I used to live in Kingston Ontario, where there was a fabulous bakery, Pan Chancho, mere minutes from my house. I got quite accustomed to fresh baked bread, pain au chocolat, and brioche almost every morning. While it may not have been good for my waistline or wallet, it was certainly a treat, and something that I expected to find a replica of in Vancouver.
While Vancouver has it’s Cobb’s & Terras, I’ve yet to discover a quaint little bakery to hole up in and drown my Atkins’ sorrows with buns and breads and brioche.
Yaletown’s Boulangerie la Parisienne, at the corner of Helmcken and Mainland, is a quasi answer. Sure their pastries are the same ones you can get at Nesters and nothing is really freshly made, but if you sort of squint your eyes and are in a really good mood, the place almost feels like an authentic bakery in Paris. I said almost …
The building is small, but in warmer weather they open the garage-like doors and let the stools spill out onto a small patio. It’s ideal for people watching, and it’s easy to sit in peace and quiet and not feel compelled to look good or make small talk with the baristas. They always seem kind of moody, which they should if this was Paris right?
Despite the fact that nothing is baked in-house, the pastries are pretty darn good and they have a big, old, espresso machine that pumps out fairly tasty java. Avoid the paninis like the plague .. they all seem kind of old and chewy. But, overall, if you are in the area and sick of Starbucks Scones, then it’s worth a try.
Address:
1076 Mainland Avenue
Vancouver, BC
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Honey, reading your reviews, while engaging, leads me to believe that you gotta get your truck on to some better eating spots. Sorry, bare with me, be I’m gonna lay some things down. Patisserie LeBeau great bakery for pastry (especially gaufrettes) 2nd and burrard next to les amis de fromage. The Romanian Baker broadway and i can’t remember, but west, like close to alma, think dense rustc hand formed loaves seriously dense. Mix bakery on 10th near blanca, i’m thinking sourdough that isn’t very sour but very good. The swedish bakery, they must have a deal with some exclusive dairy farmer, the butter is so flavourful. oh yeah and best pastry bakery equals 2 words: Thomas Haas used to run se5ses in the Hotel Georgia, he does something like 7 million in volume a year out of this tiny spot for a very good reason(north van). Sorry not to go on and on and be insulting, but think outside the foodcourt. Oh and it seems like you live in or around Yaletown, go support my boy at Chocoatl, mexican chocolate brings the realness.
Drop me a line if you want, we’ll talk food, and/or you can get mad at me for posting like this.
Thanks for the great feedback! One can only survive on so many taco bell burritos and starbucks lattes before she has to REALLY taste the city! I definitely ought to think outside the foodcourt.
Hey, I was just checking out Nesters and just saw the comments about the bakery. I went to check out the chocolate place and wow, you are right amazing amazing truffles. the bakery on mainland is not a bakery. they shouldn’t even be allowed to put Boulangerie in their name, the pastries are bland, not fresh out of the oven, the european drinks were bitter and without proper creama. however on the good side, i discovered a new place right behind the bakery with great food. At first, we thought wow, another tapas place but this place was different, excellent prices and really good food . not really a date place but a really good casual place – it’s called FUSE , it’s atcually a long name can’t remember the whole name but it’s behind the bakery in the parking lot. be warned tho’ they only had dealcoholized beer because their not licensed
dr ian super , any suggestions for amazing salmon? ive yet to be impressed in town yet.
Hey. I’d forgotten about this site. How come my comment never got posted? just curious