Cafes
Cherry Bomb
It's very Zen like inside Cherry Bomb. The decor is sparse and simple. The place is impressively clean, as though scrubbed down and put into order moments before we arrived. Some gentle, melodic music is playing (Bonnie Prince Billy with Tortoise "The Brave and The Bold", I find out). I can understand why Cherry Bomb has become a popular place for take-away morning coffee. It's relaxing inside. One would leave there feeling centred (and ready for a jolt of caffeine).
Roncesvalles goes wild for Cherry Bomb coffee. Alyssa and I'd hung around inside Cherry Bomb with some finely crafted lattes ($2.50) made from Dark City coffee beans. The coffee comes in paper cups with a cherry seared into the side in red ink. Customers can bring their own mug for a discount, but Cherry Bomb is mostly a take away place. 
The recent Best Cookies in Toronto poll incited equally rave reviews for Cherry Bomb baked goods, so Alyssa and I trip over there near the end of the day. All the remaining cookies, scones and cakes have been neatly stacked on a single baking tray in the middle of the wide-open kitchen behind the counter. I appreciate this small and manageable amount of baked goods because it looks like they are going to sell out. (I used to work at a bakery that sold three-day old pastries as "day olds" and as a result, am wary of mass baking.)
There are only about six baked good options so we get to try almost everything (except the most popular, sold out chocolate oatmeal cookie). The double chocolate and cranberry cookie ($1.50) is rich and chewy. The cranberries burst, tart, through the dark chocolaty bites. And we split a slice of the coffee cake ($2.75). It has swirls of CB's own ground coffee and comes apart in sugary coffee hunks and walnut. 
These are sturdy goods. We take the rest of them away in a paper bag that endures several bouts of rain and a train ride. By the end of the day the bag is damp, tearing at the edges with the bottom falling out. But the sweets are intact. 
We had an oatmeal raisin cookie ($1.50) in there, gigantic and chewy and packed with raisins. And the cinnamon scone ($2.00) retained its freshness the next day because it was so moist and dense. It's not too sweet, and with butter it becomes a hearty meal.
Photos by: Alyssa Bistonath
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nat
When I saw the machine, I think was a ECM, I was all stoked.
Maybe it was the fact it was busy and maybe it was because it was warm day, or the bean wasn't strong enough. But I have to tell you i was disappointed with the latte I recieved. It was luke warm I didn't see a hint of foam. And well it wasn't the BOMB...
Maybe I give it a try another time. But I have to say I had a bad first impression.
I have to say that their beans was really nice and they made me an awesome macchiato (minus the latte art mind you..).
One thing that disappointed me was the lack of sitting space and their "to-go only" policy. They didn't have any coffee mugs and/or plates even though I was planning on having the coffee at their window counter, one of their 5 sitting places. Good thing I had my own!
I know that the place is too small for a nice chair or two, but my idea of a perfect coffee shop has (a) good coffee, and (b) comfortable sitting areas. My two cents.
Anyways, thanks for the share. I loved my afternoon nonetheless!
It's not as though there's absolutely no seating, either: there was room for about nine to sit indoors when I was there this winter. (Christmas renovations may have rendered this information outdated.)
Some people knock them for not having much sitting space, but that isn't the niche that this place as carved out. Think of it as an urban indie Dunkin' Donuts. You line-up and grab a quick coffee and a scone (the best I've tasted), perhaps chat with someone you recognize, and then go on your way. The decor and design is wonderful, the products are the highest quality, and the prices are great. They play good tunes in there too.
In my opinion, this place is a much better business than Lit Espresso Bar, though very different in style.
(If you're looking for a place to hang-out while having a coffee, there is no better alternative to Tinto, which is just next door to Cherry Bomb.)
First of all, comparing Cherry Bomb to Lit is immaterial because they have two very different approaches to coffee. Lit is riding the Intelli-third-wave style while CB pulls shots from virtually all their beans and follows a more traditional approach to coffee. And in spite of some of the attempts of latte art at Cherry Bomb, I've never ever once had a wet-styled Cappuccino from Johnny (owner there). For the record, his traditional caps are one of the best I've had. So comparing Cherry Bomb to a Lit or Mercury is bullshit. That would be like saying single malt scotches are better than blended scotches. Or that Texas BBQ is better than Memphis BBQ. It's apples and oranges people.
Also, their business model is based on grab-and-go. Suits me fine for when i need a coffee in the morning before work. If you have the luxury of chilling out for an hour each morning, then i suggest you migrate up onto Lit. They have good coffee and seats. But if you want a coffee on the run, I couldn't think of a better place in that hood to score from. And to be honest, it seems like they kind of have their business model dialed in.
1. Everyone there cares about the coffee. Everyone cares about the food. It's very clean and everything is done properly. It's the cleanest place I've ever worked.
2. Dark City beans are really good and they sell so much of it that you always get fresh beans. Why would you buy Intelligencia beans (a US company) when you can get fresh locally roasted bean that are arguably as good?
3. The people who work there like the people who come there. It's really busy so I thought it was nice how much effort the staff put into remembering people's orders and chatting them up during downtime.
The biggest problem with this place is how busy it gets.
I did a solo coffee crawl the other day and Cherry Bomb was my 3rd stop. Balluchon and Cherry Bomb were my main goals, but I also discovered Lit on my way to Cherry Bomb. Then finished up at White Squirrel, unintentionally.
The baristas at all the shops I hit were professional, pleasant and pulled proper shots (although I'm not sure about formulas at White Squirrel, seeing how they use glasses, which I'm not overly keen on.) I felt crappy about forgetting the name of the barista in Cherry Bomb, since he took the trouble to give me a detailed explanation of the bean blend I was drinking. I just have no more short term memory.
I asked him about the music and whether it was always so low-key. He pointed out, essentially, that it depended on who was working. I told him that his music worked for me, unlike Lit's. I'm not knocking the crashing, banging music. It's just not my cup of... coffee. I also don't get how people can work and/or make phone calls in places where the music is cranked, especially if it's not neutral.
It's a bit ironic, I think, that CB does (apparently) music that conduces to sitting with a laptop or a paper, but it's the take out place, while Lit (and other places like it) embraces sitting but hits you over the head with the tunes. (Actually, I was able to sit at CB without any problem. I seemed to have a quiet spot, because it wasn't long before there was a line up in the shop.) Mind you, It didn't seem to bother people there reading etc.. I guess I'm in a minority.
As for the coffee (I had an espresso) in CB, it was good. But one cannot fairly assess a shop's coffee (aside from whether the drinks are made properly) on one visit. In fact, I find it hard - after all the commenting on coffee shops - to actually say about a shop that it has the best, or worst or so, so coffee, simply because everywhere I go, regularly, the coffee goes up and down. That's the nature of coffee. Yes, There's places where you've had great coffee over time, and that makes an impression.
I was into White Squirrel twice. The first time, the service was excellent but the coffee was off for whatever reason. This time, for example (I only went in because I was at Chippy's and needed to use a bathroom), I was blown away. Now and then that happens. If I went in there tomorrow, Would I have the same experience? I've been blown away by some shops only 'once' even though I've visited many times (My first visit to Sam James).
In any case, There's more to a coffee shop than just the coffee. Cherry Bomb is... dynamite. Roncy is lucky.
Also, if they arranged their space a bit differently, they definitely could have better seating arrangements. The impression I got from this place was less than welcoming and I got the feeling they just want to shuffle you in and out.
I get that they might have their reasons for not having a debit machine, but I think that's a bit archaic in these times. I hardly ever carry cash and had to downgrade my order. My latte was decent but I don't think I'll be back. I'm already a fan of bell jar and I think I'll try Lit or Balluchon. I'd rather spend my money somewhere where customer service is decent and my plastic money is good enough for them. I never really understood the coffee snob stereotype until today.
I can perhaps understand going in there for beans, because to me they are more of a store than a cafe. But, I don't think I'll be back.
For all of these reasons, they are my favourite coffee shop in the city.