Maple Castella - Pork Floss Bread

Restaurant: Maple Castella - Pork Floss Bread
Cuisine: Bakery/Breads/Pastries/Desserts
Last visited: March 7, 2010

Area: Richmond, BC
#1068 - 8700 McKim Way (In Admiralty Cenre)
Price Range: $10 or less

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

Food: 5 (6 for hits, 2 for miss)
Service: n/a (biased b/c they know me now)

Ambiance: 2.5

Overall: 5

Additional comments:

• Taiwanese bakery in Richmond
• Specializes in Taiwanese buns/baked goods (sweet & savoury)
• All breads/buns made on site daily
• Amazing breads and buns - cookies not as great though
• Bread are more on the sweeter side
• Always busy, familiar to locals and Chinese
• Taiwanese bakery not Cantonese - so buns are different than Chinese bakeries like Maxim's
• Closed Thursday
• Smells absolutely delicious inside and outside the bakery

**Recommendation: Pumpkin Bread, Pork Floss Bread, Pork floss bun with the egg wrapped around it

Maple Castella is still one of my favourite Asian bakeries. Sure they have some items that are better than others, but the stuff that is good is really really really good! For example the famous pumpkin bread that I have recommended to everyone – so far I haven’t received any negative feedback from it.

Everything is made daily and seriously the bread (the loaves) sells out as soon as it comes out of the oven. They only make about 12 loaves of each type of bread a day. It’s small bakery with a small operation so believe me when I say PRE-ORDER. Any of their loaves, even their white bread sells out at the end of the day. The pumpkin bread is a guaranteed sell out in like 2 hours on a slow day.

This entry is on another bread that I really enjoy there. The pork floss bread!

On the table:

**Pork Floss Bread 6/6

• $4.00 for half a loaf – don't think they offer them in whole loaves.
• I love it just as much as the pumpkin bread, and it’s quite different so I can’t compare. It deserves a 6/6! It's probably more for Chinese taste buds just because of the pork floss.
  
• The base of the bread is the same as the pumpkin bread. It’s a super fluffy egg and butter based bread. It’s delicious! So soft! It’s not a crumb bread but a stretchy fluffy one.

• It’s interwoven with swirls of pork floss or dried pork fluff.
• Pork floss is pretty much shredded pork jerky. It has a cotton like texture and it’s nice and salty. The pork is marinated and dried in soy sauce so that’s why it’s salty. I love this stuff! Asian kids grow up with it.
• This bread is delicious and it’s savoury bread.

• They bake it with a sprinkle of shredded cheddar cheese on top! It’s soooo good! It gives the bread a salty crust and goes great with the salty pork floss. Even without the cheese the crust is still good! Reminds me of those cheese pretzel breads you eat/ate as kids.
• Their breads are so soft and fluffy I recommend to eat them as is. Skip the toaster…if anything you can microwave them for 10 sec. to eat warm.
• Great as a snack!
  

La Belle Patate - Review 2

Restaurant: La Belle Patate - Review 2

Cuisine: Canadian/French/Fast Food
Last visited: February 19, 2010
Area: Vancouver, BC (Downtown/West End)
1215 Davie Street
Price Range: $10 or less

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

Food: 5
Service: n/a (Met the owner, so I’m biased – but he’s really nice to everyone)

Ambiance: 4

Overall: 5

Additional comments:

• Owner Pascal Cornier from Montreal, Quebec
• Specializes in poutine
• Very authentic
• Recently opened (couple months now)
• Original location in Victoria, BC
• Offers 30 different kinds of poutine
• Offers vegetarian poutine - Traditional poutine is vegetarian
• Poutine sauce imported from Montreal
• Fresh, made upon order
• Fast food
• Take out/Dine in
• Open daily 11am-late

**Recommendation: Traditional Poutine

This is where I started my quest for Vancouver’s Best Poutine on Davie Street. Since then I have re-visited La Belle Patate on a couple occasions to try their other items. In my opinion their poutine wins the most traditional and authentic poutine.

The cheese curds are definitely what makes these poutines stand out and memorable. They're real cheese curds - that squeak becuase they're so fresh!...and they don't melt, it's the real deal. However now that I've revisited on a couple occasions, my rating goes beyond them having excellent cheese curds.

On this visit to La Belle Patate’s it was to try their other items at my own expense. I’ve tried 4 of the poutines now, but of all of them I still think the traditional poutine is best. They're all still very good, but that’s the one I still recommend. I'll still keep trying others just in case...I want to be sure.

La Belle Patate - Review 1

On the table:

Smoked Meat Poutine 3/6

• Small $7.50 Medium $8.50 Large $9.50
• I got the small size – which is enough for one – they’re quite heavy and filling.
• Besides poutine, La belle Patate focuses on their authentic Montreal smoked meat as well.
• I thought this poutine was good, but the smoked meat was a little too salty for me. The flavour was really simple, not many spices (if any) – just salty.
• The smoked meat is almost like ham rather than a brisket and it has a charred-barbeque taste rather than a smoked taste.
  

• It’s not like deli ham, but like a ham you would have on Christmas. It’s a cross between that and a brisket - but it is beef. They’re pretty lean pieces and they give you quite a bit, but I wasn’t crazy about them.
• The gravy was the smoked meat gravy, but it still reminded me of the vegetarian poutine sauce they use on the traditional poutine. I actually couldn’t tell much of a difference.
• The fries are made of red potatoes and they’re a thicker hand cut fry.
• Again the best part was easily the cheese curds, however overall I still like the traditional poutine better.
• 

Breakfast Poutine 4/6

• Egg, bacon, onion Medium $10 Large $12
• The smallest size you can get is a medium for this one – which is what I ordered. It’s huge!
• I prefer the breakfast poutine at La Brasserie hands down. This one is still very good, but after the one at La Brasserie – I don’t think any breakfast poutine can beat that one. It was so delicious!

• The egg was a scrambled egg and I wanted more of it. It was a bit dry and overcooked (front piece that looks like a wrinkled cheese curd in the photo).
  
• I know a poached egg is too ‘gourmet’ for La Belle Patate, but I wanted the egg to have a runny yolk to mix in with my gravy. I would have even liked a fried egg – which isn’t ‘gourmet’.

• I loved the onions and how they were sautéed nice and soft, and sweet. They weren’t to the point of caramelized, but almost there. I could have used more of this as well.
• The bacon pieces were those standard bacon strips that are quite fatty. I think it's about 2 strips of crumbled bacon - it's cooked on the spot upon order but they're too salty, fatty and not crispy enough. I'm not a fan of bacon in general (yes, I can almost HEAR all the jaws drop...but bacon should always be crispy I think)
  
• Overall I enjoyed this poutine, but I wanted more eggs and onions. It was also quite expensive at $10, considering La Brasserie’s gourmet breakfast poutine is only $12…and just a couple blocks down the street.

Galvaude 3/6

• Chicken and peas Small $7.80 Medium $9.90 Large $12
• They have a BBQ Galvaude version which has a meat based poutine sauce. The original galvaude is served with a vegetarian poutine sauce.
• This one had lots of peas, a decent amount of sliced grilled chicken breast and cheese curds.
• Needless to say – but the cheese curds were best as always.

• The peas are not the frozen Green Giant peas, but they're those dark green canned mushy ones. They're not as sweet or crunchy and I prefer frozen ones. But I think it might be more authentic with the canned ones.
• Authentically I’m pretty sure Galvaude Poutine is supposed to be served with shredded chicken and not grilled sliced chicken. I would have preferred shredded chicken for a poutine, but the grilled was still good.
• It’s a very basic and simple recipe.

Traditional Poutine

BONUS - Vancouver's Best Poutine on Davie

The Topic: Quest for Vancouver's BEST Poutine on Davie Street

The Contestants: La Belle Patate, La Brasserie, Fritz European Fry House

4 Poutines later, the results are in!

The poutine at La Brasserie is in a different league, so I almost feel it is unfair to put it in the same category with La Belle Patate and Fritz European Fry House. If I do put it in the competition, their breakfast poutine takes the lead hands down. For a gourmet poutine on Davie Street, La Brasserie seems untouchable (unless another restaurant wants to challenge them…?)

1^st place Most Authentic French-Canadian Poutine - La Belle Patate.

1^st place Best Tasting Poutine - La Brasserie’s Breakfast Poutine

BONUS VIDEO - Breakfast Poutine

The Best Poutine on Davie Street Part 1 of 4

The Best Poutine on Davie Street Part 2 of 4

The Best Poutine on Davie Street Part 3 of 4

BONUS VIDEO - Breakfast Poutine

Please subscribe, rate & comment at my Follow Me Foodie youtube channel. Thanks!

La Brasserie offer 2 different poutines: A truffle poutine that is offered as a hot appetizer for dinner (or as a side), and a breakfast poutine that is offered for their Saturday and Sunday brunch. I was lucky enough to try both!

The breakfast poutine will keep you full until dinner and maybe even a bit sleepy…but it’s totally worth it!

On the table:

La Brasserie Breakfast Poutine 6/6

• Poached egg, bacon, truffle oil, Hollandaise sauce, cheese curds, pork gravy $12
• I’m really mad I didn’t get a picture of this for my blog entry, I totally forgot. You can see it in my “Best Poutine on Davie” video though.
• Poutine for breakfast? Really? Yes, really…and don’t complain. But again, why would you? You won’t for this one at least.
• Oh my gosh...could I have died and went to heaven? Figuratively and literally? Yes, quite possibly. But would I have at least died happy? Yes, because this breakfast poutine is freaking tasty.
• Ok first off, put an egg on anything and I’m there. Poach it like the way their chef did it…I’m so there! It was a perfectly soft poached egg and when you poked the yolk it ran all over the fries and mixed in with the Hollandaise and gravy. I’m drooling all over again.
• This was a very well prepared poutine. Many things stood out, but the first flavour I got was surprisingly not savoury, but actually tangy! The tang was from one of the best parts of this poutine: the Hollandaise sauce. It’s made in house and from scratch. It’s buttery, creamy, thick, rich and intensely flavourful with a strong lemon taste. There’s also Worcestershire sauce to add to the tang and give it a kick, it’s one of the best Hollandaise I’ve had.
• The bacon was fresh pieces of bacon. Not those thin bacon strips, but actual pieces of bacon meat. They were lightly pan fried, and not that crispy ( I kind of wish they were though), but they almost had a dry chewy quality to them. It was salty, but not too salty. This is a Franco-German Bistro so they know their pork…thus the pork gravy is great too. The same pork gravy in the truffle poutine they serve at dinner.
• I could definitely smell the truffle oil even though they used less than they did on the truffle poutine. However the truffle oil became secondary to the Hollandaise and to everything else going on. To be honest, it didn’t even need to truffle oil because it was that well prepared.
• With everything combined it really is something can’t be missed. It's surprisingly only $12 too, totally worth it! It’s super hearty, filling, and rich, but really who cares when there’s so much to enjoy? I highly recommend this…but park further away so at least you’re walking back to your car…

Truffle Poutine 5/6

• Fries, cheese curds, pork gravy, truffle oil $9

Added note: This review is a little different because it was for my video blog. Therefore the food at La Brasserie was complimentary, (although I did offer to pay) but my opinions are still honest and as non-biased as I can be. The opinions and views expressed in "The Quest for Vancouver's Best Poutine on Davie Street" review and video are those of Follow Me Foodie/Mijune only. There is no paid advertising and as always I write for the benefit of the customers and not for the restaurants.

Maple Castella - Blueberry Bun

Restaurant: Maple Castella - Review for Blueberry Bun
Cuisine: Bakery/Breads/Pastries/Desserts
Last visited: March 7, 2010

Area: Richmond, BC
#1068 - 8700 McKim Way (In Admiralty Cenre)
Price Range: $10 or less

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

Food: 5 (6 for hits, 2 for miss)
Service: n/a (biased b/c they know me now)

Ambiance: 2.5

Overall: 5
Additional comments:

• Taiwanese bakery in Richmond
• Specializes in Taiwanese buns/baked goods (sweet & savoury)
• All breads/buns made on site daily
• Amazing breads and buns - cookies not as great though
• Bread are more on the sweeter side
• Always busy, familiar to locals and Chinese
• Taiwanese bakery not Cantonese - so buns are different than Chinese bakeries like Maxim's
• Closed Thursday
• Smells absolutely delicious inside and outside the bakery

**Recommendation: Pumpkin Bread, Pork Floss bread, Pork floss bun with the egg wrapped around it

I’ve written about Maple Castella on a few occasions and have really come to realize that when their breads are good it’s a 6/6 and when they’re not they’re really just okay.

I’m eating my way through all their items and so far, the best is still the pumpkin bread and the pork floss bread.

Everything is made daily and seriously the bread (the loaves) sells out as soon as it comes out of the oven. They only make about 12 loaves of each type of bread a day. It’s small bakery with a small operation so believe me when I say PRE-ORDER. Any of their loaves, even their white bread is sells out at the end of the day. The pumpkin bread is a guaranteed sell out in like 2 hours on a slow day.

On the table:

Blueberry Bun 2/6

• $1.10
• This looks better than it tastes.
• It’s one of their newer items so I was very excited to try it, but it didn’t impress me .

• The blueberry is like a jam with mini whole blueberries in it and it’s not very sweet. I wish there was more becuase I could really taste an blueberry flavour with so much bread. It was kind of like a Taiwanese style Danish.

• The bread part wasn’t even that good. Still quite soft and fluffy but not as much as their loaves. They can do better. It was actually a bit dry and it’s more neutral than it is sweet.

• The bubble like topping should have been more crumbly and sweeter. It’s usually more of a sweet crust made of butter and sugar that gets all crusty and crumbly when baked. This bubble crust was just bread-like.
• For me this wasn’t sweet enough to be a dessert, but more of a snack.

Polonia Sausage House - Review for Polish Poppy Seed Bread

Restaurant: Polonia Sausage House - Review for Polish Poppy Seed Bread

Cuisine: Bakery/Dessert/Cafe

Last visited: February 22, 2010
Area: Vancouver, BC (Hastings-Sunrise)

2434 Hastings Street East
Range: $10 or less

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

Polish Poppy Seed bread: 6

Service: 6

Ambiance: ? It's a grocery store/deli/bakery

Overall: n/a

Additional comments:

• Owned by Polish family
• Frequented by Polish people
• Authentic
• Homemade sausages
• Popular for sausages
• Polish grocery store/deli/bakery
• Baked goods imported fresh daily from nearby bakery
• Frozen perogies available
• Bakery (smaller selection)
• Mostly cheesecakes

**Recommendation: Polish Poppy Seed Bread

This review is only based on the Polish Poppy Seed Bread.

Another random find! I had finished eating at Le Do Vietnamese Restaurant down the street and i was craving some dessert...surprise surprise huh? =p Anyways I started walked up the street and noticed 4 bakeries just one block. I decided to pop into Polonia Sausage House....I don't even kno9w why because they don't advertised being a bakery. Luckily I walked in though because at the back of the store they sell baked goods. There's only a few of each item and the selection is limited. the baked good are actually all made fresh daily...but off site. They bring them in from an Eastern European bakery further down the street...I'm not sure which one though.

Most of the baked goods are different kinds of cheesecakes or pastries with cream. They looked ok, but I'm not a huge fan of cheesecakes so I opted for something I am a BIG fan of...the poppy seed bread! I was introduced to this from my Ukrainian friend and there's lots of interpretations of it, however this is one of the best I've ever had.

The owner was super nice and she told me they have limited selection because they throw away anything that doesn't get sold that day...and I believe her. most bakeries should operate like this I think - I hope they eat them instead of throw them away though...such a waste of good food otherwise.

I want to go back for more poppy seed bread and I also want to try their sausages...they looked good! Very authentic...everyone in there was speaking Polish - owner and customers...I was excited that I had found an authentic Polish place...even if it is a grocery store.

On the table:

**Polish Poppy Seed Bread 6/6

• Half $4.98 Whole loaf $9.98
• The owner was super nice. She charged me $4.30 for half a loaf because it was slightly smaller than half a loaf. Really cute.

• It's a pretty substantial loaf although I finished it in 2 sittings. I bought half a loaf.
  
• I loved this bread! It's half bread and half pastry so I can't really call it a dessert. Would you consider a croissant a dessert? Or a danish? It's almost like that kind of thing.
• This is baked off site at the bakery down the street. YUMMY!

• It's loaded with a poppy seed! The poppy seed is almost like a paste and there's also some candied lemon peel, raisins, and walnuts in it. I loved it! I could have used more raisins and walnuts though...there were so few that I wasn't sure if they had gotten in there by accident....but enough to know that they were intended.

• There's a very strong fresh lemon taste and scent. The candied lemon pieces were actually quite big, but very good! I thought I wouldn't like it either, but it enhanced all the flavours.

• The topping of the bread is almost like a streusel crumb topping. There’s a little bit of icing and a little bit of brown sugar crumb topping. It's delicious.
• The bread part is egg bread. It's dense and crumbly and almost like a lemon loaf cake but not as sweet and a bit drier.
• It dries out quickly if it's not wrapped up, but it's excellent when it's fresh or even slightly warmed up.
• It's not too sweet, but still dessert like. The Poppy Seed Square at Breka Bakery was much more of a dessert. I could this one at any anytime of day...it's delicious.

Vancouver's BEST Poutine on Davie Street - Conclusion

This is Vancouver's Best Poutine on Davie Street Part 4 of 4.

Follow this link to watch my final thoughts on the poutines I had on Davie Street.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_Ev9NJibIA

The Best Poutine on Davie Street Part 1 of 4

The Best Poutine on Davie Street Part 2 of 4

The Best Poutine on Davie Street Part 3 of 4

Please subscribe, rate & comment at my Follow Me Foodie youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/FollowMeFoodie Thanks!

The following is the written conclusion and summary of The Quest for Vancouver's BEST Poutine on Davie Street with material that may not be included in the videos.

The Topic: Quest for Vancouver's BEST Poutine on Davie Street

The Contestants: La Belle Patate, La Brasserie, Fritz European Fry House

4 Poutines later, the results are in!

In terms of authentic French-Canadian poutine, I’d have to give 1^st place to La Belle Patate. It’s pretty much the real deal in terms of authentic poutine. However this doesn’t necessarily mean it was the best tasting…for that ___________ takes the win! You'll see that blank filled in next week...in a bonus episode ;)

Overall the cheese curds at La Belle Patate stole the show, yet La Brasserie had the best gravy. As for the poutine at Fritz European Fry House, it was always a solid choice until I took on this challenge...I know…what a “challenge” I had right? Well to be fair, you try eating so much poutine and going to work afterward…that was a challenge! (I could have easily taken a nap…and I don’t know if I would ever wake up…)

The following is a quick recap/summary of the 3 poutines:

Poutine 1 - La Belle Patate:

This is not representable of what is actually ordered. I'm so embarrassed...I forgot to take my picture before I started eating it. I didn't follow usually routine because this was for the video blog.

La Belle Patate Traditional Poutine 6/6

• Small $5.50 Medium $7.50 Large $9.50
• Red Potatoes, hand cut, skins on, freshly fried
• The “gravy” or as they call it the “poutine sauce” is actually completely vegetarian. (A wheat based sauce)
• They do offer meat “gravy” or meat “poutine sauce” and it’s under the name of “BBQ”
• Best cheese curds - fresh, firm, squeaky, don't melt
• Authentic Montreal poutine
• Foil to-go containers
  

Poutine 2 - La Brasserie:

Truffle Poutine 5/6

• Fries, cheese curds, pork gravy, truffle oil $9
• Kennebec potatoes, hand cut, skins on
• Gourmet poutine
  
• Best pork gravy with lots of truffle oil, a bit of a kick and freshly cracked black pepper
• The cheese curds were part mozzarella cheese rather than an actual cheese curd.
• It’s savoury, very aromatic with the truffle oil
• Comfort food with a gourmet twist.

Poutine 3 - Fritz European Fry House:

Poutine 4/6

• Small: $4.50 Medium: $5 Large: $6.50 Jumbo: $7.50
• Russet Potatoes, hand cut, skins on, freshly fried
  
• Firm and a bit crispier than the other two.
  
• Layer their poutine - fries, cheese curds, gravy and repeat.
• Good ratio of ingredients.
• European Fry House - focus on dips
  
• Gravy enhanced with black pepper and some dried herbs.
  
• Mozzarella cheese curd - stringiest of all 3 places.
  
• The most ooey gooey, saucy and cheesy poutine.
• Muchies/Hangover food
• Styrofoam to-go container

Added note: This review is a little different because it was for my video blog. Therefore the food at La Belle Patate, La Brasserie, and Fritz European Fry House was complimentary, (although I did offer to pay) but my opinions are still honest and as non-biased as I can be. The opinions and views expressed in "The Quest for Vancouver's Best Poutine on Davie Street" review and video are those of Follow Me Foodie/Mijune only. There is no paid advertising and as always I write for the benefit of the customers and not for the restaurants.

Bakery Nouveau – Review 2

Restaurant: Bakery Nouveau – Review 2

Cuisine: Bakery/Desserts
Last visited: January 31, 2010
Area: Seattle, WA (West Seattle)
4737 California Ave SW
Price Range: $10-20

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

Food: 6
Service: n/a (I wasn’t actually there)

Ambiance: n/a

Overall: n/a

Additional comments:

• Pastry chef William Leaman
• Pastries baked several times daily
• Famous bakery in Seattle
• Gourmet bakery
• Traditional desserts with a gourmet/West Coast twist
• Breads/Desserts/Pastries/Chocolates/Jam/Lunch
• Award winning desserts
• Natural ingredients
• Seasonal ingredients
• Gift baskets available
• Daily/Weekly/Holiday specials
• Dine in/Take-out
• Mon-Thurs 6am-7pm
• Fri 6am-9pm
• Sat 7am-9pm
• Sun 7am-7pm

**Recommendation: Blueberry Pistachio Cake, Double Baked Almond Croissant

I am so lucky to have friends that love me! To get desserts from Bakery Nouveau twice in one month is seriously something to brag about! My friends went down to Seattle and recalled my post about Bakery Nouveau and with my “must go there” push they decided to stop there for lunch. They were happy, I was happy and I still am happy.

My 1^st review for Bakery Nouveau.

On the table:

Pumpkin Bread 4.5/6

• Super moist like a moist banana bread would be. It’s more like a cake than it is bread.
• Very buttery and a bit oily so you can see it on your hands. But it’s good!
• Very strong cinnamon taste, lots of canned pumpkin. I think there is lots of clove in there and maybe a little nutmeg too. It almost seems like all canned pumpkin in taste and texture because it’s so moist.
• It marbled with a brown sugar walnut crumb streusel. It’s almost paste like.
• It’s quite sweet, and even a bit salty. They definitely added that pinch of salt to bring out the flavours, but I could actually taste it a bit more than I wanted to.

  

Snowball Cake 5/6

• I don’t have the exact description but it had a custard bottom, cake layer, milk chocolate caramel Rum like layer, another custard layer, another cake layer and it was all covered with freshly dried coconut shavings. Probably around $5.50USD. It's quite expensive here.
• I love the coconut shavings! This cake was very custardy with a Rum taste. I think they use a very potent Vanilla Rum extract so it almost taste like there’s actually Rum in it.
• It’s creamy and very sweet, but good!
• It’s like a coconut vanilla custard trifle in taste and in texture it was like a tiramisu (without the cheese taste). It had egg nog like flavours, especially in the cust ard and there are real vanilla bean seeds in it.

  

• You can hear the moistness when you cut through it with your fork…sounds gross, but it’s really good. The cake layer is quite wet and soaked/
• The whole cake is spread with vanilla custard or a cream that’s a bit thinner than pastry cream before it’s covered with coconut.
• The chocolate layer is a bit too sweet. I think it’s a very low % of cocoa powder and it tastes like melted milk chocolate spread.
• It’s a bit too sweet and I wouldn’t want a whole piece. I needed to eat it with a glass of milk. It was still excellent though.

Twice Baked Almond Croissant 6/6

• My friend meant to order the Twice Baked Chocolate Croissant but by mistake called out Twice Baked Almond Croissant – which I tried last time.
• I actually started writing about it and how disappointed I was that there was no chocolate…until I realized…lol
• No changes, still delicious. Except I didn't like how oddly shaped it was, the one I had last time was better looking.