Bakery Archives - Page 6 of 6

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French Made Baking: Hot Chocolate Festival

January 20, 2012

French Made Baking finally opened up their store on Kingsway and Broadway. I’ve been waiting for them to open for a while and I finally made a trip down to check out their store for the Hot Chocolate Festival. They are one of the many vendors participating in the month long festival. They feature new flavours everyday till February 14th!

Since I had lunch with Angela from Munchkie’s Munchies , we decided to come here after to chill over desserts and hot chocolate!

Their flavours of hot chocolates change everyday, so do keep an eye on their schedule.

Praline – Milk chocolate | January 14, 20, 26, Feb 1, 7, 12
Yuzu – Dark Chocolate | January 15, 21, 27, February 2, 8,
Vanilla Chestnut – White Chocolate | January 17, 22, 28, February 3, 9,
Passion Fruit – Milk Chocolate | January 18, 24, 29, February 4, 10, 14
Earl Grey – Milk Chocolate | January 19, 25, 31, February 5, 11

Once you walk into the store, you can look through into their kitchen to see them hard at work creating all their cute pastries.

Praline Hot Chocolate ($5.25 with Macaron) had a beautiful smooth texture with little bit of praline integrated into it. This is probably one of the better hot chocolates I’ve had.

I’m generally not a big fan of hot chocolate, but I did enjoy this. The price is pretty good too since other vendors can charge up to $8 for a hot chocolate.

Pistachio Macaron I thought were really good! One of my favorite places for macarons!

Le Caneles ($2.50) is a small pastry that originated from Bordeaux, France. It has a soft tender custard center with a dark caramel crust. I’ve had it in the past, but this time it tasted alright, but I couldn’t put my finger on what was different.

Creme Brulee didn’t have the nice “crack” when you break into the toasted sugar top. I don’t think Angela took much of a liking to it either. We did notice that it was toasted ahead of time, which may have contributed to that.

Another thing we noticed was the use of the paper plates and cups, since we were eating it all in the store, it probably would have been better to have real cups and plates. ** UPDATE: They have now plates, mugs, and cutlery! **

Since they are still in their soft launch of their store, I am sure they will improve on their products in the near future. Nonetheless, the macarons and hot chocolate are super good!

Words of Wisdom:

Can be found at a few local farmers’ markets
Must get the macarons and hot chocolate!!
Some items can be a hit and a miss
Under $10
Limited seats
Gluten-free

We Rate French Made Baking:

Address:
81 Kingsway
Vancouver, BC
Website:
http://frenchmadebaking.com/
Twitter:
@FrMadeBaking

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East Village Bakery: Mom & Pop Bakery With Artisan Treats

December 23, 2011

East Village Bakery is an artisan bakery specializing in artisan bread, pies and french pastries. I honestly thought it was just an asian bakery, but when M and stepped inside, we were just amazed by the amount of little ornate treats. Everything looked very fresh and the smell inside was just amazing.

They had a lot of delectable treats available! I’m sure you can come in to find lots of inspiration too if you love to bake.

They all looked picture perfect! From the scones to the gingersnap cookies. Pretty good prices too.

Palmiers AKA Butterfly Cookies are nice and crunchy with good layering. Not too buttery.

Doesn’t that look so delicious. It is one of my favorite cookies as a kid.

White chocolate blueberry scone ($2.35) was a really good scone. It was different that the usual scones since it was not very hard and was quite delicate. I wasn’t originally going to purchase this, but the owner suggested it. Good decision indeed.

Spinach Cheddar Scone ($2.35) is for the people who love savory baked goods. It wasn’t very flavourful, but it does taste better with some tea or coffee. The inside texture was quite light and fluffy similar to the other scone.

Sour Cherry Chocolate Truffle Tart (2 for $3.50) was surprisingly really good. Good balance between the sour cherry and the chocolate.

Callebaut Chocolate Banana Cake with Marzipan ($2.95) was good, the inside had a really cool texture and had some chewy bits inside. M liked it a lot.

Ginger Crackle Cookies ($1.95) was not that good since it was really tough and hard to eat. M likes his ginger cookies a bit softer and sweeter.

Overall, it’s a good place to grab a few treats and bring them back home.

Words of Wisdom:

Call in for special orders to ensure the item you want
Fresh and baked daily on site
Very very limited seating, mostly for take out
Some items can be a hit or miss
Good affordable prices

We Rate East Village Bakery:

Address:

2166 East Hastings St.
Vancouver, BC V5L

Website:
eastvillagebakery.com

Twitter: @eastvillagebake

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Vancouver

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Faubourg: A Little Taste of Paris

December 12, 2011

Faubourg is a cafe offering Parisian baked goods and other delicious goodies in the Kerrisdale area. I’ve heard they had some amazing desserts and bread, so FoodQueen and I headed off to Kerrisdale to try it out. It wasn’t a quick drive for either of us since we both live so far. Oh the things we do to try delicious food.

The interior looks really nice and has a good amount of seating.

They even have another area too.

All of their items are baker fresh daily and I hear their croissants are really crispy and delicious. Since it was nearing the end of the day, there wasn’t too much to choose from. Best to go early!

If you don’t have a sweet tooth, they also have a few savory items too.

Cafe Latte (Grande $3.85) was good and compliments well with some of their pastries.

Individual St. Honoré has a base of puff pastry with tiny pastry cream puffs covered in chocolate and whipped cream on top. I loved this dessert since I am a huge from of profiteroles-type of desserts.

Overall, good place to stop by for a quick treat and coffee.

Words of Wisdom:

They also offer breakfast, bunch, lunch and afternoon tea
Lots of unique items
Lots of seating
Best to go early before some items are sold out

We Rate Faubourg:
Address:
2156 W 41st Ave
Vancouver, BC
Website:
http://www.faubourg.com/

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French Made Baking: Macarons, Caneles, & Totoro Macarons

December 6, 2011

I go to a few food markets in Vancouver and I always have such good luck bumping into Catherine of French Made Baking. Catherine and David own French Made Baking and they can be found all over town selling their delicious treats.

Their most popular items are the Macarons and Le Caneles. Those are the items I usually purchase.

Le Caneles ($2.50 each or 5 for $10) is a small French Pastry. It is flavored with run and vanilla and baked in a mould.

I’ve never had anything like it! I’ve been to France, but I didn’t discover this till now. It’s just so good! It’s a bit custard-like in the middle with a nice golden exterior.

It goes very well with coffee and tea! Eating it just really makes me smile because it’s SO GOOD!

The Macarons ($2 each or 6 for $10) are 2 almond meringue sandwiching a ganache filling. What I love about their Macarons are that they taste good and don’t have too much food coloring

Le Breton filling has Salted Butter Caramel, Fleur de sel, sugar, butter, cream, and toffee bits.

Le Yuzu filling has yuzu juice, cream, and dark chocolate.

Le Passion filling has cream, milk chocolate, and passion fruit.

Le Framboise filling has white chocolate and raspberry jam. It’s also dairy free.

This is their Totoro Macaron that made everyone go crazy. I actually didn’t know they sold this especially for the Nikkei Center Craft and Bake Fair. Sadly it doesn’t taste like a Totoro…not that anyone would know how he tastes like.

It is made with their L’Anglais filling which is made of milk chocolate, cream and earl grey tea.

So cute, who could resist?

Soon they will be opening up a store soon on 81 Kingsway near Broadway and Main ! I’m just waiting for the day it opens!

Overall, pretty delicious macarons and Caneles.

Words of Wisdom:

Found at local bakers market or farmers market (Check their website for where they will be)
Must get the macarons and caneles!!
Store coming soon.

We Rate French Made Baking:
Website:
http://frenchmadebaking.com/
Twitter:
@FrMadeBaking

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Thierry Patisserie: Late Night Dessert Shop

November 30, 2011

Thierry Patisserie is located near Alberni and Thurlow and sells some delectable treats! From croissants to cakes… they have the tasty treats you want.

I came here with a few of the SFU Food Bloggers – FoodQueen, ImBusyEating and GoodEat. We weren’t planning to go here, but since it was so close to where we were…we just had to try it out! The interior is just beautiful and has a lot of seats! It’s open till late as well, which is a big plus!

Their macarons vary every season. They can be quite colorful and packed full of flavours….or in some cases food coloring.

Chocolates chocolates… and more chocolates. They have a variety of different chocolate from fruit ganches, flavoured ganache, pralines, marzipan and many others.

Thierry also has an assortment of cakes for sale as well. Perhaps for someone’s birthday or any special occasion.

If you are looking for an individual sized cake, they have those too. They have so many kinds…so good luck choosing one. I was tempted to eat all of them.

Croissants are available too…they have ham, original, almond, and chocolate.

Latte tasted alright. It goes well with the desserts!

Chocolate Eclair was awesome! I just love the custard filling with chocolate on top! It might be because I have a secret love for profiterole type of desserts.

Chocolate Croissant has chocolate inside of its golden flaky exterior.

Pistachio Chocolate Cake ($5.75) has Chocolate cake with mousse and pistachio mousse on top.

Macarons (7pack – $11.95) were alright. I really didn’t like the texture of the macarons compared to other places in town. Tasted a bit cake-like to me.

Overall, Thierry Patisserie is a good place to chill with your friends over coffee/tea and pastries. It’s open late at night, so it’s the perfect after dinner spot (assuming you aren’t too full from dinner).

Words of Wisdom:

Large variety of pastries
Can be a bit pricey
Lots of tables
Beautiful decor

We Rate Thierry Patisserie:

Address
1059 Alberni Street
Vancouver, BC
Website:
thierrychocolates.com

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Vancouver

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Cake-Ya: Delicious Purin Pudding and Cake Rolls

November 18, 2011

Cake-Ya is this little shop in Coquitlam that serves Japanese desserts and baked goods. Their location is a bit hidden and very small.

They have zero seating and it looks more like a bakery. FoodQueen and I decided to give this place a try, but then we realized there were no seats inside, so we walked up a block to share a cake roll at Starbucks.

A lot of the items can be sold out by 2pm, so if you know what you want, best to call ahead of time for them to save you whatever you want.

Strawberry Cake Roll ($6.50) has a very light cake surrounding fresh whipped cream and strawberries. The price for it was pretty good! I liked this roll because the cake is just so light with the whipped cream, you don’t feel heavy.

They only sell the cake rolls as a whole log, so it’s one of those items you must share.

I also bought 4 of the Caramel Cream’s (aka Purin Pudding). Green Tea, Black Sesame, Original and coffee. They ran out of a few flavours since I didn’t call ahead of time to reserve.

Custard Caramel Cream ($2.25) is probably one you must try. It’s the original flavour and you can’t go wrong with that. I gave this one to my little sister and she gobbled it up. She’s a picky eater but she loved this.

Green Tea Caramel Cream ($2.50) was also good. My mom commented saying the texture was very smooth and creamy. She was quite impressed.

Coffee Caramel Cream ($2.50) was quite interesting. The taste of coffee was strong. I found it was a bit rich in my opinion.

There’s so many ways to eat these desserts…in the cup or just flipped over like the ones above.

Words of Wisdom:

Take Out since there are zero seats
Call ahead of time to reserve specific items you want before it runs out
Cash Only
Good prices

We Rate Cake-Ya:
Address:
2415 Clarke St
Port Moody, BC V3H
Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/CakeYa

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Manzano European Bakery: All About The Cookie

October 23, 2011

Manzano European Bakery relocated at Metrotown closer to The Bay. They have bee in Metrotown for a long long time. They have lots of baked goods, cakes, and sandwiches. What is good about this bakery is that they have gluten-free items as well!

Chocolate Croissant was not very crispy on the outside, it was pretty limp and doughy. I left the croissant in the bag for a while, so the chocolate drizzle on the top broke off. When I was biting into it, the chocolate drizzle kept cracking off, so it would end up all over my shirt.

The inside has a decent amount of chocolate. Some places but in one chocolate stick, but they have two! Overall, I thought it was alright, but nothing mind-blowing.

Chocolate Chip Cookie ($1.49) is the best thing to get here! At least in my opinion because I’ve been buying these cookies since I was a little kid. It was always a treat to get these since it’s so huge and the chocolate center is always the last thing I eat. Theres lots of chocolate chips in the whole cookie and then the huge one in the middle.

Words of Wisdom:

Just get the cookie…
Lots of parking at Metrotown!

We Rate Manzano:

Address:

4820 Kingsway
Burnaby, BC V5H

In Bakery

Baker’s Market @ Moberly Arts & Cultural Centre : The Sweetest Event

October 20, 2011

It’s that time of the year again – Vancouver’s Bakers Market! This year, it is at the Moberly Arts & Cultural Center. It’s a bit of a drive for myself, but I always seem to enjoy this event. They gather bakers from all over the Lower Mainland with different products and skills. I took my time this year and tried to talk to all the vendors at the Oct 15th “Bake for a Cure” themed event in support of Breast Cancer.

There were a lot of treats that had a pink twist to it.

Even with their secluded location, there were lots of people around noon gobbling up treats. Some tables even were sold out by the end of the event. What I find the best about this event is that there is so much diversity in the vendors, from professionals to just plain baking enthusiasts selling their baked goods for fun.

J’adore les Macarons

Connie is the organizer of the Baker’s Market in Vancouver. She also owns J’adore les Macarons. Can you guess what she specializes in? Macarons of course! At her table, you will be able to purchase bread, croissants and macarons. What makes her macarons so good you may ask, it’s made with secrets from Paris. Ask her what this secret is and perhaps she’ll tell you.

Website: http://www.jadorelesmacarons.com/

Footo Delights

Brenda and her lovely assistant had a booth too! Footo Delights specialize in Fresh Out of The Oven croissants made with all natural ingredients! They have a store opened near Homer and Robson in Downtown. Her small stature may deceive you, but she makes good croissants. They have samples too, so don’t be shy. If you can’t make it to the Bakers Market, you can try her amazing goodies at her shop!

Website: http://www.footodelights.com/

Levni Chocolates

Paul, the owner of Levni Chocolates specializes in artisan chocolate. Even though he has an arts background, he uses that knowledge to bring it into the world of chocolate. He has some amazing combination of flavours such as blue cheese chocolate! Yes, BLUE CHEESE. I usually don’t like it, but it has quite a unique taste. My friend and I tried some and it was pretty good.

Website: http://levnichocolate.com/

Damien’s Belgian Waffles

They are back here at the Bakers Market again! They are best known for their amazing belgium waffles. Highly recommended! They have many flavours like Vanilla , Cinnamon, Maple, Matcha, Dark Milk or White Chocolate! All the waffles are made without preservatives or eggs. They also have a shop in Steveston near No 1 rd and Chatham st.

Website: http://www.damienswaffles.ca/

La Gourmand

Julie is currently in pastry school right now to achieve her dream of becoming a pastry chef. She will be at the Bakers Market every week and since she loves to experiment with many different recipes and techniques, her items will constantly changing from week to week. If you happen to stop at her booth, try the marshmallows!

La Chocolaterie

Taka is an amazing guy who had a dream of coming to Vancouver to open up a chocolate shop to share his love of chocolates with others. His dream did come true! La Chocolaterie serves up delicious ganache chocolate with mind blowing flavours. When will you ever have a chocolate that has sake, tomato, or wasabi flavours? Even though these are strange flavours, they taste so good! They also have more tame flavours like blueberry, mango and the usual milk chocolates. If you love Melty Kiss chocolates, you’ll love these!

Website: http://lachocolaterie-vancouver.com/

Hearth & Larder

Michele was showcasing her amazing products — Hearth & Larder. She specializes in preservatives (jams) and baked goods. Their hand-crafted artisan preserves are very flavourful are very unique and are out of the ordinary! I loved their Dandelion Jelly and the Blackberry-Lime Jam. Definitely stop by her booth and try some.

Website: http://hearthandlarder.blogspot.com/

Hyggelig

3 friends – Helen, Nicole and Ashley are students of the Arts Institute’s Baking & Pastry program and they want to be professional bakers. They started Hyggelig to start off their entrepreneurial plans to see where it leads. Just looking at their varied kinds of breads, they are something to drool over.

Website: http://www.hyggeligatbakersmarket.com/

French Made Baking

If you’ve been to Bake For the Quake, she was there serving up amazing goodies for a good cause. I missed out visiting her booth last time, but this time I had to have a Le canelé. It is SO good! Best thing I have eaten in a long time. Stop by the table say hi and grab a canelé and you won’t regret it! They will be opening up a store soon on 81 Kingsway near Broadway and Main.

Website: http://frenchmadebaking.com/en/

Seriously Cooking with Debbie and John Brett

Debbie was at the Bakers Market selling her amazing organic bread, power-breakfast kits, gluten free snacks, jams and her amazing squares, cookies, and treats. She’s always been interested in making healthy treats, so she’s spent many many years testing and perfecting her recipes.

Website: http://seriouslycooking.blogspot.com/

City Baked

City Baked is actually a food blog by Hannah in which she shares some amazing recipes with her followers. As a baking enthusiast, she’s at the Bakers Market to really do what she loves – bake! She doesn’t do this professionally, but you can tell she has passion of making delicious goods. Check out her site too because she has some very very delicious recipes.

Website: http://www.citybaked.net/

When Pigs Fly Pastries

Emily owns When Pigs Fly Pastries! She graduated top of her class at VCC’s Baking and Pastry Arts program. She makes some very gorgeous cakes as well as pig inspired cookies and goodies. Check out her table and you will be amazed by her eye for detail! Also take a look at her site for more photos!

Website: http://www.whenpigsflypastries.com/

The Pie Hole

The Pie Hole creates pies! They have their sweet pies available at the Bakers Market. What sets them apart from the other pie shops are that they can also do crazy savory pies such as Carbonara, Pulled Pork or anything that you can think of. They take special orders online, so get in contact with them to make your next party unique.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Pie-Hole/228320433893394?sk=wall

Take a Fancy

Take a Fancy specializes in homemade fair trade organic chocolates from her home kitchen. She does everything from scratch and it all starts with the cocoa bean! Really amazing and great dedication! Her chocolates have good depth and flavour, so go check out her booth! She even has some special halloween treats!

Website: http://takeafancychocolates.blogspot.com/

Miz Belle’s Cajun Confections

Another amazing baking enthusiast! She’s taken a bit of time off work to bake and see where it goes. She is known as the go-to baker at work, so it has inspired her to take part in the Bakers Market. She has items from pies to cupcakes at her tables. Her recipes have a lot of history, so stop by her booth and ask her about it.

Yaletown Brownies Bakery

They make awesome brownies! FOR SURE! Nice thick dense chocolate brownies. Contrary to their name, they aren’t located at Yaletown, they have moved their shop near W. Broadway and MacDonald. Go grab some or else you are really missing out!

Website: http://www.yaletownbrownies.com/

Kawaii Eats

Another participant of the Bake for the Quake is at the Bakers Market! Her amazing Japanese inspired goods are definitely cute! She has things from cakes, cookies, and macarons. Her macarons are detailed with cherry blossoms and is a treat to sink your teeth into them!

Website: http://kawaii-eats.blogspot.com/

Cannele & Honeybun

Olivia is with Cannele & Honeybun! It’s a small company that started at the Bakers Market. She makes artisan cookies, canneles and other delicious treats! Everything is fresh and uses no preservatives. She has many treats at her table, so check it out.

Also, this event is kid friendly! It’s a great event and you are not just buying delicious baked goods, but you are supporting local bakers making their dreams come true.

Not all the booths will be there every single week, but do check out this event!

Open every single Saturday from 11 -3pm till Dec 10th, except Oct 22nd and Nov 19th!

Address:
7646 Prince Albert St
Vancouver, BC
Website:
bakersmarket.com

Twitter:

@bakersmarket

In Bakery

Footo Delights: Brand New Pastry Shop Specializing in Croissants

August 19, 2011

I love discovering new restaurants and shops through Twitter. I was going through my followers list and thought @modernmixvan would be interesting to follow. I was looking at their site and I saw an article about a new shop – Footo Delights, which opened up and they were having their grand opening event. Since I work close by, I thought I would check it out. Plus, who can say no to croissants?

Food Delights is own and operated by Brenda, who is from the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts in Vancouver. She has a huge passion for what she does and puts her heart and soul into the products she creates. Footo Deslight is located close to Homer and Robson. They are the first croissant specialty store in Canada. It’s all fresh from the oven, so you know its not sitting around for a while.

They have nothing to hide from their customers. Similar to larger restaurants, this little shop has an open kitchen concept where you can watch them make the next batch of croissants. They pride themselves of only using natural ingredients and having no artificial flavours, preservatives or chemical additives.

They have many different varieties of croissants – plain, whole wheat, almond, cheese, chocolate, Spinach & Feta and sometimes specialty flavours.

If you aren’t into the croissant spirit, they have other desserts too! Chocolate Mousse, Panna Cotta, Tiramisu, Fruit Mousse and cute strawberry tuxedos.

They have croissant sandwiches too.

It doesn’t stop there, they even have smoothies, yogurt parfaits and frozen yogurt.

Here is their menu.

Since there were way too many choices, I grabbed 2 Chocolate croissants, a complementary bag of mini pastries and a Matcha latte. Instead of just shoving your pastries into a little bag, they have boxes to carry your croissants. Since they don’t get smushed, you know they will stay fresh longer. Plus, the box is super cute! Look at the handle! It’s a croissant!

The Chocolate Croissant ($3.25) is filled with delicious chocolate in the center, layers of the croissant layers and drizzled with more delicious chocolate. I brought these back to the office to share with my coworkers since sharing is caring!

I loved the melty chocolate in the center! I have come upon some croissants that have rock hard chocolate centers, but this one was nice and soft. What is great about these croissants is that you can tell they use less fat and are healthier than other croissants. Since they do use less fat, the layers of the croissant are not as flakey as the ones at Faubourg. The layers are similar to very fluffy light bread. The taste is nonetheless still very good, despite the texture of the layers. The outer layer still has the crunch as well as the ends…yummy crispiness. Totally makes up for the cons.

Since I showed them a coupon for a complementary bag of their pastries, I got these for free. Inside the bag are mini spinach and feta croissant, mini almond croissant and a lemon poppy seed cookie. It’s more like a sampling of their signature items.

The lemon poppy seed cookie was alright, it had a good balance of the lemon and the poppy seed flavour.

The mini feta croissant was one of my favorites since I am also a huge fan of savory croissants. It also had a good taste, but I think I will go back later to try the regular size to see how it is in it’s original form.

The mini almond croissant was also very good. The ends were nice and crispy and the overall flavour was really good.

To grab your own bag of complementary bag of their mini pastries, just grab this coupon from their website and present it to the store. The offer ends tomorrow, so don’t delay.

Overall, good addition to the Downtown core. Great flavours, tons of desserts and are healthier. I saved a bit of the croissants for my sister for her to critique since she has strong opinions about croissants. She really liked it and was very surprised by the overall taste.

Words of Wisdom:

Made with natural ingredients
Large selection of desserts
Small local and independently owned
Not your typical croissant
Highly recommend the chocolate croissant
Closest Skytrain: Stadium or Granville

We Rate Footo Delights:

Address:

820 Homer Street
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.footodelights.com

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FootoDelights

Twitter: @FootoDelights

In Bakery

BonChaz: Things Do Change…But Not For The Better

May 23, 2011

Did I ever tell you I love deals? As a student I love to save a bit here and there.

Since BonChaz had their ‘back to school’ promotions, they were giving away free coffee for the first 3 days of school. Plus, with a 15% off discount with a student card, I was sold. I am so Asian; I just love deals but I always spend more than expected.

Flo and I headed down for some lunch and coffee. It seemed like it was getting busy around lunchtime.

Flo got the Smoked Salmon Sandwich ($6.95). It has smoked salmon, tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, salt and pepper. One thing that really lacked in this sandwich was the amount of smoked salmon.

I ordered the Roast Beef Sandwich with soup ($4.95 + $1.95). The Roast beef sandwich has lettuce, tomatoes, salt, pepper, cucumbers and 2 slices of Roast Beef. I too found the amount of meat lacking.

Apparently, you can get double the amount of meat for $2.

The soup was a chicken and herb soup and it was good! Had good amounts of chicken and vegetables.

Afterwards, we got our free coffee and ordered a BonChaz. I am not usually a black coffee type of person, but since it was free, I took the time to mix in the cream and sugar. I don’t really know if this was good coffee or bad coffee.

The one thing I noticed about the BonChaz was how small the filling as gotten from my previous visits. It did take a while to figure out where the filling was located.

Overall, we were both very disappointed this time around. Sandwiches could have used more filling and the BonChaz definitely needed more filling. When I visited them previously, it was good but now… not so much.

We rate BonChaz:

Address:

426 W Hastings St
Vancouver, BC

Website:

http://www.bonchaz.ca/

In Bakery

Beard Papa’s: Cream Puffs and More Cream Puffs

May 16, 2011

I was having a stressful day at work, so during my lunch break; I headed over to Beard Papa’s for some cream puffs. That’s the usual thing that cheers me up, sweets! I’m actually not a big fan of sweets, but I do love my cream puffs!

The location on Robson does not have many flavors and they have a schedule, so they only have 2 flavors available per day. They just have the usual flavors that you would see in the other Beard Papa’s.

I grabbed it to go as usual since I didn’t want to be the one in the office that makes everyone else jealous. I went home with the little baggie and shared it with my sister. Sharing is caring right? Eating it all by myself would be a little bit selfish.

I gave my sister the Chocolate Cream Puff ($1.75). She quite enjoyed it as usual. The cream is quite light and it is usually filled up very nicely so the cream tried to escape as you take a bite.

I had the Green Tea Cream Puff ($1.75). I think one of my favorite is the green tea. The green tea taste is very subtle and not too potent.

Some people don’t like the size of the cream puffs and think it’s too big. They do have mini cream puffs but it’s only in the original flavor. Sounds interesting, but you might end up eating more that you initially intended to.

Overall, I enjoyed it and the best was to really eat it is with the company of others.

Words of Wisdom:

Original Flavour is best
Closest Skytrain: Granville

We Rate Beard Papa’s:

Address:

548 Robson St
Vancouver, BC

Website:
www.beardpapascanada.com

In Bakery

Le Panier: Very French Bakery

April 26, 2011

Every time I’m in Seattle at Pike Place, I must have my dose of Le Panier! They are most famous for their macarons and croissants. I also have a crazy obsession for their cookies. Since we were in the area, we decided to take a look and buy a few goodies.

It is usually quite busy with lines close to the door.

They have a lot of bread and different types of croissants.

Lots of cookies and pies!

Of course, there are macarons! Fabo ordered one of each macaron ($1.50 USD). They come in many flavors – Chocolate, raspberry, coffee, vanilla, lemon, pistachio and orange. I had these in the past and they were so good! Probably one of my all time favorite places for macarons.

There are also other pies and cookies that are packaged. It’s great for gifts and to bring back home. I got a package of mini hazelnut cookies to bring back for my parents (~$5 USD). These were all finished within a day! It had large chunks of hazelnuts and I really just love their texture and the satisfying way they crumble with every bite.

I also ordered all of their cookies they had that day.

Sable Chocolat ($1.75 USD)

Sable Noisette ($1.75 USD)

Sable Duo Chocolat ($1.75 USD)

Sable is the french term for their Butter Cookies. They all have a nice crumbly texture and is by far the best cookie I have ever had. My favorite is still the Sable Chocolat because it has both chocolate chips and hazelnuts integrated into a butter cookie.

Overall, all the items at Le Panier are really good! Their Danishs were also very good!

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