Proud Mary – Collingwood

Proud Mary 172 Oxford St. Collingwood

This boutique coffee house is found just off Smith St. and has a relaxed set out with communal and private seating. Filled with coffee making paraphernalia and quite a large breakfast and lunch menu. Proud Mary sees itself as a coffee specialist, particularly in the art of siphon and clover coffee.

Visited the 15th of June by Scott, Nick and Will

When I look back on my trip to Proud Mary the only way I can describe it is as an emotional roller coaster. Excitement as we arrived, nervousness with approaching unknown realms of coffee making, joy at the excellent menu, fear of a wasp that tried to kill me, sadness with the realisation that there was anchovies on my plate, belly laughter at itchy faced Will and his double meal order, interest during my class on coffee history, anger towards Nick who was being a meany, satisfaction with service, and embarrassment from Nick’s racist comments about our waitress. Seriously, all this and more. - Scott

I must say, right off the bat, we were greeted with awesome service from the girls at Proud Mary. We started with relaxed and fun service from one girl, and then when I nervously ordered a specialty siphon coffee we were visited by a wonderfully sarcastic red head girl who told me that she had an extra special coffee grind available today. We were also told we were more than welcome to come over and watch how the coffee was made while the redhead gave us a little history on coffee making techniques. Amazing. I’ll get back to coffee. For breakfast I had the Crispy Hash- A huge hash brown topped with bacon, spinach and a poached egg. Accompanied by an Italian cream and anchovy sauce. The dish was good, nice fresh ingredients, but when I decided on the dish I had forgotten about the anchovies which grossed me out but it was on the side so was able to have little bits of the sauce without it over powering. Later I had a fresh juice from their juice menu on the board which is totes written in abbreves which a appreciated. I had the Tina- kiwi, apple, pine, strawbs. Totes delish as. – Scott

“Proud Mary keeps on burning… yeah!” Oh Tina Turner, you have never had the lyrics soo right to a song. In a word… AMAZEMENT. Coffee, food service all had me screaming yes, yeS, yES, YESSSSSS. Just like Sally, from when Harry met Sally. You know the one where she has a fake orgasm at the table… But mine was REAL BABY. My experience was so good that I in fact went back on the weekend.

THAT was a mistake. The food and the coffee were both still great, the service a little questionable, and the wait was very, very long. I can understand if you are going to be busy, but there must be someway to combat this? Also I decided to have a Chai Latte… Was very nommy, but extremely annoying at the same time. As they gave me a pot with a very small spout that got clogged with all the leaves, and then it all burst out the top and I was left with a little puddle surrounding me like an untrained dog.

Don’t get me wrong, the place is great… Go there on a weekday so you get the undivided attention of the cool and hip waitresses… and waiters… I think. Amongst all the hip Smith Streeters i felt i was in the ‘IN’ Crowd. So get on Rollin’, rollin’ down the river to PROUD MARY’S…this post is lame… I feel I have lost my mojo… – Nick

P dot S. I suggest at one time in your life you call Scott a liar… You will be extremely entertained by the anger that is generated.

There’s a reason why Mary is filled with pride. And I’m pretty sure it’s because what she provides is pretty darn awesome. We made the trek to Proud Mary’s on a Tuesday morning, and I had no idea what to expect.

Totes the best place we’ve been to yet. Hands down. Arriving, I immediately commented on how small our table was. This led to some light mocking from both Scott and Nick. Luckily, Nick went back to his usual self and we began to let the Frenchy have all of our hate.

I had the crushed avocado and the fruit toast with lemon ricotta. It was just lovely. Uncomplicated, fresh, smooth. The coffee was great. Strong and silky. I like my coffee hot, and that can be a problem with soy, as overheating can cause curdling. But it was totes fine.

The waitress was especially persuasive when helping me decide on my second beverage – a choc-mint milkshake. Thick, sweet, cold, amaze. I was tossing up between that or blue heaven, and I was completely happy with my choice.

But I think the best aspect of the morning was the company. Nick and Scott, you two are pretty funny, even though you both frustrate the be-jizzle out of me. I especially enjoyed Scott becoming a private school student for the day, and Nick’s reaction to being asked if he would like regular or soy milk. BOL.

Totes. – Will

Please note some changes we have made to our rating system, we felt it necessary to categorize our rating, enjoy.

Bagel Rating!

Scott-

Food:7/10- Enjoyed the food but found it slightly bland. Although what I tasted of Nick’s was excellent. I was full jeal of his food.

Coffee: 10/10 - I seriously appreciated the knowledge of the staff and their willingness to teach what they know without arrogance. My Ethiopian origin siphon coffee has changed the way I think about coffee.

Experience: 9/10 - We had a fantastic time. Service and ambiance was great. Nobody seemed upset by the fact that we were acting like annoying little school girls. And no one gave me a bad look for my unfortunately loud laugh, which I sincerely can appreciate. Lost points because I hate fruit flies and was attacked by a wasp.

Nick-

Food: 9/10 Damper me up baby…and a bread and butter pud for breaky…i think so!

Coffee: They are gonna get a 7/10 for the chai… It’s great, but they need to re-think the pots!

Experience: 8/10 for the weekday and a 6/10 for the weekend

Will-

Food: 8/10. Delish. Like Scott, a little bland, but still nice. Well presented, nice and simple healthy food.

Coffee: 8/10. Rich and creamy. Lovely rosetta, bittersweet crema.

Experience: 9/10. Company made Proud Mary what it was on that day.