Tag Archives: bakery

Tartine Bread & Pies

Mon – Sat 7:00 am – 8 pm
Sun 7:00 am – 6 pm

A friend of mine had seen this cafe as he did his daily jogging route and wanted to check out the place. It was nestled in the quiet neighbourhood of Yaletown-ish area away from the busy streets and crowd of pedestrians (though I guess that’s not a good location then for a cafe…) It was close to empty, but it did have an on going flow of customers coming in and taking something out.

We ordered the coconut cream pie $3.75, a cookie $1.50 and iced latte $3.25.

Not sure if the staff wanted to treat us since it was already in the evening,
so perhaps they wanted to get rid of the pie since it was going to go bad anyways. Well, the piece we got was huge!! Never seen a cafe serve such gigantic piece of pie! Even with both of us, we couldn’t finish it. Well, that was perfectly fine, because I had more from it later in the night..kekeke…I couldn’t resist! It was SO good! Yes, I know, 90% was just cream…so unless you’re a cream person like me, you might hate it.

The crunchy texture of the coconut shreds inside and the sweet flavour of coconut went so well with the cream…I’m haven’t been a cake person since going on a healthier diet a 2 years ago, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to go back for some more…it’d be interesting to see if that is the ‘normal’ size, or if it was just a ‘bonus’ that day.

Interior

Out on patio/sidewalk

HUGE pie piece!!! YUM!

As the name suggest, their specialty is in pies. They have a wide range of selections from Bumbleberry, New York Maple Cream Apple, Sour Cherry, Raspberry Sour Cream, Raspberry Rhubarb, Pumpkin Pecan, Double Crust Lemon, Peach Praline, Chocolate Pecan, Strawberry Rhubarb, and the list goes on. You can get most of them for $3.75 a slice or $18 whole.

The iced latte wasn’t sweetened – so that was really good. I don’t like when drinks come already loaded with sugar (like with Timmy’s or McDonald’s)

The two staff that was there was very friendly and welcoming. It’s got a nice patio up in front where we sat. I’d love to go back and try their sandwiches and stuff…and of course more pie!

2nd Time

I’ve been back here twice to get the coconut cream pie, both times with disappointment that they didn’t have it made that day. On the fourth time, they didn’t have coconut cream pie again, so went with the lemon pie and coffee.

Not sure what happened since the first time we were there. Perhaps that day was great? Or was this time just terrible? The pie fell apart, and looked gross. The taste was nothing spectacular. Coffee was terrible, so watered down and Sheepie complained it smelled like an ash tray with water. There were bits of coffee floating around.

It was in February and they didn’t seem to have any heat on, so we were freezing.

However, none of this seem to bother anyone else as it was packed and busy at 6pm on a Tuesday. The staff were friendly, but if it was the first time coming here, I would never return again. I am reluctant to go back again with the constant disappointment that the coconut cream pie isn’t there (yeah, a bit obsessed? lol). But this experience just killed their image. I will give them one more chance. If they want the carrot I docked off, they better live up to the first impression!

Taste: Price for Value:

Atmosphere: Service:
Location:

Cho Pain Bakery – CLOSED

European Breads Bakery: Wheat-free & Gluten-free

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A new bakery opened up awhile ago in downtown that sells wheat-free and gluten-free bakery! I found out about them on some deal sites, they were doing 50% discounts, so I jumped right in on the opportunity. European Breads Bakery has been open for many many years at the 4326 Fraser St location. But they’ve opened up another one in the heart of downtown on 1262 Burrard St. (and seems to go with the name European Breads Organic Crepe Cafe & Bakery). This location doesn’t seem to have good ratings. Not sure if it’s because it’s still new (and only 13 voted), or since it didn’t seem to have a lot of variety. (but then again, I haven’t been the the one on Fraser, so can’t really compare)

Ratings (out of 5)
Location: (it’s great for those that live near Davie and Burrard are, but perhaps not so much if you come by car…)
Cost: (I think reasonable for the quality, natural ingredients, and care they put into making food gluten-free) A loaf costs about $4-5. Apple rice muffin is $1.95 + tax = $2.18)

Customer Service: (meh. It’s alright. Definitely not like a Starbucks service. I find most of the time I walk in, they don’t acknowledge me, or ask me what I want, they may talk to each other while I’m waiting at the counter right in front of them)
Stock: I’ve gone there 5 times which 3 times, they were out of the muffins I wanted. They don’t have a lot of variety at certain times…
Taste: the rice muffins are great!!! One muffin I believe has only 2.8 g sugar, and it’s certified organic. Warm it up in the microwave for 15-20 seconds.