Overall, Café Kuya is a warm, neighborhood café on the south shore known for great third-wave coffee, matcha, and signature drinks with ube syrup, alongside Filipino-inspired sandwiches and smash burgers that many reviewers rate highly. The staff are repeatedly praised for friendliness and attentiveness, and the vibe is cozy with Star Wars memorabilia and a strong community feel that invites lingering or working on site, though a few criticisms pop up about seating during peak times, occasional inconsistency in coffee flavor, changes to recipes such as the ube sauce, and a messy bathroom on some visits. Still, the place is seen as a local gem with regulars, pop ups, and collaborations that reflect a clear sense of place, making it a go-to stop for drinks and comfort food like the tocino or lechon sandwiches, buko pie, and other pastries.
Great vibes, super friendly staff, & the food is a BANGER.
Tocino sandwich was great, tender juicy chicken, 10/10
Lechon Sandwich was a banger, juicy slice of pineapple with the crispy lechon, super well balanced.
Their potato buns are soo soft, they're the perfect pairing with the meat choices available, & the ratio of meat/topping/sauce is absolutely flawless.
We had the Pandan Matcha & the Ube Matcha, i'd like to try an unflavoured matcha for purer comparisons sake, but this is definitely a solid matcha. The ube syrup sort of cancels out the flavour of the matcha in a weird way? I think ube would work better for the coffee than the matcha. Pandan Matcha was a fire combination though, heavily reccomend that. Not their fault though!
Now, the real star, the super crispy fries with the battered texture, with sinigang powder on it?? You guys are geniuses. I cant believe i had never thought of that.
Overall a lovely cafe! I live quite far but will definitely make the trip just for this!
Miam pour le burger on reviendrait pour ça c'est certain! Cependant, déçu du matcha au ube qui ne goûtait aucunement le ube. Je ne pense pas que ça vaut la peine de payer l'extra pour l'avoir.
Everything about this cafe was truly disappointing. We went in & the barista took so long to take our order because she was talking with her friends & ignoring the fact thag there was a line up of customers that were waiting for her to take our orders & plus instead of finishing up the drink that she made she was taking a picture of it & took her time instead of just serving it. Plus, the drink was really bad, first sip of ube matcha just tasted like a watered down milk & I couldn't even taste the matcha nor the ube.
i'm not sure if we just went during a bad time since most of our friends who's been here before has hyped it up for us, but the ube matcha we had was quite disappointing. No taste of the ube whatsoever & that matcha taste is barely there aswell. the pic is taken after we mixed the matcha.
Really lovely cafe! I've been going to Kuya since they opened up & loved their coffee. They seemed to change the recipe for the ube sauce so now it's sweeter & more liquid. Still good but not as good as before. I wish their coffee can be a bit consistent. We've noticed that the coffee taste quite different depending on the barista
Everything is perfect, would love to live there 24/7. The ube matcha is the best matcha I've ever had, BUT still dreaming of the blueberry (& earl grey (i think?)) seasonal flavor they had 🥰💕
Oct 29, 2025
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We love this cafe, really good coffee, breakfast sandwiches & great & friendly service :). Also good cold drinks (ube syrup, matcha etc). They often have specials (kamayan, wraps, burgers etc) & partner with locals (pop up yoga event, pastry features, floristry etc) so would recommend following them on IG!
A nice little cafe with big flavour. The mamon (Filipino sponge cake) were soft & moist - both ube & pandan great, subtly sweet flavours. The tocino burger was well balanced with the atsara (pickled papaya slaw). We were just passing through Montreal & was very happy that we made the side trip to catch up with a friend here. We left with a bag of mamon to take home. We'll be adding this to our stops the next time we make another trip.
Café Kuya is always a go-to place for coffee dates with friends, a small date with the fiancé, etc.
The staff is so friendly & attentive, & the drinks & food are always so good! 😊
We love the syrups that we can add to our drinks (ube & pandan are both very yummy! 😋)
The buko pie was also very good!
Please note that the pictures are from a while ago, so the menu has changed, but we've still been coming back ever since then! 😊
Le matcha latté glacé avec sirop de Ube était vraiment bon & il était très beau, esthétique. Le smash burger du moment était, sans conteste, le meilleur burger que j'ai mangé de ma vie. L'assaisonnement était parfait! Les oignons confits & la sauce étaient délicieux ❤? coup de coeur! On reviendra, c'est certain!
We ordered a matcha latte with extra ube syrup & an hojicha latte, both were too drowned out by the milk :/
Service was good, but cafe is small for the amount of people there was, we almost didn't get a seat.
Apr 29, 2025
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My absolute favourite cafe. This place is a community gem of the south shore & feels like the embodiment of a warm hug. The space is airy & cozy with lots of natural light & high ceilings: a perfect place to sit down & work or have a good coffee date. But what really sets this cafe apart is how incredible everyone who works here is. The staff are so thoughtful & kind. They always check in with their customers to see how they are & always go above & beyond.
The drinks & food here are equally delicious (try their ube syrup in a latte & breakfast sandwich if you want to get a taste of their specialties). They have a great assortment of Philippino inspired sandwiches, pies, & baked goods.
Additionally, they are always innovating & working with the local community bringing in pop ups & different Philippino foods to try, supporting other local businesses & uplifting others (keep an eye on their IG for pop ups & other community events).
Great coffee shop that's charming on the inside. Tired the breakfast sandwich & it was very good. Though I got it to go, it still took about 20 minutes to make. Ube latte was interesting & tasty. I would go back & try their other drinks.
Cute little cafe with unique cafes & food. I love their matcha latte with pandan foam or ube syrup. You can personalize all your drinks. The service is quick & the food is delicious as well.
