool place. Better than the sum of its parts (coffee & waffles). Sounds like some people are expecting American’s version of Belgian waffles with all of the whip cream and fruit. These seem more in the traditional style to me, not super sweet and pleasantly doughy. Very good, strong coffee too. Definitely worth checking out. The décor is trendy, sleek, and cool as well.

I noticed this «waffle and espresso» bar on my walk to my usual coffee shop with wifi this morning. The place is very inviting and the staff were welcoming and extremely helpful. Although i only had drinks, they were very good, next time i will try the waffles (Although it would be nice to see some other alternative, but i suppose they are brand new). I could see how some may feel this interior is a bit plain, however i found to be a refreshing and clean alternative to the standard Starbuck/​Waves/​Blendz… Great music and free wifi.

We stopped over to Michi for a quick dessert snack on the way home after dinner last night.
Although the interior of the new café is modern and the fixtures are tastefully appointed, the furniture placement is haphazard. An empty bar height table pushed to the corner with no chairs around it is just plain odd and reveals management’s no attention to details. Petite leather armchairs obviously from IKEA placed with a futon-​height sofa do not really look inviting. Patrons are allowed to move the café tables any way they like so you’ll see a row of tables together followed by a large gap before another few tables which do not align!!! With stark interior and a monochromatic colour scheme, the square café tables need to be equidistant and aligned.
The flavour of their waffles is good but I thought I was biting into a dinner roll. They should not have called them Belgian waffles on the menu.

Michi just opened this past week and is doing a soft launch. You’ll find an amazing 20% off rate during this soft launch, so visit soon before it’s over.
The store is tastefully styled in a sleek/​modern style of dark woods/​leather and white accessories. I was promptly greeted by the friendly staff.
There are 3 waffle flavors from which to choose: sugar, chocolate, and green tea. You can order them to go or have them served with fruit, ice cream, sauces, etc. I was in a hurry so ordered two sugar waffles to go.
The display case next to the register is stocked with waffles and assumed they would serve me from it, but instead I was given freshly made waffles (still warm) from the kitchen. Two waffles with 20% off came to just under $ 5.
As I happily left the café, I bit into my warm sugar waffle. The sugar bits on the outside were crisp and slowly melting from the heat of the waffle. Yum.
Sadly, that’s where my happiness ended. I found the waffle itself to be very «bready» and bland tasting.
I’ve experienced Belgian waffles for the first time from London street vendors and again at Patisserie Lebeau on 2^nd Ave. (a must visit). Unlike waffles topped with whipped cream and syrup, true Belgian waffles are sprinkled with pearl sugar and eaten plain.
Michi’s waffles just didn’t compare to others I’ve had. It lacked *flavour*.
While I’m excited to have a new snack/​dessert option in my hood, I’ll be curious to see if it catches on. Maybe later this weekend I’ll swing by again to try the other flavors and see if they are any better. Also, I haven’t yet tried any drinks from the espresso bar.