H8S Bar à Café
2130 Boulevard Saint-Joseph/ 21st Ave.
Lachine, Quebec
H8S 2N7
Telephone: (514) 300-1010
https://www.facebook.com/h8scafe/
Cost: $ 8.68
Chef Hats: 4

Along the lakeshore of the city of Lachine lies a hidden gem of a café, called H8S appropriately named after its postal code. Small and unpretentious, it seats about a dozen people if you are lucky enough to find a seat. Most of its clientele are patrons who just drop in to pick up coffee, locales, no doubt and tourists who happen to be in the area in the summer when the weather is nice.

H8S Bar a Café, not only makes some of the best coffee this side of the tracks, it also serves refreshments and light meals, like sandwiches, croissants and desserts. Their brand of coffee used is called Phil & Sebastien coffee, a fair-trade brand from Alberta, Canada, that is delivered fresh weekly.

H8S Café was started by Valerie Leger, and accountant by trade who had no prior experience as a barista. Her partners are her brother Simon and her spouse Mathieu. Tired of not having a good place to go for coffee in their neighborhood, they decided to start the café. They enlisted the help of Chris Tellez, Canadian Champion of Art Latte at Phil & Sébastien to train them and their staff.

Since its opening, Café H8S has become very popular not only with the locales, but also with coffee aficionados from the West Island and environs. It has also appeared on the French television show Coup de Food, as one of the guest animators favorite place for coffee.

This week I felt an urgency to break away from my daily routine and visit a good café to network and get inspiration. I invited a few friends to meet at H8S Café to break away for a couple of hours one afternoon to refuel and recharge. I was tired of meeting at the local Second Cup or Starbucks, and decide to venture outside my comfort zone to have a good cup of Java.

The weather was not prime for any lakeshore activities, but somehow, I found warmth inside this café on this cold day with a good cappuccino and an almond croissant from La Rustique Bakery.The smell of grilled cheese permeated the café as I sat there and waited for my friends to arrive.
I looked around and spotted shelf selling some local specialty jams and products and of course the Phil & Sebastien coffee. I also spotted their Lemonade drinks made by Lemo Lemonade.

The café had a peaceful tranquility even after my girlfriends showed up and we began our chatter.
We could not help look out in the street to remark how cold it was, but the strong cup of coffee hit the spot before our time was up and we headed out into bitter cold again. It must be even nicer in the summer to enjoy a cup on the terrace in the sunshine.

What I learned from today’s visit at Café H8S, is that whatever you put your mind to can work out, even if it goes against the grain of things.