By Amy Van Veen (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: November 21, 2012
34261 Marshall Road, Abbotsford, BC
604-854-1616
Prices: up to $7.99
Hours: Daily from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
A café in a nursery.
This feels like déjà vu – either that or an Abbotsford trend I’m quickly becoming more and more aware of.
In the same vein of thought as Brambles Bistro in Tanglebank Gardens, Cannor Nursery on Marshall Road in Abbotsford houses Tamaringo’s Café.
Never mind the fact that Tamaringo’s is my new favourite word to say out loud—similar to Buddy the Elf’s obsession with “Francisco”—Tamaringo’s is an adorable little café within sight of Wal-Mart and the Greyhound station. With neighbours like that, it’s hard to think of a place as adorable, but Tamaringo’s actually is.
The idea of a café inside of a nursery seems, at best, humid. When I think nursery, I think greenhouses and its subsequent discomfort, but Cannor Nursery is less a garden store that happens to have a café and more a café that happens to have a garden store. I was expecting a little corner of the building devoted to a plate of muffins and an espresso machine, but half the front shop is devoted to tables and big comfy chairs. Their menu covers two walls and includes, among other things, pizza, lasagne, sandwiches, chili, soups of the day, muffins, scones, seasonal drinks, regular drinks and gelato.
Despite the fact that I was the only person under retirement age in the store, it was quite a lovely experience. The majority of the tables are in the front part of the store, with a few others spread throughout the greenhouse section of the nursery in the back. The tables are spread out enough to discourage eavesdropping, but not so spread out to feel empty.
One thing that I always find troubling about café/gift shops is that feeling of claustrophobia. More often than not, stores are so packed full of goodies and gifts and knick-knacks that turning around becomes precarious for fear of knocking something off a shelf, never mind sitting down and relaxing. Tamaringo’s, though, actually lets their patrons breathe. Their tall ceilings, exposed beams and well-placed stock let the eyes wander, but also make for a great conversational outing or an escape into the pages of a novel.
I ordered a breakfast bagel and eggnog latte and took it to a little corner, away from the grey-headed biddies. The bagel was filled with fresh ingredients and, though toasted, did not suffer the unfortunate fate of most toasted bagels – that fate of it breaking into rock-like pieces with the ingredients spilling onto my lap. The eggnog latte was, of course, delicious and sided with a little Swiss chocolate – and any coffee that comes with an additional treat is perfection in my books.
The prices were more than reasonable, the atmosphere was calming—despite its busy location—and the servers were friendly without being overbearing – albeit shocked to see someone younger than 50-years-old.
If the library gets too much or you want a break from reading textbooks, the two-minute drive to Tamaringo’s Café in Cannor Nursery is more than worth your while.
