Diplomat Bakery

Restaurant: Diplomat Bakery

Cuisine: Desserts/Bakery/Coffee

Last visited: February 23, 2010
Area: Richmond, BC

6111 London Road (Steveston)
Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4.5 (based on the 3 items I tried)

Service: 4

Ambiance: 4

Overall: 4.5

Additional comments:

• Location in the middle of nowhere (industrial)
• Near Steveston Village
• Popular to locals
• European bakery
• Popular for cakes
• Whole cakes available
• Wedding cakes available
• Very reasonably priced
• Quality ingredients
• Some savoury café foods available
• Great for quick lunch/coffee/dessert
• Spacious, clean, contemporary
• Self-serve/pay at cashier
• Seats 20
• Eat in/Take-out

**Recommendation: Napoleon, Spinach and Feta Cheese Brioche

I’ve only tried a few things here and based on those I gave it a 4.5/6. However I think it could easily movie up to a 5 if I tried more things – I still need to try more of their cakes.

It’s basically the True Confections (cake café) of Richmond. The style, look, and choices at Diplomat Bakery are similar to those offered at True Confections, but not quite as refined. I can’t say 100% because I haven’t tried enough, but True Confections I think is better. On the other hand Diplomat bakery is half the price of True Confections. All Diplomat Bakery cakes are $3.50 a slice so it’s very affordable compared to the $7-8 you would pay in downtown.

Overall I enjoyed everything I had and would go back to try more. However it is a little out of the way and not so convenient so I would really have to make it a plan to go again. I don’t think they’re an open late kind of place, but they were very busy in the late afternoon with lots of locals stopping for coffee and dessert. They also serve a small selection of savoury foods like muffins, quiche etc.

On the table:

**Napoleon 4.5/6

• $2.75
• Every bakery has their interpretation of the Napoleon.
• It was layers of flakey crisp pastry and butter cream sprinkled with icing sugar.
• It was sweet, but not overly sweet. It’s sweeter than the Saint Germain’s Napoleon though.
  

• It was very fresh and you could taste the quality of ingredients. I loved the layers of flakey pastry and the ratio of cream to pastry was great.
• However the layers of butter cream were really buttery and I could taste it – it didn’t melt as well as I would have liked. It was a denser butter cream, not the fluffy whipped kind. It was almost like pastry custard, but it tasted buttery. I prefer pastry cream or custard in Napoleons.
  

• 

White Chocolate Baileys 3.5/6

• $3.50 for a slice $40 for 9 inch cake
• This was a pretty cake. It was white chocolate cake with a layer of white chocolate Bailey’s cake and a layer of dark chocolate cake in the middle.
  

• This was a dense cake and although the middle layers look moussey, it’s not. It’s an actual cake, but it does have a slightly creamy texture…almost like cheesecake does, but it’s not cheesecake. It was thickend with butter instead of cheese but it was still a cake. I liked the texture of cake and the denser middle layers of cake though.
  

• It had white chocolate shavings all around the edges, which was a nice touch.
• It actually wasn’t that sweet and I thought it would be since it was white chocolate.
  

• I could taste the Bailey’s and it’s not overwhelming or too heavy on the liquor but carries a light coffee taste. It’s mixed into the middle white layers.
• I think they the dark chocolate layer could have overpowered the white chocolate layers a little bit. The white chocolate cake layers came off as regular white cake and it was a tad dry. Luckily it had the middle layers to keep it more moist.

**Spinach and Feta Cheese Brioche 4.5/6

• $3.25
• This was huge and a really good price.

• I enjoyed mine with a fried egg for breakfast and my friend enjoyed hers with tuna. It was very enjoyable with these extras although it tastes good on its own too.
  

• It’s not soft and fluffy, but the crumbs are tight like brioche should be. It’s egg and butter based bread, so it’s rich in texture and flavour. It’s a bit dry, drier than brioche should be though, but it was ok because the filling kept in moist.

• It’s stuffed with spinach and Feta cheese mixture and the Feta was actually quite strong and stood out. There are some ‘fillers’ in the mixture, but it just made it even better so it didn’t bother me one bit.
  

• They add some mashed potato and onions into the mixture so it’s almost creamy and hold lots of flavour. You can bite into small pieces of minced potato so the texture is great.
• I kind of wanted a bit more egg wash on the top though – I like my brioche to have that slightly sweetened and baked egg wash.

NU Restaurant + Lounge

Complimentary Mini Scone, Raspberry Jam & Hot Chocolate

Restaurant: Nu Restaurant + Lounge - Brunch review
Cuisine: West Coast/Pacfic Northwest/French
Last visited: June 6, 09
Area: Vancouver - Downtown
1661 Granville Street
Price Range: $20-30

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 5
Service: 5
Ambiance: 5
Overall: 5
Additional comments:

• Great view, contemporary and posh decor and furniture (futuristic/space-like/groovy feel)
• Relaxed atmosphere
• Creative dishes - West coast flavours, seasonal menus
• Housemade gelato & sorbets (seasonal/changing flavours)
• Complimentary mini scone with raspberry jam & hot chocolate for brunch starter
• Live Jazz music for Sunday brunch
• Free parking

**Recommendation: Dungeness crab benedict, Brioche French Toast

I've been to Nu a few times, twice for dinner and once for brunch (on my birthday). This entry will focus specifically on their brunch. I thought everything on the whole was really good. However they could have done a better balancing the sweet and savoury aspects of each dish.

On the table:

• Okanagan Apple & Pear Fritters with maple yogurt 4/6
  
• I liked this as a dessert. It had a cinnamon sugar sprinkle and a light batter which was nice, so I felt as though I was actually eating apples and pears rather than just batter. The yogurt was a nice complimen t too. Great presentation.
  
• Smoked salmon benedict 5/6
• This was really nice. The eggs were poached to a medium, if I was dining alone I would have requested it to be a bit slighter on the undercooked side. It came with a side salad.
• **Dungeness crab benedict 6/6
  
• This was one of my favourites. You get a nice amount of crab for what you pay for. A gourmet benedict
• Brie & Black Truffle Omelette 2/6
  
• Nothing too spectacular. I probably wouldn't order it again, although there was nothing wrong with it. Lacked a bit of flavour or felt like something was missing with the texture.
  
• **Brioche French toast 6/6
  
• This was another favourite! Brioche French toast served with caramelized pear wedges. A nice amount of pecans pieces - not crumbs - served on top! The maple butter and syrup was a great touch. Very rich and very moist. We enjoyed this as a dessert. Loved the texture of soft brioche with crunchy pecans. I think it would have been extra tasty is they spiced the pecans with one or two seasonings just to add another dimension in flavour.
• Tomato & red pepper frittata 2/6
• Good, but there's better on the menu. It came with a lentil and chick pea stew - tomato based stew. The stew was meh...but was a unique side to the frittata.
• Mimosa
• Standard, nice and refreshing with the fritters.
• Mint Syrup
  
• Nice complement to the fruit salad.

• Dessert:
• Chocolate souffle 4/6
  
• This isn't on the menu for the summer though. They replaced it with a flourless chocolate cake. This chocolate souffle was coked halfway so the inside was still gooey and lava like. Very rich and moist. It was served with a coconut gelato, which is a must otherwise its hard to finish it alone...it's really decadent.
• Frozen orange mousse 5/6
  
• Perfect for the summer! Nice, light and refreshing. Really unique dessert. Advice: with every bite of the frozen mousse make sure you dip it into the passion fruit coulis it comes with. That is really the part that tops off this frozen orange mousse. Really good with a Mimosa!
• Sorbets: They change all the time. Made in house too. About 7 flavours at a time. We had their red current (which was the fav), the pink grapefruit, and green apple. All were good, and REAL fruit flavoured!