I’ve been a regular at New Town Bakery & Restaurant in Chinatown for a few years now. The Chinese style bakery (also sells Dim Sum) is located in the front; The restaurant section is in the back. The interior decor is old and outdated. During the first year, I only purchased their baked goods and dim sum. My favorite is the spicy pork bun. It made mouth water just to think about.

Not until I moved into my condo a few block away did I start to go for lunches at New Town. But recently I found myself heading there mostly for dinners. New Town Bakery & Restaurant $5.50 Dinner Specials are hard to resist. Although it was not as cheap as the pre-cooked meals at Kent’s Kitchen (located a few blocks away), I could upgrade to a freshly prepared dinner at New Town for just 75 cents more.

There are 16 menu items on the Specials including a few vegetarian dishes. I have tasted six or seven different dishes so far. And I’ve got a few favourites. But for this week Cheap Appetite Mission, I decided to go with the Spicy Chicken on Rice.

All the dinner specials come with New Town soup which will change daily. The soups were made of scrapped veggies and meat, soup stock (normally made with pork bone), and sometimes beans or grains. But don’t let the low-end ingredients fool you. No one should underestimate the power of pork and veggie stock. The subtle, natural sweetness is the best part of the soup. I enjoyed it as is although some may think it’s too bland. You can always add salt and pepper to taste. If the waitress is in a good mood, she may ask if you’d like to refill your soup. But don’t count on it. She has only asked me once in the past two years.

The Spicy Chicken was made of dark meat which is my favorite part of chicken. They were tastier, juicier, and more chewy than the white counterpart. The onions, green peppers and carrots were cooked just enough to release their natural sweetness, yet still preserved the crunchy textures. The bamboo shoot added an extra layer of texture and flavor to the dish. The spicy chicken was well-seasoned with soy sauce, but not so much with the chili. It didn’t have enough kick to please my masochistic taste buds. So I had to add some chili oil to make them happy. The white long grain rice was perfectly cooked. All in all, this mission was a success.

It’s a matter of time that I’ll eventually try all 16 dishes on the New Town’s Dinner Specials. Give it a try if you happen to be in Chinatown between 5-8 pm.

New Town Bakery & Restaurant Dinner Special Spicy Chicken on rice: ©©© 3/4

New Town Bakery & Restaurant (Chinatown) is locate at 158 E Pender St., Vancouver, BC V6A (T) 604.681.1828

©2011 Tana Kosiyabong and CheapAppetite.com™. All rights reserved.

Become fans on Facebook

Follow me on Twitter

Share your favorite cheap eats

Try my Cheap Appétit recipes

I was fortunate enough to freelance with the same company in Yaletown again. It was really great working with these friendly colleagues. We all get along really well. While I was working there, I noticed many of them carrying tin foil wrapped sandwiches back into the office during lunch hours. Every time I asked they all told me about the “Schnitzel Place” down the block. But somehow I couldn’t manage to find it.

After two weeks of watching people carrying around the mysterious sandwiches, I was extremely curious to find out exactly where it was. So I asked Allen, one of my friendly coworker/supervisor, because I saw him eating one of the sandwiches the day before. He told me the place was actually called “Euro Pastry House.” Schnitzel sandwich was one of their specialties. However, he recommended me to try the Cordon Swiss Sandwich there.

With a clear direction from Allen, I walked to the Mainland Street Court (on Mainland Street between Nelson and Helmcken streets) where the Euro Pastry House is located. It was a bit tricky to find because the storefront couldn’t be seen from the footpath. As I walked inside the indoor court/mall, Euro Pastry House started to appear on my left. The décor was outdated but a friendly smile from the staff was enough to compensate for it. I wasted no time ordering the Cordon Swiss Sandwich on whole wheat bread ($8.15 plus tax). Other choices of bread include white, marble rye, rye, and sour dough. The staff asked if I want everything in it. I said yes without knowing what they were.

Shortly after, the sandwich was served on a colorful plate. As you can see from the above photos, it was a fairly large sandwich. The French-inspired dish had all the key ingredients found in the original Chicken Cordon Bleu – chicken breast, ham and swiss cheese – only that they were not rolled up together. It also came with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, pickles and banana peppers. The whole wheat bread was thick but soft. The chicken breast was bigger and thicker than the deep-fried chicken thigh I wrote about last week. It was well-marinated and tasty, but a bit dry. The ham was bigger than two (perhaps three) pieces of “Subway” ham combined. The veggies were all fresh and crunchy. The banana peppers added a little kung fu kick sandwich. This French-inspired dish has an attitude after all.

Either because I wasn’t hungry or the sandwich was very big, I could only finished half of it. So the staff tin-foil wrapped the other half which I brought back to the office and snacked a few hours later. It was still good.

This is my last post this year. After the budget calculation (see below), I still have almost 16 bucks left from the 2010 budget. I will keep you posted on what I will do with it soon. Happy Holidays to all my beloved readers. See you next year

Euro Pastry House’s Euro Cordon Swiss Sandwich : ©©©1/2

Euro Pastry House is located at 114-1058 Mainland Street (inside Mainland Street Court), Vancouver, BC (T) 604.602.0003

BUDGET BREAKDOWN:

Remaining Budget: $24.10

Budget Spent: -$8.15

Budget Available: $15.95

©2010 Tana Kosiyabong and CheapAppetite.com™. All rights reserved.

Become fans on Facebook

Follow me on Twitter

Share your favorite cheap eats

I’m not a big fan of cheesecake. But I am a big fan of the Golden Girls. So when Rue McClanahan passed away earlier this week, I just had to write a tribute for her. Blanche Devereaux is one of my favorite sitcom characters. Actually, to hell with it — I love them all; Sophia Petrillo, Dorothy Zbornak, Blanche Devereaux, and Rose Nylund.

If you are also a fan of the Golden Girls, you’d know how much they love cheesecake. And chocolate cheesecake was always their favorite. Although my budget doesn’t allow me to fly in the best chocolate cheesecake from Miami, I did my best to find one in Vancouver that would be Golden Girls-worthy.

According to the Province (a major British Columbia newspaper), cheesecake from Trees Organic Coffee is the best in Vancouver. Since I normally don’t eat cheesecake enough to know and I had no time to do extensive research, I’ll just went with their recommend.

Fortunately, a Trees Organic has recently opened in Gastown on the same block as the Steam Clock, just a few blocks from my place. But rumor has it, their cheesecakes are so pricey you almost have to sell your first born child just to buy a piece. Though it’s not exactly a Cheap Appetite, dammit, this is a special occasion. My beloved Rue McClanahan would not want me skimping out on this one. So I was going to go for it, provided I could get a piece for under $10.

Trees Organic Coffee Gastown is a small yet cozy shop. A couple of tables beside the front windows are great for people watching while enjoying your cheesecake and coffee. There is a refrigerated display case featuring varieties of cheesecakes at the counter. Since I was there for a tribute to Rue, I ordered a piece of chocolate cheesecake. But the closest they have is Chocolate Swirl cheesecake. I guessed that will do. “It’ll be $6.29,” the cashier said. Thank G_D that I had prepared myself for a very steep price; otherwise I would have had a massive heart attack right then and there, and joined Rue for some cheesecake in the afterlife.

Since the lovely tables beside the window were occupied, I went to sit at the table outside so I could enjoy the beautiful weather. Shortly after I sat back to watch the passersby, the cheesecake arrived. It was plated in a big ceramic square dish decorated with chocolate syrup and caramel streaks. A couple dollops of whip cream were on the opposite corners. To be fair, it was a big piece of cheesecake. However, considering all the fat in this indulgent dessert, no one should ever eat the whole piece alone in one sitting. But I was about to do it.

The chocolate swirl cheesecake was definitely creamy, rich and decadent. However, it was a bit too sweet for my taste. And they may have added some sour cream to the mix, as the tanginess overpowered the chocolatey flavor. What the hell? I paid six bucks for a chocolate cheesecake and I couldn’t even taste any chocolate in it. Had the world gone mad? And because it was so rich, after about half a piece, I already had enough, but anyone who reads this blog regularly knows I could never just throw $3 worth of cheesecake away. So I kept going until it all disappeared.

As I was eating the chocolate swirl cheesecake, I reminisced over all the good times I had been watching the Golden Girls. Blanche Devereaux, aka The Human Mattress (as Sophia once called her), was a sexually liberated mature woman vividly portrayed by Rue. Her line “I’m jumpier than a virgin at a prison rodeo” is a classic. But no matter how slutty she was, Blanche is always a good company to Sophia, Dorothy, Rose, and the audience. Thank You For Being a Friend, Blanche Elizabeth Devereaux (B.E.D). I’ll still be watching you on TV whenever I find you. And may you rest in peace Rue McClanahan.

Trees Organic Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake: ©©© 1/8

BUDGET BREAKDOWN:
Remaining Budget: $210.70
Budget Spent: -$5.99 ($6.29 included sales tax)
Budget Available: $204.71

Trees Organic Coffee Gastown is located at 321 Water Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada. (T) 604.633.3880

©2010 Tana Kosiyabong and CheapAppetite.com™. All rights reserved.

Become fans on Facebook

Follow me on Twitter

Share your favorite cheap eats

Try my Cheap Appétit recipes

It was a beautiful Wednesday morning so I decided to walk to work. As I passed by Bon Chaz, a new bakery/café on West Hastings Street, I could smell freshly baked buns in the air. Suddenly I felt as if the delightful aroma had transformed into a giant hand; It grabbed me by the arm and dragged me inside. Since I had no breakfast yet, I went along with it.

A friendly staff greeted me as I walked in. She also offered me a free sample. The bun was so soft and delicious I wanted to start my Cheap Appetite mission right then and there. Unfortunately, I had to go to work. So I bought a couple of buns and rushed out the door. Lacking self-control over yummy substances, I shamelessly shoved one of the buns in my mouth as I hurried to the office. “Oh my… Melted French truffle. I’ve gotta come back this weekend,” I told myself.

Saturday morning had finally come. I headed out as soon as I finished my morning routine. Bon Chaz is located next to the Academie Duello (a swordplay school), and opposite to the Church of Scientology. The bakery is also a block west of the Vancouver Herb Museum (in Marc Emery’s Cannabis Culture Headquarters) where psychoactive “herb” and hallucinogens exhibits. Boy, what an “eclectic” neighborhood I’ve lived in!

I arrived at Bon Chaz around 11 am. When I was about to order, I realized I had no money with me. “Dammit,” I swore as I hurried home for the wallet. Fifteen minutes later, I was back again. Now fully equipped with a twenty dollar bill, I ordered a freshly baked French Truffle Bon Chaz ($1.75*) and a cup of coffee ($1.95*). Bon Chaz buns come in three varieties–plain ($1.25*), French truffle, and banana walnut ($1.75*). These buns are a hybrid of Conchas (Mexican buns) and Brioche (French buns). The top crust was covered with a thin layer of crispy coffee cookie. The bun itself was soft, almost cloud like. It was warm and slightly sweet. Once bitten into the melted dark chocolate filling, I was high without any cannabis.

A moment later, the staff also brought me an empty cup and a 16 oz coffee in a French press pot. I was so in awe by what I saw I lost my words. “Is this the $1.95 coffee I ordered?” I asked the staff after I got thought straight. Sure enough it was mine. For the price, all I expected was just a cup of pre-brewed coffee. When she told me to take a seat while she made me a pot, I didn’t expect it was all mine. The organic coffee beans were freshly ground to order. The coffee tasted really good. For the first time, I could taste the subtle sweetness in natural coffee which I never had with the typical pre-brewed coffee. To savor the pure coffee flavor, I drank the first half black. Then I finished off the second half with cream and sugar.

While I was still working on the coffee, I ordered a 12-oz cup of potato, bacon and mushroom soup ($2.95*). The soup was creamy and chunky. Unfortunately it was warm, instead of hot. Although the soup was not quite in the same league as the Stock Market soup, it was way better than average. At about $2 cheaper than those of the Stock Market, they are definitely a Cheap Appetite. The bread was crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. The ground rosemary in the dough added a wonderful aroma to each and every bite.

At this point I was quite impressed with Bon Chaz and would like to know more. So I asked if I could talk to the manager. Conveniently, Michael Lui–the store owner–was there. According to him, Bon Chaz started from a booth at various Farmer’s markets and events. With great feedbacks, he decided to open up this bakery/cafe. During the introductory period, he intentionally prices his menu items very competitively. Hence the low prices of French press coffee, soup and Bon Chaz buns. Eventually, the prices will unavoidably have to go up. But they will still be competitive within the neighborhood.

Bon Chaz Bun with French Truffle Filling: ©©©©**

Bon Chaz French Press Coffee: ©©©©1/2**

Bon Chaz Potato, Bacon and Mushroom soup: ©©©1/2**

*All prices are introductory specials. All prices are subject to change without noticed. Take advantage of them while they last!

** Rating are based on the introductory prices.

BUDGET BREAKDOWN:

Remaining Budget: $296.79

Budget Spent: -$6.65 ($1.75+1.95+2.95)

Budget Available: $290.14

Bon Chaz is located at 426 W Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada. (T) 604.626.7215. Store Hours: Mon-Fri 8 am to 6:30 pm. Sat 10:30 am to 5 pm.

NOTE I: This coming Tuesday (March 9th, 2010) between 6 am to 8:30 am only, Bon Chaz is going to give away free coffee and buns to all the walk-in customers while supplies last. From 11 am to 6 pm on the same day, patrons can purchase a 12 oz cup of soup for $1.

NOTE II: On my first visit to Bon Chaz, I left the banana walnut bun in my backpack for almost two hours. Although it was still tasty, the bun was not as soft as the freshly baked French truffle bun I tasted on the way to work. Bon Chaz buns are best when fresh off the oven.

©2010 Tana Kosiyabong and CheapAppetite.com™. All rights reserved.

Become fans on Facebook

Follow me on Twitter

Share your favorite cheap eats

Try my Cheap Appétit recipes

The south side of the Robson Street between Seymour and Richards is becoming one of the most exciting culinary warzone. Many food vendors–including a falafel shop, a Vietnamese sub shop, a dessert shop, a pan Asian noodle bar and a couple Japanese restaurants–are all located within the block (not to mention a food court on the second floor of H-mart). And very soon two more fierce newcomers–Gyudon-ya and Japadog–will join this battle field. Most of these competitors are quite interesting and I’ll eventually review them. But, for now, I will start with a couple shops I called the “Dynamic Duo.”

The first half of the Duo is Viet Sub, a dingy Vietnamese sub sandwich shop in this culinary war zone. Despite the shabby look, their Vietnamese subs (Bánh mì) have won me over. Viet Sub sandwiches are not only delicious, but also very affordable. The sub prices start from $3.25. Viet Sub also offers pho and Vietnamese salad rolls. However, I have never tried them. (Well… the shop name is Viet Sub, not Viet Pho or Viet Salad Roll.)

For this week mission, I ordered the special sub–Vietnamese ham, fatty cold cut, barbecued meat and meatball ($3.75). The cook toasted the subs before served. (If you prefer traditional-style subs, ask for the untoasted.) The warm and crispy French baguette was interestingly contrast to the cold fillings. The four different types of meats made each bite unpredictable and fun. Vietnamese sour pickles–julienned daikon radish, carrots, and cucumber–are flavorful and crunchy. The seasoned soy sauce and mayo beautifully combine the Eastern and Western cuisines together. Fresh cilantro added freshness to the sandwich. The only thing was missing is the pâté. It was spread too thinly on the bread I barely tasted the flavor.

After I finished the sub, I still have a little room left for sweets. So, I walked out of Viet Sub directly into the cream puff shop next door. Beard Papa’s, the second half of the Duo, has just opened at this location a few months ago. The name may sound a bit weird to some, but probably cute to the Japanese. Beard Papa’s is a Japanese cream puff chain founded since 1999 in Osaka, Japan. According to Wikipedia, “their trademark is the choux pastry shell filled with cream custard, available in vanilla, chocolate and specialty flavors such as green tea, strawberry, pumpkin, Earl Grey tea, Èclair, and coffee.” Their cream puffs are made daily with no added preservatives.

The Beard Papa’s store is a total opposite to the Vietsub. It is clean and welcoming. The shop features three cream puff flavors daily. The store also offers cheesecake stick and fondant au chocolate. For this mission, I went for the most popular, the original cream puff ($1.75).

It didn’t take long for the staff to pump the filling into the shell. The choux pastry shell was slightly crusted on the outside but fluffy on the inside. Once I bit deeper, the vanilla custard cream started to ooze into my mouth. It was light, yet creamy and not too sweet. Since I am not a fan of overly sweet desserts, this cream puff is perfect for me.

Despite of their different looks, Viet Sub and Beard Papa’s complement each other very well. The Dynamic Duo is a good example of Cheap Appetites in Vancouver where the cost of living is among the highest in Canada. However, if you know where to go, you can have a good meal and a delicious dessert for under $6–or even $5 if you order one of the $3.25 sub like chicken, Vietnamese ham, or veggies instead of the Special Sub.

Viet Sub Special Sub Sandwich: ©©© 1/2

Beard Papa’s Original Cream Puff: ©©©©

BUDGET BREAKDOWN:
Remaining Budget: $315.61
Budget Spent: -$5.5 ($3.75+$1.75)
Budget Available: $310.11

Vietsub is located at 542 Robson St., Vancouver, BC, Canada. (T) 604.569.3340

For another opinion on Viet Sub from I’m only here for food, click here.

Beard Papa’s is located at 548 Robson St., Vancouver, BC, Canada. (T) 604.568.0058

For other Beard Papa’s locations in the Greater Vancouver, click here.

Note: I’ve written about my Japan trip for a couple weeks now. Although I have yet to write about my Cheap Appetite missions in Thailand, it’s time I switch gear to Vancouver for a couple weeks. After all there are so many people including vitsitors here in town for the Olympics. I think it would be more useful to the majority of the readers this way. But no worries, I will write my Cheap Appetite missions in Thailand soon. Please stay Tune!

©2010 Tana Kosiyabong and CheapAppetite.com™. All rights reserved.

Become fans on Facebook

Follow me on Twitter

Share your favorite cheap eats

Try my Cheap Appétit recipes

When I was young, authentic Western food in Thailand was hard to find. Nonetheless, some Chinese and Thai restaurants had concocted their own version of Western dishes. Most cooks/chefs had little or no training in European cuisine. They were forced to cook with locally available ingredients. Few people had ever heard of either extra virgin olive oil from Tuscany or premium goat cheese from Provence.

The Western-inspired dishes I grew up with were simple and unpretentious. Chefs had adjusted the flavor profiles to please their local customers the same way Asian food was adapted to suit Canadian and American alike.

Gold Stones Bakery & Restaurant is one of the Chinese restaurants in Vancouver that serve Western-inspired food. Up until recently, I had only purchased baked goods from their bakery section. Last weekend was the first time I decided to dine there. Once seated, I was pleasantly surprised to see their extensive menu underneath the glass tabletop. The main menu had almost two hundred Chinese and Western dishes to choose from. I couldn’t help but stared at those selections with my eyes wide open. Well… as wide as my squinty little Asian eyes could.

Aside from the main menu, there are also breakfast, lunch special, afternoon snack, dinner special, kid meal and monthly special menus. After long contemplation, I opted for the baked ox tongue with spaghetti listed on the monthly special menu ($6.50). All monthly special items came with a choice of free coffee or tea. I chose Hong Kong style coffee (also listed on the main menu for $2).

If you have $15 to burn, I would suggest Gold Stone’s dinner special. You can choose one of the western inspired main courses including filet mignon, sirloin steak, lamb chop and a few others. The dinner specials also come with dinner roll, soup of the day, dessert of the day, your choice of hot coffee or tea, and your choice of steam rice, spaghetti or French fries. What a deal! Be warned that these are Western-inspired dishes. They do not taste exactly like the authentic siblings.

My Hong Kong style coffee had arrived first. It was strong and creamy with no sugar added. A while later, the baked ox tongue was served in a small stainless steel oval tray. The portion was enough for one person. The baked cheese and béchamel sauce on the top looked very appetizing. Once dug in, the ox tongue was soft and almost melted in my mouth. The spaghetti was perfectly season with salt, oil and white pepper. My taste buds started to dance with joy.

Although I had never had this particular dish as I grew up, its familiar flavor profile brought back my beautiful childhood memories. I felt like I took a ride on Doraemon’s time machine back to when I was young. My family had gathered around a restaurant table as we enjoyed a similar dish. I don’t know about others, but I no longer need to spend a lot for a wonderful dining experience that’s near and dear to my heart.

Gold Stone Baked Ox Tongue with Spaghetti Special: ©©©© 1/4
Gold Stone Hong Kong Style Coffee: ©©© 3/4

NOTE: Baked ox tongue with spaghetti is a monthly special item. The offer is good while it last. It is also listed on the main menu as E6: Baked cheese and ox tongue with spaghetti ($9.50). The portion size is big enough for two.

Gold Stone Bakery & Restaurant is located at 139 Keefer Street, Suite 110, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6A 1X3 (T) 604.688.9328

©2009 Tana Kosiyabong and CheapAppetite.com™. All rights reserved.

Become fans on Facebook

Follow me on Twitter

Share your favorite cheap eats

At first, I hadn’t planned on writing this week Cheap Appetite mission as another comparison review. It was supposed to be a review of Cambie Bakery & Café cinnamon rolls and their turkey club sandwich. But the idea came to me earlier today when I was on the way to get a day-old cinnamon roll and a cup coffee from Cambie Bakery & Café. Yes, you read me right. My name is Tana. I’m a day-old cinnamon roll junkie. And I’m very proud of it.

Cambie Bakery & Café is located in a historic Gastown building as part of the Cambie Hostel, and the more famous Cambie Pub. My most favorite space of the three is the bakery and café. If you sit on one of the high bar window seats, you can enjoy a good view of the Victory Square while drinking coffee, given that there’s no stupid truck blocking your view.

Since it caters to the hostel customers, the food prices are pretty reasonable. Their fresh cinnamon buns, however, are priced at $2.40, a bit steep for my cheap appetite. But they are worth every penny. The day-old cinnamon rolls are priced at 85 cents. It’s one of the best bargains in town. And if you’re a student, you’ll get another 10% off on most purchases with your valid ID.

Cambie Bakery & Cafe offers two kinds of cinnamon rolls — apple cranberry (top photo on the right), and walnuts (above photo). I personally prefer the sweet and tart flavors of the apple cranberry. The cinnamon plays a small supporting role, which I really like. Call me crazy, but I’m not a big fan of overly sweet and overly spiced desserts. I don’t understand the need to add cinnamon in desserts like there’s no tomorrow. And, if the café gets rid of the solid icing chunks on their cinnamon rolls, I would give them the full five cheapos. But, perhaps, I’ll be the only one who buys them.

The day-old cinnamon rolls are slightly drier and harder than the fresh ones, but just as tasty. I put mine in a covered container and pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds. Voila, a fresh baked cinnamon roll all over again. Just remember to eat it while it’s still hot, unless you prefer to chip a tooth on a cinnamon rock. The freshly microwaved, day-old cinnamon roll smells very much like butterscotch.

Cambie Bakery & Café serves fresh brewed coffee from the Level Ground Trading, a direct fair trade coffee company in Victoria, BC. I served myself a small cup of Peruvian medium roasted Café Pangoa ($1.55). The taste was decent but the story behind the coffee is really inspiring.

On the other hand, there’s no need to introduce McDonald’s. It would be like introducing fish to water. But we definitely need to talk about their cinnamon melts. Once my coworkers knew that I was going to write about cinnamon rolls this week, McDonald’s Cinnamon Melts came up. I didn’t think much of it at the moment, but somehow it stuck in my head. So, when the idea came to me later, I went for it. I was going to McDonald’s anyway to use my buy-one-get-one-free breakfast coupon.

Once I was there, a panhandler approached me and asked if I would buy him breakfast. “C’mon, man. Do you want me to cry right here?” he bluffed. I burst out laughing. “OK fine, I’ll buy you a McMuffin. Would you like egg, sausage or bacon?” I asked. “Bacon,” he replied with a gleam of happiness glistening in his eyes.

When I handed him the Bacon McMuffin a few minutes later, he gratefully shook my hand and walked away. Perhaps he should thank McDonald’s instead; after all I got that McMuffin for free. But, somehow, this makes me feel really good inside. I wouldn’t have thought that a panhandler could make my day.

Of course, I didn’t forget to order the cinnamon melts ($1.99). They looked really good at first glance. In fact, they looked yummier than the Cambie one. The icing had melted all over. Thanks to their clever design, I easily pulled the buns apart into bite-size pieces. The taste was, however, so typical mainstream American desserts. They were overly sweet and overly cinnamoned. To be fair, McDonald’s caters to mainstream American and Canadian alike. So, they hit the nail on the head with their Cinnamon Melts. But for me, I didn’t like them much.

The size of the Cinnamon Melts was only about 3/4 of the Cambie ones. After solving several long, arduous mathematic equations, the result becomes clear. It would cost $2.50 for cinnamon melts the same size as the Cambie ones. That’s may be only 10 cents more than the Cambie’s fresh rolls, but $1.65 more than the day-old ones.

When it comes to cinnamon buns, size does matter to a certain extent. But taste is much more important. That’s why I prefer Cambie Bakery & Café fresh cinnamon rolls to McDonald’s Cinnamon Melts. And if it’s a lot cheaper, then it’s a keeper. The day-old wins.

CAMBIE BAKERY & CAFE FRESH CINNAMON ROLLS: ©©©© 1/4
CAMBIE BAKERY & CAFE DAY-OLD CINNAMON ROLLS: ©©©© 1/2
CAMBIE BAKERY & CAFE MEDIUM ROASTED COFFEE: ©©©

McDONALD’S CINNAMON MELTS: ©©©

NOTE 1: I didn’t order McDonald’s coffee to compare with coffee from Cambie Bakery & Café. Just the sugar overload from the two cinnamon buns and a shot of caffeine were enough to make me jittery for the rest of the day. One more caffeine shot, I would have run around my living room all day.

NOTE 2: Since I had previously tasted the turkey club sandwich at Cambie Bakery & Café for this review, I might as well give you a quick review. For $4.75, you can get a huge turkey club sandwich here. And they come with a few oversized slabs of real roasted turkey meat, lettuce and tomatoes. It would easily cost twice as much in upscale chain restaurants. The taste was decent although the whole wheat bread was a bit hard and dry. All other sandwiches are also priced at $4.75. There are several other menu items under $5 including beef, chicken or turkey pot pies, large chili or soup, and selected salads.

CAMBIE BAKERY & CAFE TURKEY CLUB SANDWICH: ©©© ¼

CAMBIE BAKERY & CAFE SPECIAL FEATURES (free of charge):

- Twisted Poets Literary Salon, every first Thursday of the month, 7-9 pm

- Meet the Clowns, every second Friday of the month, 7-9 pm

Cambie Bakery & Café is located at 312 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC, Canada. (T) 604.688.9925

Regular Hours: Weekdays 7 am-6 pm (breakfast to 11 am), Weekends 8am-6pm (breakfast to 3 pm)

©2009 Tana Kosiyabong and CheapAppetite.com™. All rights reserved.

Become fans on Facebook

Follow me on Twitter

Share your favorite cheap eats