Grey Street Kitchen
355 Grey St., Hamilton East

Entering this rather large cafe is a lesson in acoustics. Although only about a third of the seats are filled on this particular Friday afternoon, the noise is overwhelming and my boyfriend and I resort to a moderate yell in order to hear each other over the din of dishes, conversations, and esspresso machine.

We survey the a la carte options- there aren’t many, but this is probably because it’s a little late in the day. I order a polenta bruschetta with charred eggplant, cherry tomatoes, feta and basil, and a regular mocha- all of which comes to a total of $17.50 (polenta is an Italian substance made out of crushed cornmeal, which is cooked in a pot and then, in this case, shaped into little cakes and mixed with cheeses and herbs). He orders a bacon and egg “BAP,” (not sure what BAP stands for- but it’s basically just a bacon and egg sandwich on flashy bread). His costs $10.

The service is undeniably friendly, and after seating ourselves on cow-hide stools in the corner of the cafe, we wait only a short time for our food. At this point, we are immediately struck by two things: the dishes are extraordinarily colorful (purple basil!) and small. This latter detail turns out not to be a problem for me, however, as polenta is extremely filling- expecially this one, which has been stuffed with pine nuts and feta cheese and oozes with olive oil so that when I am done, my face is as greased as a competitor in a body building comp. I am unable to finish, but my boyfriend (still hungry) is more than happy to lend a fork.

The coffee is lovely, a little bitter but very nicely mixed with a great froth. I am annoyed by the fact that this particular one comes in a glass though, rather than a mug, as this means that I have to wrap a napkin around it before I can drink the thing or else risk blistered fingers. Nevertheless, it’s a good coffee, and that can’t be argued with. This is a good place for a light brunch, but don’t necessarily count on it to hold its own when it comes to feeding boys at lunch time- and be prepared to spend a bit of money.