Baker and Table Cafe has been on my radar ever since it opened two years ago. I always make a mental note to try it when we are in the Fraser St. area, but the restaurants we usually go to (Deer Garden or Angel) are sooo filling that I end up forgetting about going.
It’s no secret that the boyfriend and I love Japanese food and culture. Despite going to Tokyo only 3 months ago, we miss Japan a lot and can’t wait to go back! To get our Japanese grocery fix, we go to Fujiya often.
On one of our grocery trips, I noticed Fujiya carried some mochi melonpan from Baker and Table (weekends only)! I took my chance and bought all 4 buns that they offered. My stomach was not happy with me but sometimes I want to try new things.
A melonpan is a type of Japanese bun. There isn’t any melon in it per se, the name originated from how the bun looks like a melon. Pan is the Japanese word for bread.
These are the four melonpans that we bought! The flavours that day were matcha white chocolate, black sesame, London smog chocolate, and matcha red bean.
Matcha white chocolate melonpan: The matcha flavour was pure, strong and earthy. It reminded me of matcha treats in Japan, because they do not sweeten their matcha as heavily as in North America (I’m looking at you, Starbucks).
After a few bites, we were greeted with the chewy mochi! It was delicious. Although there wasn’t much white chocolate taste, it was still a delicious bun.
Black sesame melonpan: Next up was the black sesame! The first few bites didn’t have much sesame flavour, but once we got to the center of the bun, there was a lot of black sesame paste.
As with all of them, the texture was fluffy and soft. So delicious!
Matcha red bean melonpan: Compared to the matcha white chocolate melonpan above, the red bean one was a lot neater to eat. I let him eat all of this because of my digestive issues.
This is one of the boyfriend’s favourite combinations, and he quite enjoyed it.
London smog chocolate melonpan: Last but not least! I also let the boyfriend eat all of this because of my stomach problems. I was surprised that he enjoyed this one the most, I thought surely he would have loved the red bean matcha most!
The reason why he liked this one the most was because it was the sweetest. This is probably the most ‘Western’ one of them all because of how sweet it is!
All in all, we enjoyed all the melonpan that we bought that day. I didn’t eat as much as I would have wanted due to my digestive issues, but I did enjoy the bites I had (and surely suffered after lol).
Time to go check out their actual cafe and try more things! They also offer lunch and dinner things too. Another cool thing about Baker and Table is that they are a peanut free facility, for those with peanut allergies.
Now, they just need to add some non-dairy versions so I can enjoy more of their pastries! They have a vegan waffle which I would love to try!
Although I did say above that this was their Olympic Village location, I guess I should clarify and correct myself because this Nuba location isn’t actually in Olympic Village. It is located on the outskirts of Olympic Village, a block away from Earnest and by Main Street.
Garden falafel,$9: The falafel was a blend of chickpeas, fava beans, veggies, and spices. It was quite delicious, flavourful and savoury. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve tried falafel before but I was certainly impressed with this one.
Chicken tawook with hummus, $12: Oh man, this was absolutely delicious! The chicken was incredibly juicy, fragrant and bursting with flavour. There was a nice grilled taste to it as well. Adding the vegan tzatziki sauce on the side and hummus, I would order this again in a heartbeat!
Chocolate quinoa cake with Earnest cardamom ice cream, $8: I suggested walking over to Earnest Ice Cream afterwards, but Avocado was not feeling it. But, we decided on trying the chocolate quinoa cake which came with a side of cardamom ice cream from Earnest! So, I did get my Earnest fix after all.
The stuffed mushroom with avocado paste was so good! Same with the stuffed tomato cup!
Last but not least, a close-up of the vegan desserts!
Kale caesar, large $11.25: Finally, something familiar haha! No complaints about this caesar salad. After finding out that caesar dressing is made from an anchovy (type of fish) base, I find it pretty impressive when vegan caesar salad tastes like a non-vegan one.
Spicy kimchi roll, $7: This was my favourite of the day… probably because it had seaweed and rice (albeit, brown rice which is okay as well). This is actually only ‘half raw’ because the rice is cooked. I’m not sure if it was because I wasn’t that full from the few bites of that ‘burger’ or because zoodles aren’t filling, but I really liked this. It came with kimchi, sesame sauce, avocado, cucumber (or as they say “cuke”), carrot, peppers and sprouts.
It is in a very random and unique location, away from any foodie hotspots. The Workshop is tucked inside North Vancouver, along a stretch of quiet road that is mostly outdated car repair shops. I’m not too familiar with North Van transit other than the Seabus and Phibbs Exchange, so not sure how transit-friendly this place is.
There was a small nook on the side of the cafe where you can buy healthy and vegan to-go treats.
Organic nama shoyu ramen, $12.99: I am a big fan of truffle oil so naturally, I was curious to see if this would deliver. And boyyyy, did it deliver.
Since both pictures above didn’t include their bouncy noodles, here is a picture of them! I believe you might be able to change your noodles to either rice noodles or udon if you wanted. I overheard another customer saying that.
Avocado and I wanted to sit and chat more, but the place was getting busier and a line was forming so we each just got a pastry to go.