Castle Board Game Cafe

Cafe: Castle Board Game Cafe
Address: 454 Spadina Ave.
Phone: 647-748-1955
Store Hours: Sun-Thurs 12 PM - 12 AM, Fri-Sat 12 PM - 2 AM
Website: www.castleboardgames.com

Wi-Fi?: No
Study Appropriate?: No
Stamp Cards?: No

Interior

Menu

Drinks - Soy/Almond/Lactose-Free Options?: Soy only
- Roasted coffee beans from Dark City Coffee Company
- Drinks with Bailey's available
- Nutella Latte available

Food - Vegan/Vegetarian/Gluten-Free Options?: Yes to all
- Cakes and pies from Wanda's Pie in the Sky
- Gluten-free snacks available
- Soups available

Review

On a Sunday night after a birthday dinner, my friends and I wanted to find a place to chill at. We tried Snakes & Lagers but we were told to wait for an hour. They did not take reservations and we definitely didn't want to keep checking back to see if a table was available. Instead, I suggested that we try Castle Board Game Cafe, which wasn't far from Snakes and Lagers. I passed by Castle Board Game Cafe a few times in the past and always wanted to try it out, so this was the perfect opportunity.

It was super crowded when we got there, but we called ahead of time to make sure that there were tables available before making the trip. Of course, the sitting fee is $2.50 per hour and anything else you get is additional. We ended up playing Monopoly Deal for the majority of the time we were there, which was a fun and easy game.

I think the cafe is good, just nothing to really differentiate itself. It gets pricey if you stay longer than two hours since the sitting fee racks up. It doesn't seem like they have a Game Master because when I was there, I did not see anyone helping out the customers with the game rules. Since my friends and I did not order anything, I have no comment on the food. However, they do offer a variety of items, including pies and soups.

Bampot Bohemian House of Tea and Board Games

Cafe: Bampot Bohemian House of Tea and Board Games
Address: 201 Harbord St.
Phone: 416-537-5959
Store Hours: Mon-Tues 5 PM - 11 PM, Wed-Thurs & Sun 11 AM - 11 PM, Fri-Sat 11 AM - 1:30 AM
Website: www.bampottea.com

Study Appropriate?: No
Wi-Fi?: Yes
Stamp Cards?: No

Interior

Menu

Drinks - Soy/Almond/Lactose-Free Options?: Only lactose-free
- Coconut milk available

Foods - Vegan/Vegetarian/Gluten-Free Options?: Yes to all
- All food is vegetarian

Xantou Mandarin White Pu-erh, $6.50 (free refills)

Soup of the Day - Thai Curry Soup, $6.50

Review

Drink of Choice: Quangzhou Milk Oolong, $5.25 (free refills)

When I first heard about Bampot through social media, I knew I had to check it out and bring my boyfriend along. We both love tea and board games so it was the perfect combination. We went to check it out a couple of weeks after it opened.

The environment of the cafe definitely suits the name. The cafe is decorated with yellow, orange, and dark red walls, reminding me of the Indian culture. There are some areas where you can sit in the nooks and crannies of the cafe with only pillows and drapes, giving off that bohemian vibe. The space gives a lot of intimacy compared to most places I have been to; which is nice and unique to Bampot.

Bampot serves a vast selection of tea, some with free refills. Like most places, it has a $5 sitting fee if you would like to play the board games. However, it only costs $3 if you decide to order food. My boyfriend got the soup of the day, which was some sort of Thai curry soup the owners whipped up. He absolutely loved it and I enjoyed it as well. It had that spicy flavour that curry lovers would be familiar with. I had the Quangzhou Milk Oolong tea, which tasted exactly what you would expect a milk tea would taste like. It wasn't my favourite, but I didn't mind drinking it either. For each pot of tea you receive, you get a timer as well, so you know when the tea is perfectly steeped. Between my boyfriend and I, we pretty much drained all the hot water they had for our free refills haha.

There are currently about 160 games available and when I was there, many of them were unopened. My boyfriend was in heaven for a short period of time after I found a brand new Firefly board game towards the end of our stay. Unfortunately it was a two hour game and we were already there for about two to three hours. He sadly had to wave goodbye to it.

The cafe hosts different events here and now. They have Scrabble Night on Mondays and free knitting lessons often. They planned on having a Dungeons and Dragons game night as well. The owners said that they were looking for games to host events for. If you are a game enthusiast and would like to bring an event to Bampot, definitely reach out to them!

Overall, I highly recommend Bampot. It's so good that it's now my boyfriend's favourite board game place, knocking Snakes and Lattes to his second favourite. This is definitely a great date location to spend with your significant other. Also if you are a tea enthusiast, it is a must to visit! The cafe is very intimate and cozy with such a lovely staff. I don't recommend coming in with a large group of friends unless you are willing to break the group down. It's best to have no more than three (or at most four) other friends with you because of the space. The cafe also has hookah available as well.

Snakes and Lagers

Pub: Snakes and Lagers

Address: 488 College St. 

Phone: 647-748-4004

Store Hours: Mon-Sun 3 PM - 2 AM

Website: www.snakesandlattes.com/bar/

Study Appropriate?: No

Wi-Fi?: No

Stamp Cards?: No

Interior

First Floor

Second Floor

Menu

Food - Vegan/Vegetarian/Gluten-Free Options?: Yes to all

(Left) Mill St. Weizenbock, $7

Fried Brussel Sprouts, $4.50

Review

Drink of Choice: Brasseurs RJ Cheval Blanc, $7

Appetizer of Choice: Duck Fat Fries $4.50 with Jerk Mayo, Kimchee Mayo, Chili Ketchup (+ $1 for each dipping sauce) and ketchup

I had the pleasure of being invited to review Snakes and Lagers after they opened back in February. If you are unfamiliar, Snakes and Lagers is the sister bar to the popular Snakes and Lattes cafe. Targeted towards a different crowd, Snakes and Lagers aims to be that perfect get-together place for the after-work crowd. As a pub, they offer a variety of alcoholic beverages with five rotating taps as well as a small range of appetizers and desserts to munch on. They also have seasonal drinks that come and go.

Snakes and Lagers sometimes collaborates with other places, such as the Black Oak Brewing Company for board game nights. Although game events do not happen as often as they do at Snakes and Lattes, there are some already planned, such as the Euchre tournament in the next couple of months. Snakes and Lagers plans on having only 300 board games, in contrast to Snakes and Lattes, which has a total of 1500.

The drink I had was the Brasseurs RJ Cheval Blanc. It's a light, smooth, beer with no aftertaste. Great for those who are light drinkers and don't like the heavy bitter taste of beer. I also got to try their popular Fried Brussel Sprouts and Duck Fat Fries (with an additional $1 if you would like dipping sauce, which is a must have! I loved all three sauces). When my boyfriend and I were recommended the Fried Brussel Sprouts, I was unsure because they were just vegetables. However, they were the pub's specialty so my boyfriend decided order a plate. I was pleasantly surprised because they were great! I liked how they were seasoned which definitely made for a nice appetizer that didn't taste like boring ol' brussel sprouts. A warning though is that Snakes and Lagers only offers appetizers and small-sized portions. There won't be any big burgers with fries on the side like most places.

When I arrived, it was around 5 PM and it wasn't too busy. After a couple of hours, it started to pack up with those coming in after work, ready to unwind and have a relaxing time playing games with friends. I definitely recommend Snakes and Lagers for an alternative to Snakes and Lattes. It's not as intense with the board game aspect like the cafe, for example, there is no Game Master (although the staff is knowledgeable and would be more than happy to help). Additionally, the game selection is not as massive if you want a wider range. The $5 sitting fee still applies to the pub like it does at the cafe though. 

Thank you Snakes and Lagers for the food and drinks provided for this review! :)

Roll Play Now (Originally: Roll Play Cafe)

Cafe: Roll Play Now
Address: 10A Edward St.
Phone: 416-904-8483
Store Hours: Mon-Sun 11 AM - 12 AM
Website: www.rollplaynow.com

Wi-Fi?: Yes
Study Appropriate?: No
Stamp Cards?: No

Interior

By around 7 PM, the cafe became packed!

Menu

Drinks - Soy/Almond/Lactose-Free Options?: Almond and skim milk
- Offers floats
- Offers Italian soda
- Offers seasonal drinks

Food - Vegan/Vegetarian/Gluten-Free Options?: Vegan and vegetarian
- Offers a wide selection of pizza
- Cakes from La Rocca
- Cupcakes from Noni Cakes

Vanilla Latte, $5.50

Vanilla Ice Cream Float with Black Cherry, $6.50

Strawberry Ice Cream Float with Coke, $6.50

Strawberry Ice Cream Float with Cream Soda, $6.50

Passion Fruit Italian Soda, $5.50

Orange Juice, $4

Roasted Chicken Pesto Sandwich, $8.50

Meat Lovers Pizza, $9.50

Carrot Cake, $8

Cookies and Cream Cake, $8

Review

Drink of Choice: Raspberry Truffle, $5.50

Food of Choice: Roll Play Pizza, $11.50

Dessert of Choice: Strawberry and Chocolate Cake, $8

Update: The establishment has changed its name to Roll Play Now. This review was written when it was still known as Roll Play Cafe.

When I first found out about Roll Play Cafe, it became one of the top cafes I wanted to visit. Being a fan of Snakes and Lattes, I wanted to know how Roll Play Cafe (and other board game cafes such as Castle Board Game Cafe) differed. I was fortunate enough to be invited to come in to review!

Roll Play Cafe recently opened this past September in the heart of downtown Toronto. The owners were inspired by the cafe board game trend in South Korea and wanted to open their own, before Snakes and Lattes became popular. They felt that adults didn't have many social venue options to relax and have a good time with friends. The motto of the cafe is to offer good food, fun games, and create long lasting relationships!

There are some house rules within the cafe that you should know beforehand (which is also at the bottom of the menu). Unlike Snakes and Lattes, there is no sitting fee. However, there is a $10 food purchase minimum. No worries though, Roll Play Cafe offers a wide selection of food. This folks, is a cafe with restaurant-quality food! There is also a two hour maximum stay during the rush hour. However, if you come in when it is less busy, you are welcomed to stay for as long as you'd like. The owners want to give all customers an equal opportunity to enjoy their stay at the cafe without having to wait for hours to be seated. As well, your two hours start once your food order has been punched into the computer, not when you are seated.

Two of my friends, my boyfriend and I settled in around 2:30 PM. Being the cafe blogger, I wanted to try a hot drink from their menu. The Raspberry Truffle tasted as delicious as it sounded! It was sweet enough where I didn't need to add sugar and had a yummy raspberry flavour. I got to sample the Vanilla Ice Cream Float with Black Cherry and the Strawberry Ice Cream Float with Coke and I enjoyed both! I'm not sure which one I preferred more, but I definitely recommend both of the floats. The Passion Fruit Italian Soda was a miss since I generally found Italian soda bland for my taste. However, you can decide for yourself by trying it out at the cafe if you love Italian soda. My friend did comment that the Vanilla Latte was top quality and had a balance of flavours (he used to be in culinary arts, so he should know!). During this time, we went through a couple of rounds of a card game called Bang!, which I have yet to fully grasp.

I really enjoyed the signature Roll Play Pizza that I had ordered. The pizza was soft and chewy with many fresh toppings. The Meat Lovers Pizza was also very tasty that my friend ordered a second platter! I felt the pizzas were priced just right for the portions given and they covered the $10 minimum purchase easily. My boyfriend liked his Roasted Pesto Chicken Sandwich, which I definitely recommend for a nice lunch since it includes a bit of salad as well. He preferred the sandwich over the pizza, but I didn't get a chance to taste the sandwich to compare. If you end up buying a sandwich and a pizza here, let me know which one you like better! By the time we rolled around to dessert while playing Personally Incorrect (similar to Cards Against Humanity), our bellies were happily full. We tried our best to get through the cakes as much as we could. I preferred my boyfriend's Cookies and Cream over my Strawberry and Chocolate. Maybe it was because his cake had a piece of Oreo on it, haha.

Towards the end of our stay, the game master (who comes in during the busy hours, usually Thursday to Saturday around 6 PM) helped chose the King of Tokyo to play and explained it thoroughly. I would be picking up this game again in the future because it's simple yet very engaging. There was an intense battle where everyone wanted their monster to be the King of Tokyo! I luckily won a round although I forgot to keep track of my monster's points.

Everyone all agreed that we had a fantastic time and we would definitely be coming back in the future! Roll Play Cafe created a memorable experience for me and it was a great way to bond and re-connect with friends which I haven't seen for a long time. I just wish I had another stomach to try more of their food because on their Facebook page, I keep seeing things I should've ordered! I forgot to try out their Bubble Pop Waffle so if anyone had tried it, what was your opinion?

So if you decide to head to Roll Play Cafe, my advice is to go during the afternoon and on a weekday if you want to avoid the full house and two-hour sitting limit. Top menu items I highly recommend trying out are their pizzas and floats. Also, try to get your hands on King of Tokyo if you need a game recommendation. They no longer have Cards Against Humanity, but they do have Personally Incorrect, which is practically the same game.

Roll Play Cafe will be obtaining its liquor license soon and will be doing a grand opening this February (currently the cafe is under a soft launch in order to gather data before finalization). The cafe does take reservations but not on Fridays and Saturdays because these days are for first-come, first-served.

Thank you Roll Play Cafe for the food and drinks provided for this review! :)