On a early raining morning in Canmore, I happily exchange the rain-soaked outdoors with the warmth of Communitea Cafe. I had heard about the cafe in Canmore through True Buch’s instagram. I knew as soon as I saw that colourful picture, I needed to check it out.
Once inside, I am impressed by the restaurant’s modern white interior. The walls, furniture, and lights are white. Pops of colour accent the cafe, including its rainbow wall of tea tins. The cafe has two sections. A main restaurant section with tables is on one side. Some couches and some desks are arranged on the other side of a merchandise wall for a more quiet area. I appreciate how the restaurant is designed differently depending what you want out of it.
Breakfast Menu
The two items on the breakfast menu that intrigue me the most are the Hemp Smoothie Bowl and the Big Breakfast Bowl. Smoothie bowls are something relatively new the social media healthy eating world. They started gaining popular with many plant-based vegans. Everyone else was intrigued by the colourful and healthy properties of the smoothie bowl. The smoothie bowl consists of a thick smoothie blended topped with various healthy things like almonds, fruit, coconut, and other tasty treats. Although the calorie content of a smoothie bowl can be high, they tend to be more filling than regular smoothies because they are thicker and can be eaten with a spoon. Liquid calories tend to go through you immediately and so don’t keep you full as long.
Despite all that talk of smoothie bowls, I decide to go with the Big Breakfast Bowl ($13.5 including red pepper sauce) instead because of the rainy weather. The menu says that the breakfast bowl will “give me a chance to have 4 servings of vegetables before noon”, which sounds like a sweet deal to me. The breakfast bowl is huge and is filled with roasted yams, quinoa, and avocado. I order the creamy red pepper sauce with it, and am delighted how the sauce combines with everything else. The salsa tastes fresh, and has hints of onion, garlic, and cilantro. The only thing missing is a splatter of hot sauce across the top.
Big Breakfast Bowl. Photo by Sarah Ferguson.
Lunch Menu
Coming back at lunch time, I am startled by the larger menu. The cafe is a lot busier than in the morning, but my friends and I manage to find a table. As I gaze at the bowls available, I immediately wish that I hadn’t come for breakfast, because I am too hungry to eat any of it! Luckily, my friends let me sample some of their food–only to help me with this review, of course.
Dragon Bowl. Photo by Sarah Ferguson.
Both of the bowls that my friends order look like vegetable sculptures with their sprinkles of cilantro and shredded cabbage and the colorful chop sticks sprouting from the top. The bowls even look so beautiful that other people in the restaurant come up to us to ask what we got, because they want to have it too! The Dragon Bowl ($12.95) comes with sautéed vegetables and an option of Thai coconut green curry or ginger sesame soy sauce. My friend gets the ginger sesame soy sauce, which she enjoys, but wishes that she knew how peanut buttery it would taste, as she wasn’t expecting that. My other friend says that the Pad Thai ($13.25) is delicious and too much food to finish at once.
Pad Thai. Photo by Sarah Ferguson.
I also want to sample something else on the menu. I get the Active Blend Oolong tea, which is sweet and doesn’t need cream or sugar. I have a single Avocado Side Up. I love the creamy combo of hummus and avocado together. The sesame seeds on top added a nice crunch to complement the creaminess.
Avocado Side Up. Photo by Sarah Ferguson.
Final Thoughts
Communitea is very family friendly. They have a kid’s menu with things like quesadillas and toddler snack samplers. They also have a section of the tea menu just for new moms called New Mama Herbal Infusions that has selections like Mama’s Milk and Special Delivery.
Mountain Veggie Wrap. Photo by Sarah Ferguson.
Overall, I recommend going to Communitea if you are in Canmore and are looking for some healthy, creative, and beautiful treats. You can even make a day of it by going to hike at Grassi Lakes and then heading over to Communitea afterwards.
Communitea Cafe
117, 1001 6 Ave
Canmore, AB
(403) 678-6818
Website: www.thecommunitea.com