I will admit that my introduction to Breka Bakery & Café was not a positive one. I went to their downtown Davie location and had one of the worst sandwiches of my life (if not the worst) and the customer service was crap. A friend of mine wrote praises of their Fraser location and it is currently in walkable distance for me so I decided to give Breka Bakery & Café another shot.
The Location
Fraser Street & 49th is pretty damn far from downtown so I was hoping it would be a completely different experience. One thing was the same… It was busy! So super busy.
It was very different in that the seating is very limited in comparison to the amount of people swinging by for food and/or beverage. As I waited in line I was worried I was not going to get a seat after walking all that way!
The Food
Their desserts look fantastic, absolutely impressive.
It would have been lovely to indulge in pieces of cake, pie and/or pastry but my friend had recommended particular foodie treats so I started to search them out.
There it is! The mushroom and goat cheese quiche… She also said that their donuts were some of the best in the city so I also got an apricot-filled jelly donut.
The Drink
It has been quite hot here in Vancouver and it was a bit of a workout to make it all the way to the café so I wanted something cold to drink. I pointed to this sign and asked if I could get it in decaf. She said yes and rang everything up and all three items came to just over $12.
The Feasting
I brought the cookbook FEAST: Recipes and Stories from a Canadian Road Trip with me to keep me company. It is written by Lindsay Anderson and Dana VanVeller about their trek across Canada and the recipes they discovered along the way.
When my drink was ready to pick up there was a hot coffee with beautiful caramel lace floating on top. This keeps happening to me. There is almost always something wrong with what I order. It is like people can not hear me at all—it has become extremely frustrating.
I told the server that I ordered that (pointing to the sign board again) in decaf, adding that it was too hot for regular coffee. She was not thrilled but took it back and replaced it with this which was still warm. I wondered if she just poured it over some ice. Despite being warm at first it was quite delicious.
The mushroom & goat cheese quiche was very good. Great flavour, flaky crust… Exactly what I was looking for.
The apricot-filled jelly donut was very good but I am not sure I would say it was the best in the city so I am still on the hunt for that perfect Vancouver donut.
Foodie Conclusion
Breka on Fraser is very different from the one on Davie. Yes, it is crazy-busy too but wow, it is so much louder! Mostly because of the traffic. Several times big trucks went by blaring their horn making me jump in my seat. Not a quiet and calm oasis at all. The service and food were definitely better which was a relief but I do not enjoy going to places when I worry about there being enough seats for me to sit, relax and enjoy my food.
As a result, my experience was definitely an improvement but far from perfect. I give this foodie experience three and a half out of five wooden spoons. I think this is more of the kind of café you swing by to pick up a treat and take with you than sit and get some work done or hang out with a friend. It is open 24/7 so if you want quiet time, visit after other cafes are closed.
Last Friday my family and I visited your bakery. We were in search of Apple strudel similar to one my mom used to bake. We were very disappointed in your version of apple strudel. The pastry was hard and apple contents dry. There was difficulty in communicating to staff an order of simple black pekoe
tea. When ordering water, staff said to get it in washroom. The washroom was messy, dirty and urine surrounded the toilet. It was totally disgusting. We will never step into your store again.
Hi Josephine! Oh man that sounds awful! I only blogged about visiting them myself, sounds like it would be a good idea to write them directly to let them know how terrible your experience was. Also feel free to review them on Yelp and Google like I did so others know as well. What a shame, hate it when places like that let you down.