Welcome fellow foodies, I'm Mijune - dedicated foodie from Vancouver. I write restaurant reviews in Vancouver and the lower mainland as well as when I’m traveling. I'm searching for the best ____, popular hole-in-the-wall restaurant & local gem. I cook & bake so I’ll also post recipes. I invite all foodies to follow me on this tasty experience!
WARNING: My food pics may stimulate hunger, so explore my blog with munchies within a reachable distance. For the love of food...
Restaurant: Blueberry World Frozen Yogurt Cuisine: Desserts Last visited: March 6, 2010
Area:Vancouver, BC (Robson Street/West End/Downtown) 1703 RobsonStreet PriceRange: $10 or less
1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!
Food: 2.5 Service: 3
Ambiance:2
Overall: 2 Additional comments:
Serves frozen yogurt only
A tad cheaper than other places.
Only flavours: original & green tea
Twist option available
Large is very large
1 oz - 0% fat
Snowy ice option
Smoothie options
Sampling available
Not enough toppings/options/flavour choices
**Recommendation: n/a
Blueberry World is never really busy, but most their traffic is by locals or people living in the neighborhood.
It’s a bit cheaper than the other frozen yogurt places but the cups are small and shallow so you don’t get as many toppings as you would with Tuttimelon or Qoola. The toppings are also limited and they don’t have as many options like mochi, or different nuts/cereals. The amount of toppings depends on who’s doing it…usually the case.
What I do like is that they offer twist and not many places do that, Tuttimelon offers half and half where they put the flavours side by side – but not twist. It’s not my first time at Blueberry World and it isn’t my first choice, but more of a “last resort, and I’m in the area and I want frozen yogurt choice”. This was my dessert after Santouka Ramen across the street…see – close by.
FYI the large size is extremely big! That has more value than small size.
On the table:
Original & Green Tea Twist 3/6
Small: $3.50 Medium $4.50 Large $6.75
Toppings: 1 topping: $0.95,3 toppings: $1.50
I got it with granola, just because I like the crunchiness.
Compared to most places they don’t offer as many toppings.
The green tea isn’t as tart as Qoola or Tuttimelon, but it is still tart and has more green tea flavour.
The original flavour is quite tart, but not as tart as Qoola.
I like the twist.This small size was significantly bigger than the other smalls I've had in the past! Maybe I was having a good hair day? j/k! =p
Original 2.5/6
Small: $2.75 Medium $3.75 Large $5.75
Toppings: 1 topping: $0.95, 3 toppings: $1.50
Mangoes, coconut jelly, blueberries
Original flavour is tart – it’s very icy yogurt and when it melts it melts like water.
Green Tea 3/6
Small: $3.50 Medium $4.50 Large $6.75
Toppings: 1 topping: $0.95, 3 toppings: $1.50
Kiwi, strawberry, pineapple
Green tea is sweeter than original – still tart. More green tea flavour than Quoola or Tuttimelon.
Very icy yogurt – not the creamy thicker kind.
Significantly more expensive than original flavour.
4151 Hazelbridge Way – In AberdeenMall Range: $10 or less
1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!
Food: 2.5 (Based on their #1 drink only)
Service: 4.5
Ambiance: n/a – in a food court
Overall: 2.5
Additional comments:
Healthy desserts/drinks
Fresh fruit
Made upon order
Specializes in drinks only
Fresh fruit juices
Milkshake/yogurt drinks
Cash only
Asian Jugo Juice
**Recommendation: n/a – but if you’re going to go get the #1 house special – Mango + coconut milk + tapioca + pomelo drink
This is basically the Chinese version of Jugo Juice. 8 Juice is located in the Aberdeen food court. They specialize in fresh fruit drinks and everything is blended, shaken, stirred upon order…like a bubble tea place….but they have no bubble tea.
This is pretty much one of the only places in Richmond serving mango, coconut, tapioca and pomelo drink that is so famous in Hong Kong. You can’t even find this drink at many bubble tea places because the “tapioca” is not pearls – the tapioca is “sago” which is smaller and white in colour.
In Hong Kong the most famous place to have this dessert/drink is Hui Lau Shan. I love it! If you’ve had that then this place is really not good. I was so disappointed. To be fair it’s the only thing I’ve tried on the menu…but if it’s their “No.1 House Specialty” then I don’t have much hope.
After Twittering about the mango, coconut and sago drink the last couple days I had a major craving and decided to check this place out. The guy was really nice, but unfortunately my craving is not satisfied and I don’t think it can be because I don’t know anywhere else that serves it.
On the table:
Mango, Coconut Milk, Tapioca and Pomelo Drink 2.5/6
It’s the “No 1 House Specialty”
Compared to Hui Lau Shan in Hong Kong it is not good
It was really watered down, frothey, but almost bland. I couldn’t taste much mango or coconut milk and it was a major 'save money' move.
The mango juice has a very light mango flavour and they blend it with 2% milk and a touch of coconut milk which I couldn’t taste at all.
There were small bits of mango in the drink, not a lot though. Some of the mango was hairy though….pieces that were too close to the seed.
There was even less pomelo. The pomelo is very shredded into each sliver or ‘pocket’ so you have individual “strands” of it. Pomelo is basically an Asian grapefruit. It’s sweeter and not bitter though. It’s quite neutral in flavour.
It’s a drink that you need to chew with all the fruit and tapioca. However the tapioca is so small you just end up swallowing them unlike the bigger black tapioca pearls.
Last visited: February 21, 2010 Area:Vancouver, BC (Shaughnessy)
1007 W King Edward Ave Range: $10 or less
1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!
Drinks: 6
Service: 3 (well it’s pay at cashier and they go as fast as they can)
Ambiance: 2
Overall: 5
Additional comments:
Located at major intersection, but neighborhood area
Famous for bubble tea
One of the most popular places for bubble tea
Attracts locals everywhere
Family owned and operated
Small operation
Stamp card available
Line-ups during peak hours (late night/after dinner)
Fresh fruit flavours
Seats 15 or so (very limited)
About 4 hot rice dishes available (with fried egg style)
Pay at cashier
Great price
Very casual/hole in the wall-ish
Some small snack available: Pocky, instant noodles
Open late
Couple parking spaces in the back
Pre-order/pick-up service available
Opens daily at 1:30pm
**Recommendation:Japanese Green Tea Ice Cream, Supreme Milk Tea, and any of their fresh fruit series – I like blueberry
Next to Pearl Castle Bubble Tea and Peanuts this is also one of the most popular places for locals to get their bubble tea. Everyone loves Dragon Ball Tea House and it has been here for ages! At least 8 years I’d say…maybe even 10? It JUST got a make-over and it used to look even more hole-in-the wall-ish. It’s has very limited seating and it’s super casual and unpretentious. I’d even call it more of a to-go place. I’ve been coming here fore years and it’s my top bubble tea choice in the Vancouver area…although Capstone Tea & Fondue is good too.
Unlike many other bubble tea places, Dragon Ball Tea House really focuses on just bubble tea. They do offer maybe 3-4 hot dishes (which I’ve never seen anyone order) but they really focus on just bubble tea. They do a great job and they have steady traffic and pretty long lines and waits during busy hours…which is usually late at night or after dinner hours.
I’ve tried a lot of flavours here, but I always go back to the recommendations above. You can get drinks sweet/half-sweet/non-sweet/hot/slush/combination of flavours/mixed fruit etc. Almost everything can be customized, but they just don’t advertise it. Everything tastes like it’s made with ice cream here. The fresh fruit flavours are like smoothies. I haven’t had one bad drink. Even the tapioca pearls are great. Besides tapioca pearls they have coconut jelly, grass jelly and I think maybe mango stars as options.
On the table:
Pudding Slush Bubble Tea 4/6
$4.00 + $.50 with tapioca pearls - $4.50
This was my first time ordering pudding slush. Again it was like ice cream, they do a good job, however the best pudding slush bubble tea is still at Tri-ty.
This was very good, but I wasn’t a fan of the pudding pieces at the bottom. That’s how it’s supposed to be served though, but I just didn’t like them that much. They’re jello like and not that flavourful for me…so I found it more distracting.
The drink part is a sweeter drink and it tastes like vanilla pudding, but in slushy form.
The pearls are great. Nice and chewy and cooked perfectly. They give you lots too!
The drinks are pretty big and filling, but they’re delicious!
Last visited: February 14, 2010 Area:Vancouver, BC (Yaletown/Downtown)
1262 Homer Street Range: $10 or less
1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!
Food: 4.5 (but I think there's better I haven't tried)
Service: n/a
Ambiance: 4
Overall: 4.5
Additional comments:
Opened December 2003
Pastry chef and owner Peter Fong
Gourmet/high-end Parisian bakery in Yaletown
Creative/exotic/posh cakes
Modern French cakes (w/twist)
Quality/seasonal ingredients
Chocolates
Menu changes, seasonal cakes
Whole cakes/mini individual serving cakes
Wedding cakes
Baked goods to go/gifts
Take-out only, very few seats if any
Croissants available Friday-Sunday
Tues-Fri. 11am-7pm
Sat. 11am-9pm
Sun. 11am-5pm
Closed Mondays
**Recommendation: Caramel-Chocolat, Chocolat-Banane(popular choice, but haven’t tried this one)
I’ve heard so many great things about Ganache Patisserie, I haven’t come across one person that doesn’t love it. Visually they are masterpieces, but taste wise…I’m not so sure. I would rather have Bakery Nouveau. I can’t say I was disappointed by Ganache Patisserie, but I also wasn’t as impressed as I thought I would be. Since it is a gourmet/high-end bakery my expectations are higher than usual…as it should be for places like these. It really reminded me of Kreation Artisan Cake – classic French cakes and pastries with a contemporary twist.
My friend brought them over and I indulged in all of them with 2 of my girlfriends. We all felt the same way about each cake…and we’re good judgment of desserts. They’re good, but not OMG sooooo good…except for the caramel-chocolat. When my friend asked the staff what she recommended she actually listed the more traditional items rather than the exotic cakes. I guess I just need to try the less original items next time because I was a little underwhelmed by the exotic ones. So I would still go back to try more but I wouldn’t crave anything because nothing was too memorable either. I do recommend it, but I've been really spoiled with great desserts...so I have had better...not necessarily in Vancouver though...so this is still good!
I didn’t have the descriptions while trying them so I was relying on my taste buds to pick out all the flavours. We each had a 1/3 of every cake so it was a decent sample and representation.
On the table:
Blanc Fraisier 4/6
Vanilla cake, vanilla sablé Breton, white chocolate black pepper mousseline, strawberries, passionfruit meringue $5.50-5.75
They say that this is everyone’s favourite and it’s one of their best sellers.
It tasted like strawberry shortcake to me. The cake layers were drier and very much like shortcake cake.
It was almost like custard or layers or pastry cream with fresh strawberries in between the shortcake layers. There wasn’t much strawberry though.
It was creamier then it was mousse like. I couldn’t taste the black pepper or any sort of spiciness. I couldn’t tell it was white chocolate either.
I also couldn’t tell it was passionfruit meringue although it was fluffy and marshmallow like. I liked the texture.
This one reminded me of an Asian cake. It was mousse like and the mousse is the light airy mousse they make at Chinese bakeries.
I definitely couldn’t taste the pineapple and didn’t know it was in there until reading the description.
It was nice and moist and the lychee really stood out. There were little pieces of lychee throughout the cake and I liked the texture eating it with the mousse.
I could taste the guava and it was a very floral and fragrant cake.
I’d order it again, but it wouldn’t be my first choice. I’d rather try something else before ordering this again.
Matcha-Exotique 3/6
Green tea mousse, mango-passionfruit gelée, lychees, black sesame biscuit joconde $5.50-5.75
I was very excited about this one! One of my girlfriends had tried it as a whole cake and apparently it’s better that way because they make it in layers instead of a bomb cake where the flavours didn’t mesh together as well.
This one is too bitter. They use so much Matcha and black sesame that it became bitter. It was definitely fresh and quality ingredients, but the flavour became overpowering rather than complementing.
The black sesame cake was a bit dry and crumbly in texture too. It made the whole cake taste a bit powdery especially with the green tea mousse which is also made with Matcha powder.
The mango passionfruit was almost like a jello but denser. It was made with frehs puree and it was very tangy and also sweet. The cake tasted much better if you ate it with the jello, but it was hard to portion because there wasn’t much of it. The mango and passion fruit helped to break up the bitterness.
There were also little bits of lychee in this one, but I lost the flavour because of the Matcha and sesame. I only knew because of the texture.
**Caramel-Chocolat 6/6
Milk chocolate caramel mousse with hazelnut croquant, raspberry gelée, 75% Tanzanie dark chocolate mousse, praline crunch, chocolate biscuit $5.50-5.75
This is another one of their popular cakes. It’s more traditional and I usually go for exotics so I wasn’t too excited about this one…little did I know it would be the best of the 4. It was all of our favourites.
It was moist, creamy, moussey, rich and perfect in texture.
There was a great combination of chocolates and levels of sweetness. The hazelnut was obvious and the raspberry was so little, but so potent.
It was chocolatey, nutty, and tangy – I would order this again for sure.
It was the sweetest of all the cakes, but since it was dark chocolate it wasn’t overly sweet. It was definitely most indulgent and I was happy to at least end off on a good note.
1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!
Drinks: 5 (haven't tried food)
Service: 2
Ambiance: 4
Overall: 4
Additional comments:
Specializes in bubble tea
Hot food available
Mainly Taiwanese food, some Cantonese
Extensive menu for food and drinks
Great for snacks/late night
Brightly lit
All ages
Open late
Great slushy drinks, but undercooked pearls
Large glasses
Self order sheet
Popular for shaved ice, variety for toppings
Cash only
Minimum $3.95 per person
$.50 for additional pearl, small pearl, coconut jelly, lemon jelly, grass jelly
Lunch/Dinner/Snacks
**Recommendation: Pudding Smoothie with Milk
Tri-Ty Café is a brightly lit bubble tea house that attracts people of all ages, similar to PearlCastle. It’s comfortable and they have a lot of options for snacks, drinks and meals. People go for lunch or dinner and everything on the menu is served all day including, fried rice, hot pot, noodles and desserts. Only their light meals are like toast, sandwiches and waffles are served at 2:30pm-5:30pm or after 8:30pm. The all day meals are $8.50-$9.50 and they look pretty good although I haven’t tried them. The Taiwanese Style Popcorn Chicken actually looked really good! A lot of people order their shaved ice as well because they have a lot of topping options and you can choose any 5 for $6.50.
I’ve ordered one thing only, but I always keep going back for this one drink! It’s also my recommendation. Overall their other drinks are pretty good too. The only problem I have is that the pearls are a bit hard because they don’t cook them long enough. As a result they’re a bit smaller than they should be and they’re not as chewy. The drink part is great though, and it’s been consistent all the times I have gone. I always get a smoothie and they do a good job here. It’s really thick and they pile them high and some of them include a scoop of ice cream!
On the table:
**Pudding Smoothie with Milk 5.5/6
$5.25 Additional $0.50 for pearls etc.
I bet all the smoothies are great here! They taste like milk shakes and it kind of is because they do use ice cream.
This one tastes like vanilla ice cream, mixed with actual vanilla pudding and some milk tea. It does have a really subtle tea taste to it. It’s pretty sweet, but not overly sweet for me. Let’s put it this way, I discovered it over a year ago and have introduced people to it and this time we went 4/7 of us ordered it!
Unlike the typical pudding drinks, there are no actual pudding pieces in this drink.
There's ice cream in the smoothie already but I love how they put another scoop on top. It's just vanilla ice cream and then the pudding flavour comes from the vanilla pudding powder.
The only thing wrong is the pearls. They’re undercooked and therefore they’re a bit hard and smaller in size. Hence my .5 deduction.
Strawberry Blueberry Slush 5/6
They use real frozen blueberries and strawberries and they don’t sweeten it too much so it’s very natural.
Again nice and thick and piled high. I’m pretty sure it’s dairy free and they sweeten it up with some simple sugar syrup. It was sweet and tart from the strawberries.
Same thing with all their drinks – undercooked pearls.
Mango Peach Smoothie 4/6
This one isn’t very sweet at all. It’s maybe because I had it after my pudding smoothie which is quite sweet.
Again it’s made with real frozen fruit. Well at least the peaches are. It’s a great balance of both fruits because I could taste both. However I think the mangos they use could be canned. They garnish it with some mango syrup on top, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it was mango syrup or canned mangos.
Again, I love the scoop of ice cream! If you order “smoothie” it will come with ice cream, but if you order “slush” it might not.
Undercooked pearls.
Lychee Calpis
I didn’t try this one, but it’s not as exciting as their slushy series. It looks cool though! The blue thing is actually just a fake ice cube with a light.
Lychee Slush 4.5/6
This was canned lychee which is expected, but it was good. It was what you expect, not too sweet or anything but just canned lychee with the syrup and some ice blended up. This one was most refreshing.
Cuisine: Brunch/Lunch/Teatime/Bakery Last visited: December 26, 09 Area: Delta, BC #112-6345 120th Street Price Range: $10-20
1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!
Food: Sweet: 4 Savoury: 1.5 Service: 2
Ambiance: 6
Overall: 3
Additional comments:
New owners, a couple new items eg: Sticky Toffee Bread Pudding
Very quaint, very cute, traditional country style tearoom
Child-like tea party feel
Atmosphere is unreal – literally, and figuratively
Offers high tea - $20/person (Reservations required)
Everything is homemade, but also pre-made and sits there until ordered
Really "just like Grandma's..." kind of place
Popular to locals, females, and seniors
Local/hidden gem (tucked away location)
Baked goods really good, savoury items - pretty bad
Baked goods are $1-2 more if you eat in
Homemade fudge
Savoury and sweet items available to go
Part restaurant, part gift shop selling stationary, aprons, tea sets etc.
Reservations recommended for high tea - gets busy
Accepts Debit/Visa/MC
**Recommendation: Scones with “the works” devonshire cream and homemade jam, Cloverleaf buns, Rhubarb upside down cake, chocolate brownies
This is almost the only place I will keep returning back too even though I’m not impressed with their food, except for the baked goods I recommend. The atmosphere is what draws me back, that, and the lack of options in the area.
I’ve been here on several occasions and it’s always the same stuff (for the last like 7 years…talk about traditional right?!) so I always try something new. The last time I came to Applewood Bakery I was really disappointed. Since then they have changed owners and not much has changed except for a couple new menu items. The new owner saw me taking pictures of the tearoom and kindly asked what they were for. I told her that it was for a blog, and to my surprise she had already read it and seen my review. I was a bit caught off guard because 1) it wasn’t a good review and 2) it was the 1st time I’ve experienced this situation – but nonetheless, with her permission, she was kind enough to continue letting me do my thing – photos and all. I appreciate that.
I’ll be totally honest and say that I’m still not impressed with their savoury foods. Pretty much every time I’ve gone the savoury food is always a miss; except for their quiche which is decent and cloverleaf rolls which are fantastic. Other than those items, they just do nothing for me. The baked goods on the other hand are usually quite solid. They’re very grandma’s homemade country-style baked goods that suit the atmosphere perfectly. However even some of the baked goods I find just good…they could easily be better.
The atmosphere is insanely cute! It’s girly, delicate and you feel like Alice in Wonderland. From the tearoom, kitchen, to the bathroom – you just can’t help but to feel like you’re in a life size playhouse. You really won’t find anything else like it.
I spoke briefly with the new owner and she told me that she will be keeping some old traditions and slowly bringing in some the ones. It’s the kind of place that has a niche market and local clientele so I can see how it would be risky to change around too much. She’s going to be improving some recipes…and thank goodness for this because their savoury foods seriously need some attention. I’ve tried all of them and they’re pretty much all bland and dry.
I really can’t justify the price I’m paying for that quality of food, because it’s surprisingly pricey here (I can easily spend $20 + tea for brunch) and the portions are quite small (although they should be for a dainty place like this). The owner could see where I and others who feel the same way are coming from, so she plans to change this too. Therefore I can’t wait to see what she has in store, I’m excited.
Quiche of the day (almost always ham and cheese), side s alad with you choice of raspberry vinaigrette or lemon poppy seed dressing, and cloverleaf roll $9.99
The quiche is a bigger than this but we shared a quiche and cup of soup so they split it for us in the back before serving it.
If I’m going to order a savoury food here it will probably be th e quiche. Nothing else impresses me, and the quiche doesn’t really either, but at least it’s good.
Cloverleaf roll 6/6
This meal starts off with their famous homemade Cloverleaf roll.
I reviewed the Cloverleaf roll last time and it’s still a 6/6.
The cloverleaf roll is 3 types of buns combined to make one bun. The bun has 3 flavours - 1/3 multigrain, 1/3 cheese, 1/3 plain. They come warm with butter. The texture is amazing. Really good bread! The texture is really soft and fluffy; my favourite side is the multigrain side.
Ham and Broccoli Quiche 3/6
I’ve already done a review on it last time, but again it’s the safest savoury item you can order. I thought it was better this time, hence the +1, but there was more ingredients last time.
The quiche isn’t a French-style quiche but more of a country-style quiche. It has chunky pieces of ham, diced broccoli (not much), bell peppers and green onions. It’s quite rustic with lots of roughly chopped ingredients and a layer of cheese on top before they bake it.
It’s pre-made and warmed up so it has that “been sitting there” look and taste. The cheese layer just lifts right up rather than melting into the quiche. The quiche part is flavourful and moist though, and the veggies are tender.
The crust is homemade crust and it’s perfect. It’s not too thick with nice crisp edges. I wonder if it’s the same crust for their pies. It wasn’t really flaky but still tender in texture and buttery in flavour.
Green Salad with Homemade dressing 4/6
The salad is romaine, a couple slices of cucumber, tomatoes, and sunflower seeds. Very simple.
They should really just buy pre-washed lettuce. W e were biting into sand and it was not the poppy seeds from the dressing. We had to spit it out…very non-lady like, but it was really gross. We let the server know, but the reply was “really?...interesting…”…and nothing else. Yes until now I am as confused as you are.
I usually go for the lemon poppy seed dressing over the raspberry vinaigrette. It’s quite sweet more than it is tart, more honey-like than lemon tasting but I like it. It could use the fresh zest of a lemon though. Too bad I couldn’t enjoy it with the salad.
Lentil Soup 1/6
Soup of the day: lentil soup Cup: $4.50 Bowl: $5.50
The soup is made in house and from scratch but it was not good at all. I almost want to give it a 0, but it’s not on my scale.
It tasted like an experimental soup and it was the most basic recipe with poor execution.
There was no flavour at all. It was so bland and even adding salt and pepper wouldn’t andwasn’t helping.
It had onions, carrots and celery, but it was all pureed in a food processor not until smooth but just little bits. It was a tomato based soup but it was very watery. All the ingredients were at the bottom and it reminded me of either baby food or senior food .
I had 2 spoons and left the rest.
**Cranberry Scone with “The Works” 6/6
Seasonal fruit and cheese scones available $2 to go $4.25 w/butter & jam $5.50 w/"the works"
They offer around 3-4 flavours that change often: raspberry, blueberry, blackberry, cheese, rhubarb pecan (rare), raisin, strawberry etc.
I’ve reviewed the Raspberry scone last time, and this time I tried the cranberry scone.
I like the raspberry scone better because I found the cranberries too tart, although I liked the option for the holiday season.
These are still the best scones I’ve had. Nice and big, thick and fluffy. They’re not flaky or crumbly, but almost cakey. They have a slightly crispy and perfectly browned outside, soft inside, buttery flavour and loaded with real fruit. It’s not really sweet either, it’s a perfect recipe.
This one has whole plump cranberries throughout and extra on top for presentation. It’s served with a light dusting of icing sugar.
It’s a pretty expensive scone and it’s definitely best enjoyed if you order it with “the works”. This will bring you to $5.50, but it’s a must if you come.
“The Works”
“The Works” just means with Devonshire cream and homemade jam. I reviewed it last time too, but I want to correct it because I think it’s actually better than I thought.
Devonshire cream: I still doubt it’s real clotted cream (heated up unpasteurized milk), but it’s still really good. I was looking for the cheese taste this time and I found it, but it was hard. It was thick, but still not as thick as the real clotted cream and it wasn’t pale yellow like the real thing is. I’m pretty sure it’s whipped cream mixed with mascarpone, but it still tastes great. It’s lightly sweetened, has a mild cheesy taste, and very slight tang. It could use more mascarpone, if that’s what they’re using.
Homemade jam: I reviewed this last time. Still great!
**Rhubarb Upside Down Cake 4.5/6
You can order this with “the works” so we did and it came to $4.95. It’s $4.25 as is and if you get a piece to go it’s $2.95. I don’t think an extra $2 is very reasonable for eating in, an extra $1 is ok.
I wouldn’t recommend “the works” totally unnecessary because it’s just whipped cream from a can. I thought it was going to be their homemade Devonshire cream so you could imagine my disappointment.
It’s a pretty big slice of cake and it’s very moist. That’s what I love about it.
The cake part is so moist and perfectly baked. It has a cinnamon flavour and it’s a simple coffee cake recipe. There are a few chunks of rhubarb throughout the cake batter which I really enjoyed. It was almost like apples, but tart and nice and stringy from the baking process.
There’s not much of a rhubarb layer though. The rhubarb is very tender and slightly tart, but also sweet. It’s a perfect balance of sweet and tart for me. I just wanted more rhubarb in the top layer.
This has nothing to do with the rating I gave, because colour doesn’t affect flavour of rhubarb…but I wish the rhubarb they used was redder in colour. It would simply look nicer.
Tea
Small pot $2.50
Large pot $4.50
They have an extensive tea list, but the teas aren’t house blends. They’re brought in from another company.
The table sugar is coloured - mix of regular sugar with some pastel pink, blue, and yellow sugar crystals. Really cute touch!
The Fudge
Complimentary sample that comes with your bill and you can buy it to go as well.
This time we got chocolate peppermint and candy cane.
I still feel like they’re too sweet, not chewy enough and too artificial tasting.
