Tag Archives: pastry

Tim Hortons on Davie

Tim Hortons on UrbanspoonOpen 24 hours a day, this Timmy’s is always got customers going in and out, getting their Ice Cap or box of timbits. The service at this location is pretty good. They are usually friendly (depending who serves you) and food is usually standard and comes out fairly quickly. On most mornings, the line up will go out the door…so give yourself plenty of time if you’re in a hurry for your breakfast before work.

I do find the AC to be way too cold – but that’s just me…I’m always freezing…lol
Unfortunately, because of the location, you will have lots of homeless people inside, whether eating or harassing customers for change. During the day time, it’s a bit better, but I’m being soft I think, considering that other cities I’ve been to or lived had never had this kind of scene – but that’s another problem that has to do with Vancouver, not with Timmy’s, although I wish they were a bit more active in dealing with this problem.

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At night, you can pretty much have over half the customers be homeless people. At the entrance you will have beggers, I’ve seen one guy throw up on the door, many that come in to use the bathroom, wander around the restaurant, many asking for change, or to even use your phone. Growing up in Calgary, I never encountered a Timmy’s like this, nor any coffee shops like it – especially when it’s suppose to be family-oriented. If I had kids, I wouldn’t want to sit around and wont be able to relax. I do tend to keep my eye on my belongings a lot more when I’m there.

Back to the food, the drinks. I used to love the Ice Cap and had it all the time. After I went through the strict health diet a few years back, and although I’m now back on a normal diet (but not unhealthy like before), I find Timmy’s drinks to be way too sweet. I like how you can customize your drinks at coffee shops like Blenz. But I guess you’re also paying for that too. There are usually promotions for many drinks at $1 which is one reason my friend likes going there, so I end up there too. They have a ridiculous number of sizes to choose from.

I no longer eat that much sweets, and never been a huge donut fan (never have been a bread fan) so no more timbits for me…

I do like their sandwiches. I usually order the Chicken salad sandwich with chicken strips, onions, celery, pimentos, mixed with mayo and black pepper, lettuce and tomato. Freshly made for $3.29 it’s a pretty good deal. I like mine toasted.

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Morning breakfast sandwich with tea

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Their Halloween special donut. Cute! But ohhhh so unhealthy…

 Taste: carrotcarrot    Price for Value: carrotcarrot

Atmosphere: carrot     Service: carrotcarrotcarrot
Location: carrotcarrotcarrotcarrotcarrot

 

Thierry Chocolaterie Patisserie Cafe

Thierry Chocolaterie Patisserie Cafe on Urbanspoon

This cafe was jam packed, mostly with young Asians on a weekend around 5pm. Both inside and their fairly large patio was all full. This cafe is targeted toward young women who have a bit of more income and are willing to spend $4 for hot water and a tea bag. I ordered the Vanilla Honeybush $4.25 and Montreal Beef Sandwhich (half) $4.95. Talk about small portions at a price! It is probably a third of the footlong sandwich for $5 which I usually get from Subway. And at least Subway makes it fresh and custom to the way you like it. This half sandwich was already pre-made.

HOWEVER, it was delicious. The sour veggies and the roasted beef went really well together. The 3 small pickles on the side was a nice touch and way to cleanse the mouth. The honeybush tea had a nice aroma, and although no cream inside, it did have a slight creamy flavour.

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Despite the price, it’s super busy!

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Modern, but a bit difficult to read menu board

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Umm…yeah, this photo was actually taken the very first time I went to Thierry…and it was a few years back…I haven’t seen it this empty since then…

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Vanilla Honeybush tea

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Montreal Beef Sandwich (half)

I am not a fan of going to places where I have trouble hearing the people across the table, especially if they’re soft spoken. It’s a busy small area, crammed with small tables and lots of chairs. You’ll have people carrying their cakes and teas behind you trying to make their way through the winding space between each table. It’s a bit loud, but if you like that lively full-house cafe, this is a good place to go.

We stayed there for about 2 hours, but I think I froze from the AC and the wooden chairs are not that comfortable to sit in for long periods.

I do LOVE their branding. The business cards, the consideration into the colour of the black napkins, their tags, packaging is very well done. The mirrored menu board is a bit difficult to read, but is very modern and slick. This is a slightly higher end cafe than your average Starbucks-like cafes.

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Next time,  we came with a large group of 8 people. This isn’t a good cafe to bring a large group like this. It is hard to find seating, and takes a bit of juggling for everyone to sit together. As usual, it was jam packed. There were some that were sitting out in the cold…amazing. We were all freezing in the cafe, so most of us kept our coats on.

Sheepie and a friend both ordered lattes, and they complained so much on how is was so bitter and terrible. The friend went back to get her drink fixed, but still ended up leaving early as she wasn’t happy with the cafe.

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The chocolate wasn’t as spectacular as we were expecting, but the pastries – the cakes $6-8 were really good! Yah!

After writing this second review, I’ve actually taken off a ‘carrot’ from four to three for atmosphere, simply because it’s just way too crammed and the seats are really uncomfortable to sit on. Because it’s so crowded, there are several tables right by the bathroom making it annoying with people coming and going closeby. It’s too loud for me, and during the colder months, it’s freezing in there.

I’ve kept the Taste rating to still 4 despite the latte issue because other than that, it was really good. I guess I would rate the food to 4, and the drinks at 2. One time, my brother ordered the hot chocolate and he barely could drink it because it was like a chocolate bar melted and poured into a cup. I’ve always had tea so I haven’t had any disaster drinks, and I would be very surprised if they can screw up a tea bag and hot water.

 Taste: carrotcarrotcarrotcarrot     Price for Value: carrotcarrot

Atmosphere:  carrotcarrotcarrot    Service:  carrotcarrotcarrot
Location: carrotcarrotcarrotcarrot

Cho Pain Bakery – CLOSED

Cho Pain Bakery on Urbanspoon

We went to have a light small brunch at the cafe on Canada Day around noon. It was another beautiful summer day, but the cafe was less than half empty inside. More were out on the patio enjoying the sun.

It’s a nice little cafe. There were 2 friendly staff and I ordered parmier and cafe latte. We paid and sat down. Then they told us that the espresso machine was broken. We got full refund and both of us got free coffee instead! Great service! They were both very apologetic. Coffee was a bit old and seemed diluted, but none the less, appreciated the offer. Pastry was not too sweet, and was very good. A great hang out place. Love the colourful wall paint!

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