Today, we have a guest post from Cat, who generously offered to do some reviews for me based on her own eating adventures. Thanks Cat I actually walk past this place quite a bit but have never ventured inside…I guess I should try it myself one of these days!

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A few weeks ago, my friends and I went to Michi Waffle and Espresso Bar for its authentic belgian waffles.  There you can choose your own type of waffles (between Liege Waffle or Brussels Waffle) and your own toppings.  After spending minutes at the counter due to the myraid of choices, we decided to try their “summer delight” and their “green tea matcha waffles”.

The “summer delight” ($6.50) was delicious.  It was a Liege waffle served with mixed fruit and vanilla gelato, with whipped cream and chocolate drizzle on top.  The fruits were fresh and the waffle had a wonderful, chewy texture to it.

One of my friends had the “green tea matcha waffle”.  The matcha waffle was served with green tea ice cream and green tea-flavored whipping cream on top.  For someone who loves green tea like me, I thought the combination was good and the green tea flavour was not too strong.

For those who love desserts, this place is definitely worth a try!

Details:
1319 Robson Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-568-8750

Summary:
Food: 4 out of 5 stars
Service: 3 out of 5 stars
Price: $$

Jenkins and I were walking back to the downtown Seattle core after our visit to the Science Fiction museum about mid-way through our mini visit to the city. We had passed by Dahlia Bakery on our way to the museum so I figured it would be a nice place to stop and grab a snack when we were finished with our museum visit. I had actually wanted to go to Dahlia Lounge for lunch or dinner but it just did not work with our schedule. A trip to the bakery would have to suffice.

I knew going in that there was definitely one thing I wanted to eat and that was Tom Douglas’s famous triple coconut cream pies. I didn’t know that the pies could be sold by the slice (I probably should have asked!) so I just ordered a coco pie bite for $2.50. I’m not a huge coconut cream pie fan normally but Tom Douglas’s version was absolutely amazing. The flavour of the coconut really came through in the creamy pie filling and was heightened by the flakes of coconut on top. The crust itself was nice and crumbly and just fell apart in your mouth. I would definitely come back just to eat this pie and I would likely get a bigger piece next time! The pie was also not overly sweet, which I find often to be the case with cream pies of any type. I should also note that there is a happy hour special for the pies and if I remember correctly, it’s only $1 per coco bite between 4-6pm.

Jenkins and I also split a chocolate truffle cookie for $2.50. To me, I felt like this was a giant version of Thomas Haas’ chocolate sparkle cookie but Jenkins felt that it tasted better than the sparkle cookie. I think this cookie was flourless (or very close to it) and the texture was light but had the rich flavour of chocolate permeating through every bite. Even though it was dark chocolate, this cookie was quite sweet and rich and I think it would go perfectly with a strong cup of coffee or tea.

Jenkins and I both enjoyed our brief but delicious stop at Dahlia Bakery. Sometimes, you’re just not sure if things live up to the hype but I felt that the coconut cream pie was definitely as good as was claimed (or even more so). There are so many delicious bakery items on the menu that I would want to try next time so I would likely buy a box of goodies for the trip back to Vancouver. I would also like to come back for lunch one day to try their sandwiches, which all sounded very tasty. Although slightly pricy, I felt that the quality ingredients that were used and the items that we tried were all worth the price.

Details:
2001 4th Avenue, Seattle, WA
Tel: 206-441-4540

Summary:
Food: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Service: n/a
Price: $

Jenkins and I had finished our snack at Piroshky Piroshky when I realized that we were close by to The Confectional in the Pike Place Market area. I was pretty intrigued by their cheesecake-filled truffles so I decided to stop by and pick up a couple of items.

I had actually eaten quite a few things by the time I arrived at The Confectional so I decided to order only a couple of truffles and after paying, decided to save them to eat later. I saw a sign by the cash register that made mention of a frozen hot chocolate so I decided to order one of those to try as well. Essentially, for $2, you get a mini chocolate popsicle that is full of chocolate flavour and is slightly spicy as well. If I had to classify this, I would say it was more of a frozen Mexican hot chocolate rather than your typical, sweet hot chocolate. I enjoyed the spiciness and it augmented the chocolate flavours in the “popsicle” quite well.

I saved the cheesecake truffles I bought and didn’t eat them until after dinner. They weren’t cheap at $1.75 each so I only bought two to try out. First up was the cookies and mint chocolate cheesecake truffle. I could really taste the mint and there were some tiny pieces of oreo cookies in the cheesecake. I liked how the contrast of the tangy cheesecake went really well with the sweetness of the chocolate. Second up was the peanut butter cheesecake truffle. I think peanut butter with chocolate is a great pairing and this truffle was almost like a cheesecake version of a Reese’s peanut butter cup.

Although two truffles don’t seem like a lot, this was actually enough for me because the cheesecake filling made these truffles quite rich and filling. It was difficult for us to order cheesecakes from The Confectional because we were wandering around the city so I didn’t know where to put them if I didn’t want to eat them right away. The next time I’m in town, I’ll have to better plan my trip so I can pick up a few cheesecakes to try in addition to their cheesecake truffles.

Details:
1530 Pike Place, Seattle, WA
Tel: 206-282-4422

Summary:
Food: 4 out of 5 stars
Service: n/a
Price: $

I have a bit of a sweet tooth and as you may have noticed in my posts, it can be hard for me to pass up desserts even when I’m full from a meal. So it should come as no surprised that I was quite excited when I received an email from Julia of Paul Croteau Confections to attend a tasting event that featured some of Paul Croteau’s confectionary delights. Unfortunately, upon reading the email more carefully, I realized that I would be stuck at work during the time of the tasting so I had to send in my regrets. Luckily for me, Julia emailed me back to let me know that I was free to drop by and pick up a sample pack of the same items at the tasting. Obviously, I wasn’t one to say no to this generous offer.

After a bit of a mix-up on my part, I finally made it to Oakridge to meet Julia and learn a little more about Paul Croteau Confections. She told me that they had leased a kiosk at Oakridge for their launch and that they’d be there until September 12 before they launch their official storefront. I’m still waiting to find out where the permanent location will be but once I find out, I’ll add an update to this post! Update: I just found out that Paul Croteau Confections’ storefront will be located Campagnolo on Main Street (address at the bottom of this post)!

Paul is actually the dessert and pastry chef at Refuel and Campagnolo. Julia told me that after eating several of Paul’s creations at the restaurant, they finally convinced Paul to open a shop since there was a lack of high-end candy stores in Vancouver. Then, of course, there are the macarons as well, which I was told is the definite highlight in Paul’s repertoire. After taking a quick tour around the kiosk and chatting with Julia for a bit, I headed home to make dinner so I could eat the treats from the sample pack for dessert.

First up were the Pate de fruits, which are basically decadent and fancy versions of fruit roll-ups. I have to admit that I am not a huge fan of pate de fruits in general…there is something about the texture and even after eating them in France, they’re still not my cup of tea so it’s a bit biased for me to comment on them here. These pate de fruits were packed with a fruity flavour, melted in your mouth, and were on par with what I’ve eaten at other places, but I’m still not a huge fan.

I did really like the almond square, which you see in the bottom picture at the top though. There was a great almond flavour (of course!) and I liked the sugary caramel crust at the bottom.  The almond squares are actually a traditional Italian biscuit, although I would call it more of a candy than a biscuit.

Julia told me that the  grignotine (middle below) were one of her favourite items at PC Confections and I have to agree with her after sample all of my goodies.  These were made of candied hazelnuts, dipped in Valrhona chocolate, and lightly dusted in cocoa powder. There was just enough of a candy coating on the nuts to give them an extra crunch and the hazelnuts themselves had a ton of flavour. One of my favourite candies to make is actually similar to this but made with almonds but I like this hazelnut version much more.

The nougat was actually pretty mild in flavour and I did not find it too sweet, which I liked. The version here was made with almonds, pistachios, and hazelnuts but I definitely tasted the pistachios the most. The nougat was still soft, which I like more than hard nougats.

The salted butter caramel was very sweet but it was slightly tempered by a salty finish. It was very buttery and rich and if you are a fan of caramel, you would likely enjoy this quite a bit. You probably can’t eat too many of these in one sitting but I did enjoy the half caramel I shared with Jenkins.

And finally, I was on to the macarons. I started off with chocolate version and that actually turned out to be my favourite. It was packed full of chocolate flavour and was not overly sweet. It was also larger than most of the macarons available in Vancouver and reminded me a little of the giant macarons I used to eat in Paris. I’m not sure if it’s because of the larger size, but the almond meringue “cookies” seemed a bit denser than what I had recently eaten at some other places.

Next, I tried the salted caramel macaron. I found the salted caramel filling to be too sweet for my taste and it was actually a bit difficult to taste any salty flavour in this at all.

I saved the pistachio for last because I thought it would have been my favourite. However, because the salted caramel macaron had been so sweet, it was actually quite difficult for me to taste any pistachio flavour in my last macaron. This is due to the order in which I ate the macarons rather than due to the macaron itself so it’s hard for me to judge.

At $4.50 for a pack of 3 macarons, I found this to be quite reasonable. PC Confections currently has other macaron flavours, including chocolate passion fruit, which I would have really liked to try. Julia told me that they are going to try and introduce seasonal flavours depending on what’s in season. That sounded like quite a good idea to me and I am looking forward to tryout out their other macaron flavours for sure.

I definitely had my favourites at Paul Croteau Confections and that’s to be expected. With the holiday season slowly and sneakily creeping up on us, I think many of Paul’s offerings will make pretty good presents.

Details:
Oakridge (in a kiosk between Zellers and Blenz) until Sept 12, 2010. At the end of September, a storefront will be opened above Campagnolo:
2nd floor, 1020 Main Street, Vancouver

Summary:
Food: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Service: n/a
Price: $

When I ran into Sherman at the Vancouver Foodie Tour earlier in the summer, he told me about a fantastic gelato place that had just opened at the Fairmont Pacific Rim. Since I’m a huge gelato fiend and am always on the lookout for new gelato places, it was surprising that it took me a while before I was able to make it to Bella Gelateria, although it was not due to a lack of trying.

After wandering into Bella Gelateria’s small-ish space, Jenkins and I checked out all the flavours that were available that day and tried to decide what we wanted. I inquired if they had my two favourite gelato flavours, nocciola (hazelnut) and pistachio, but they were not available that day. Since many of their flavours are seasonal and the ingredients for some flavours were flown in from around the world, I was told that pistachio would not be available until later in the month. I was a little disappointed but that just meant I had another reason to come back.

After looking at the price list, Jenkins and I decided that it would be most economical for us to share a large cup, which would allow us to sample three flavours. After a lengthy process where I tried at least half the flavours available, I was ready to make my decision. Since strawberries were in season, I decided to have the strawberry gelato along with dark chocolate (80% if I remember correctly), and vanilla-ish flavour with hazelnuts (I can’t recall what it was called).

One bite and I knew that this was probably the best gelato that I’ve had so far in Vancouver and pretty close to some of the gelato I’ve had in Italy. The strawberry gelato was packed full of flavour and was only slightly creamy. I also really liked the dark chocolate, which had a really nice and dense, yet light texture and had just the right amount of sweetness to it. It tasted like a gelato version of a 80% Lindt chocolate bar. I was a bit disappointed with the vanilla/hazelnut flavour, which I found a bit too mild in flavour for me and for some reason, the hazelnut didn’t seem to stand out.

A few weeks later, I went back to see if Bella Gelateria had the pistachio available. Luckily, not only did they have pistachio, but they also had nocciola too! My friendly gelato server told me that the pistachios were actually flown in from Sicily. I suppose it’s not the lightest of carbon footprints, but I had to admit that the pistachio gelato had a ton of rich, roasted pistachio flavour to it. I almost wished that I received a bigger scoop of the pistachio than the nocciola. The nocciola was also quite flavourful and I could really taste the hazelnuts, which I enjoyed much more than the vanilla/hazelnut flavour I had tried a few weeks prior.

As with any gelato place, I found the flavours to be hit and miss, but since you are able to sample as many flavours as you like before actually making your order, you have the luxury of taking your time, provided there isn’t an impatient crowd of people behind you. Although the gelato is on par with some of the places you may encounter in Italy, the prices are definitely higher here. That being said, with the gelato at Bella Gelateria being much better than the other Vancouver offerings, I still find it to be a nice once-in-a-while great.

Details:
1001 West Cordova Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-569-1010

Summary:
Food: 4 out of 5 stars
Service: n/a
Price: $

One place I really wanted to check out while I was in Portland but wasn’t sure if I’d be able to due to its well-documented line-ups was Voodoo Doughnuts. After seeing this place featured on several shows including Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations and The Amazing Race, I had a hankering for its maple bacon doughnut. On our last day in Portland, I knew it would be our last change to check out Voodoo Doughnuts during this trip so Jenkins and I dropped by early in the morning before breakfast. There turned out to be a line-up already so we decided to head to Stumptown Roasters for some breakfast and check out the Saturday Morning Market before circling back. There was still quite a line-up when we returned in the afternoon but we decided to join the waiting hoards anyway.

After standing in line for about 30 minutes (!!), we finally made our way inside. Even though I was still full from lunch, I convinced Jenkins that we should order four doughnuts between the two of us and that we could slowly eat it throughout the day. Reluctantly, he agreed with me.

First on my list of things to order was definitely the maple bacon doughnut. It may seem like an odd combination and I even thought it was a bit gross when I heard about it. But this was one of the best doughnuts we ordered that day. The sweetness of the maple icing contrasted nicely with the salty crunchiness of the bacon. I think because the bacon was fried so much, it was no longer greasy and added a great smoky and salty flavour to the doughnut.

Next up was the Butterfinger cake doughnut. It was a cake-based doughnut with a topping of crumbled Butterfinger bars. I found this was only ok and preferred the light dough doughnut of the maple bacon doughnut more than the cake-based one. There was an ample amount of crushed Butterfinger bars but I found it did not have a very strong flavour.

After sharing these two doughnuts, Jenkins convinced me to stop eating and save the doughnuts for the next day. However, all I could think about was that maple bacon doughnut and after about an hour, I told Jenkins that we should eat the rest of the doughnuts as they may not keep very well. He knew it was pointless to argue with me so we hunkered down and split the remaining two doughnuts. I really liked the Ol Dirty Bastard which had a topping of crushed Oreo cookies, chocolate, and peanut butter. I really liked the crunchy chocolaty-ness imparted by the cookies and the peanut butter added a saltiness to the doughnut that countered the sweetness.

The Portland Cream doughnut was recommended by the cashier. It was a Voodoo Doughnut take on a standard chocolate doughnut with cream on the inside. I wouldn’t say it was anything out of the ordinary but was very well executed. Jenkins enjoyed this one quite a bit.

For the size of the doughnuts and the quality, the prices are quite reasonable. Due to its extremely high turnover, the doughnuts are all very fresh and there are flavours to satisfy any type of taste. Voodoo Doughnut is another place I’ll definitely need to come back to the next time I’m in Portland…I’ll be loading up on the maple bacons for sure.

Details:

Summary:
Food: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Service: n/a
Service: $

I had heard of Mink Chocolate Cafe when it first opened but due to its location at Hastings and Hornby, it was just too far for me to give it any consideration. I finished lunch early one day and Harpreet convinced me that we had enough time to go to Mink for some hot chocolate. Evidently, it was one of his favourite hot chocolate places and since he’s a bit of a connoisseur, I figured it was time for me to pay Mink a visit and see for myself what the fuss was all about.

Mink Chocolate Cafe not only serves drinks, pastries, and fondue, but it also has a selection of chocolates and other delectable desserts.

I didn’t have a chance to try the chocolates this time around but it’s definitely on my list of things to eat. There were so many different varieties of chocolate that it will take you a while just to decide on what you want.

And finally, on to the hot chocolate. Harpreet chose his usual of milk hot chocolate (38% cacao) whereas I chose to have the 70% cacao hot chocolate. Although I enjoyed the initial flavour of my hot chocolate, it had an odd aftertaste, almost akin to powdered hot chocolate. Harpreet noted that his 38% cacao version did not have a weird aftertaste so I wonder if I was the victim of a poorly made hot chocolate. For the price that I paid (almost $5), I did not feel it was worth the money. However, due to all the rave reviews I’ve been hearing about this place, I wouldn’t mind giving it a second chance.

I should note that the little piece of dark chocolate that came with my hot chocolate was very tasty. It had a rich dark chocolate flavour to it, just the way I like it. The next time I’m back, I’d like to try the chocolate fondue in addition to giving the hot chocolate a second chance.

Details:
863 West Hastings Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-633-2451

Summary:
Food: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Service: n/a
Price: $

I first found out about Bonchaz when I was on someone’s Twitter that they were opening up on West Hastings near Homer in Vancouver. I was told that Bonchaz was basically a brioche shop and since I am a huge brioche fan, I knew I had to check it out. I later found out that Bonchaz is the name of the milk buns and although they were kind of similar to brioche, they weren’t really the same thing.

To further incent me to pay Bonchaz a visit, I was told that they were giving out free samples on their grand opening day. I was sold so after Jason and I finished our lunch at Benkei Ramen, we wandered over to Bonchaz to give their bonchaz a try.

When we arrived at the modest little shop, we could smell the delicious bonchazes as soon as we stepped inside. Since the original flavour had just come out of the oven, the friendly server presented us each with a full sized bonchaz along with a cup of French press coffee. The bonchaz itself was quite hot and the crispy and slightly sweet crust gave way to a buttery yet airy inside. I would say that a brioche tastes a bit denser than a bonchaz and they are both good in their own way. Bonchaz’s unique selling proposition is definitely the fact that the bonchaz come fresh out of the oven piping hot. I mean, how can that not taste good? The coffee served as a perfect accompaniment to the bonchaz.

Laureen told me later that day that she tried the banana walnut and that it was definitely worth a try. Although I still haven’t tried it, I will need to pay another visit soon to try it out.

Details:
426 West Hastings Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-626-7215

Summary:
Food: 4 out of 5 stars
Service: n/a
Price: $

Right before the Olympics started, Jenkins and I were wandering around downtown one day after lunch. We were just about to head back to our respective offices when I realized that we were very close to Big City Cupcakes’ downtown location. I had been meaning to try Big City Cupcakes for quite some time but due to its slightly out of the way location downtown, it was never convenient for me to go.

Once we were inside, we were greeted with a wide array of cupcakes. I was really glad that I did not eat too much for lunch and I quickly decided that Jenkins and I should each have a cupcake rather than share one selection. Jenkins balked at this a bit but I assured him that if he had trouble eating his cupcake, I would gladly help!

I asked the lady behind the counter what she would recommend. She gave me a few choices but the one that really caught my eye was the strawberry cheesecake. This cupcake was made with a vanilla strawberry batter and had a little chunk of cheesecake in the middle. On top was a demure amount of cheesecake frosting, one of my favourite types of frosting. The cheesecake was not overly sweet and the frosting had a nice, slight tang to it. The cheesecake filling in the middle added a nice creaminess to the cupcake and was a nice little surprise. The strawberry flavour was quite weak and it could have been enhanced some more, but other than that, I had no complaints.

Jenkins had the Chocolate Mounds cupcake, which was a chocolate cupcake with ganache in the centre and was topped with a coconut butter cream with coconut and more ganache. I would say that his choice was more traditional than mine and he enjoyed his selection more than my strawberry cheesecake version. He was generous enough to let me have a bite and the chocolate flavour was very rich without being too sweet. The frosting was also just enough to complement the flavour of the cupcake itself and did not have the cloying sweetness that plagues some cupcakes.

I quite enjoyed the two cupcakes we had from Big City Cupcakes. I am not a fan of the cupcakes made by Cupcakes (the company :p) and I think the ones from Big City  Cupcakes are much better. The flavours at Big City Cupcakes are more original and the amount of frosting they use is not as excessive. That being said, I know Cupcakes has its own dedicated fan base, so if you are into a lot of frosting on your cupcakes, Big City may not be for you. The cupcakes at Big City are quite expensive though, the filled cupcakes are $4.15 and the non-filled versions are $3.10. I’m not convinced that this is the best value, but since it will prevent me from coming here too often, it’s probably best for my waistline.

Details:
1015 Howe Street, Vancouver
Tel: 604-683-6603

Summary:
Food: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Service: n/a
Price: $

Ever since Qoola opened, I had heard quite a lot of good things about it. I wasn’t sure if this was just because they had made a big marketing push and reached out to a lot of bloggers and such so it was never too high on my list. However, I was talking to Juanita one day and she was raving about how Qoola was one of her favourite dessert places to frequent so I finally decided to give it a try. I happened to be at Aberdeen Centre and couldn’t miss the big Qoola store that had opened up. I had eaten dim sum earlier that day so I was quite full but I managed to convince Jenkins to share a frozen yogurt with me.

I’ve been making frozen yogurt a lot these days but one thing that I have still yet to find and add to my frozen yogurt is mochi. That’s because I haven’t been able to find out where to buy the mochi that’s used in most frozen yogurt places so if anyone knows, please let me know! Not surprisingly then, I decided to have the cream cheese frozen yogurt with mango and coconut mochi for my toppings. The consistency of the frozen yogurt was very nice and I really liked the tangy flavour from the cream cheese. The mochi was soft and went well with the mango although I couldn’t taste much of the coconut.

I was quite impressed with the frozen yogurt at Qoola. They had several flavours of frozen yogurt, a lot of toppings, and also other types of yogurt-based desserts. Most of these items aren’t cheap; the yogurt I chose with the 2 toppings was about $5.50 if I recall correctly. That being said, I wouldn’t mind going back sometime to try their other yogurt desserts and flavours.

Note that there is also another location on Denman Street by English Bay.

Details:
4151 Hazelbridge Way, Richmond (Aberdeen Centre)
Tel: 7785-297-5488

Summary:
Food: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Service: n/a
Price: $