DessertBoulangerie Cho Pain
!Cho Pain appears to be closed. Apparently temporarily, but we can't find any indications of when they will re-open.
Boulangerie Cho Pain is a small, French bakery on Vancouver’s West End specializing in various sweet delights: artisan breads, pastries, cakes, casse-croute and snacks. They seem to be a local favourite — the front counter staff appearing to know many of the regulars and their usual orders.
(Above: Boulangeri Cho Pain has a pretty nice selection of fresh baked breads.)
We were here for the desserts, but I couldn’t help eye balling every baked item in sight. I wanted to try them all. We settled on: Gateau Basque, Sachertort, Napoleon Josephine and a Lemon Tart.
(Clockwise: 1. Selection of head-sized cookies. 2. Gateau Basque. 3. Croissants.)
The Sachertorte was dense and rich, layered with a raspberry filling. It was just sweet enough to balance bitterness of the dark chocolate.
The Napoleon Josephine had rich, buttery whipped cream sandwiched between thick pieces of puff pastry with chunks of pistachio scattered. The cream was nice and light, but the puff pastry was more dense than flaky.
By far, our favorite was the lemon tart. The lemon meringue filling was feathery light and caramelized to perfection. A nice surprise were the pieces of rhubarb mixed within lemon filling. The added sourness was a nice counter to the sweetness of the meringue.
As for the Gateau Basque, we didn’t get to eat it. We put the almond cake in the fridge and it turned rock solid. Perhaps next time.
(Above: a Trio of Gateau Basque, Napoleon Josephine, and Sachertorte.)
Our bill including taxes came to just under $18. The prices at Boulangerie Cho Pain are pretty reasonable and they have a wonderful selection of freshly baked pastries and cakes.
Perfect for: satiating your sweet tooth.
The Details
1165 Davie Street, Vancouver
604.669.4271
boulangerie-chopain.com
— ♠ —