PanDa Fresh Bakery, is one of the new street carts that have opened up downtown. What makes this street cart super unique is that it’s on a bus! They specialize in croissants. Who doesn’t love croissants?
One day, I was driving on Pacific Blvd. and spotted PanDa Fresh Bakery! I was so excited that I had to tell M to stop the car and make a very sharp turn to turn on the street where PanDa Fresh Bakery is located. I am sure I was so excited that it really scared him. I’ve spent months wanting to try PanDa Fresh Bakery, but never had the time to pass by. Today was the day where I would be able to try the croissants that people were raving about!
Looking at their menu, I have never ever seen such unique croissants! They have savory croissants, dessert croissants and ICE CREAM croissants! I wanted to try everything! I felt like a kid in a candy store, but in this case, I suppose it looked like 2 grown-ups staring at a bus.
This is the window where you can order your croissants. They even have a little panda there. Reminds me of a toy I got at Ocean Park in Hong Kong. Don’t forget to keep your stamps!
After looking at the menu, I got the LAST Mac & Cheese ($6) of the day! You would think these 2 combinations would not work out very well, but it was AMAZING! I would highly recommend this to everyone. M loved it so much that he ate about 60% of it. I was a bit bitter about it because I wanted more.
M had the Turkey Dinner ($6), which had cranberry sauce, slice of turkey, mashed potatoes and stuffing. We were both not keen on the cranberry because even though it is a Thanksgiving tradition, it was a bit drippy and sour. I thought the stuffing was really good. I could just sit at a table all day and eat the mashed potatoes. I wonder what his secret is…
On to dessert! I had the Cheese Cake Croissant ($4). In the first picture, it does look like a stick of butter. I’m sure Paula Deen would LOVE a Croissant filled with butter. Anyways, the Cheesecake croissant has a slice of New York cheese cake and then a lady finger. At first it seemed weird how there was the lady finger in the croissant but it added a very nice crunchy texture to it. The cheese cake was not overly sweet.
M had the Banana Chocolate Croissant ($4), it had a banana cut in half and melted chocolate. He enjoyed it and I was happy he chose something that had fruit for once.
They also had a message board on their bus… so in my sneaky fashion, i stuck the business card on the board while his back was turned. Yeah! I’m a ninja.
Words of wisdom:
- Arrive early to avoid disappointment
- Keep track of new batches or flavours on their twitter
- Mac and Cheese is a must!
Overall, I was pretty satisfied with the meal. It was the perfect size so I was not hungry or super stuffed. What I admire most about this street cart is their unique idea and imagination when it comes to making the fillings for the croissants. They made me think that a croissant could be so much more than just a very oily piece of bread. Kudos to Panda Fresh Bakery!
Find them on Pacific and Drake in Yaletown
2 Comments
I am also a big fan of the Mac and Cheese croissant! It is perfect in it’s weird, carby awesomeness. Such nice guys as well.
If you’re looking for a more Asian style snack, the red bean filled croissant was also quite good.