Coffee Break at Ayco Cafe

Jasper Avenue is home to many beloved local coffee shops, and now there’s a new one to add to the mix. Ayco Cafe opened in late January 2022, almost a year after the first location opened in West Edmonton Mall.

The standout feature of the cafe is a white wall with painted-white kitchen utensils. In front is ’90s-style clear blow-up furniture filled with coffee beans. It’s a coveted spot, so get there early if you want to people-watch from the large windows or have an Instagram moment in front of the wall. However, the rest of the cafe is equally luxe with velvet couches and chairs, and large brass mirrors.

You can get your treats to go, but Ayco Cafe is really for gathering, so of course I brought a friend. The display case is a wonderland for dessert lovers with doughnuts, cake, parfaits, croissants and Ayco Cafe’s specialty cruffins. If you’re asking, what’s a cruffin? It’s a hybrid croissant-muffin, and it’s delicious.

After standing in front of the display case for an embarrassingly long time, I decided on the chocolate ganache cruffin and vanilla iced latté. My friend went with the chocolate croissant. Eating the cruffin is like biting into a chocolate cloud. It’s soft, flaky and sweet, and the chocolate filling is rich.

I can’t testify to what the croissant was like, but it was good enough for my friend to exclaim, “This is truly the best croissant I’ve ever had in my life,” after just one bite. The iced latté was just the right refreshment for washing down the fluffy, flaky treats.