1003 Brunch & Dessert — Restaurant in Burnaby

We decided to check out 1003 Brunch and Dessert and ordered the pesto chicken focaccia combo (with a side salad and tater tots), the bacon croissant sandwich, and an Oreo iced latte. Unfortunately, the experience fell short of our expectations.

Starting with the pesto chicken focaccia: the bread itself was disappointing. Focaccia is typically known for its airy, slightly crisp, and flaky texture, but this version was far from it. The bottom bun was soggy, and overall, the sandwich lacked the fresh, well-textured bread that makes focaccia so enjoyable. The chicken itself was even more of a letdown—boiled chicken breast with no seasoning. It felt bland and lifeless, lacking any of the flavors you’d expect from a pesto chicken sandwich. We found ourselves reaching for the ketchup served with the tots, which speaks volumes about how little flavor the sandwich had on its own.

The salad that came with the combo was unremarkable as well. It consisted mostly of plain greens with no standout flavor or dressing that could complement the other parts of the meal.

Service was another area that needed improvement. After our food was brought out, our server didn’t check in with us, and we were left without basic essentials like salt and pepper, which could have helped improve the meal’s flavor. It was surprising that we weren’t offered any, as it seemed obvious we needed some seasoning to bring out the flavors of what we’d ordered.

The bacon croissant sandwich fared slightly better but still wasn’t impressive. The croissant was decent, though it didn’t have the flaky, buttery texture that a well-made croissant should have. While not as bland as the pesto chicken focaccia, it wasn’t memorable either.

Finally, the Oreo iced latte was another disappointment. We had hoped for a drink with a unique twist, but it turned out to be just a standard iced latte with crushed Oreos on top. It tasted like a quick gimmick rather than a thoughtfully crafted beverage. We would have preferred an option to have it as a hot drink, which could have added a nice contrast to the flavors.

Overall, this visit left us underwhelmed. Between the subpar food quality, lack of flavor, and inattentive service, we don’t see ourselves coming back to 1003 Brunch and Dessert. There’s potential here, but for the price, we expected a much...

Greeted right away and told wait was about 20 minutes which we agreed to. Only actually waited about 10. We were seated and given water and our menus. We pretty much knew what we wanted since r looked at the menu whilst we waited for seating. I got the Breakie, and wifey ordered smoked salmon Bennie. Also an Americano for myself and latte for wifey.

The food looked delicious but as I ate I found it very underwelming. The waffle was very dry and lukewarm even with the syrup on top. The tater tots seemed kinda hard not crispy and again lukewarm. Bacon was cooked well but again Lukewarm. Every think I mention seemed to be pre-made and just plated nicely. I'm but saying that is fact I'm just saying what it seemed like to me. Only thing I felt were made to order was the sunny side egg, and the sausage. Sausage was actually hot. The egg.. well I think it was made fresh but I could be wrong in that as the temp was a bit on the cooler side as well. Not to mention the fact I felt my order came pretty quickly. The fruit and avocado were nice and fresh though. Salad was very very lightly dressed. My coffee was imo good, I usually don't drink black but was able to drink this cup perfectly fine without any accompaniments.

Wife's Bennie I thought was better. Perfect poached eggs, decent amount of hollandaise though the richness of it was slightly lacking according to wifey. Ok amount of smoked salmon again the tots were a little hard rather than crispy.

Sounds like I'm being harsh but we still ate everything, not saying anything tasted bad as everything was fine. But could be better.

Would I go back for breaky/brunch? Not if the temperature of the food is what I recently got..looks pretty but was slightly lacking. I might try the high tea as the menu doesn't look too need anything heated. Just sandwiches and desserts but we shall see...

1003 Brunch & Dessert offers an adorable forest themed afternoon tea. The 3 tiered plate stands are made of wooden tree stumps instead of the traditional ceramic plates. The food was delicious. I very much appreciated that they were able to provide me with vegetarian substitutions for their meat items.

We had a wonderful assortment of goodies on our 3 tiered tree stump! Mini basque cheesecakes, custard tarts, yogurt parfaits, scones, open faced sandwiches with avocado on top, waffle sandwiches with egg and mushroom, and croissant sandwiches with potato salad were just some of the wonderful foods we enjoyed.

Each afternoon tea set is made for 2 people. It comes with a variety of savoury and sweet foods, and two drinks. The drinks don't necessarily have to be tea. You can have a glass of juice, pop, or coffee if you prefer. The cost for each set is $74.99, so that comes to about $37.50 per person. By today's standards it is definitely one of the more affordable places for afternoon tea and I really hope it will stay that way. ( I know of another place that used to be $35 per person and has recently gone up to $40 per person.)

I would personally have preferred to be given a big pot of tea, instead of just one cup. It would have been more in line with my concept of afternoon tea. Other than this though, I was very happy with this afternoon tea.

Very much enjoyed this afternoon tea and I'll have to check out their brunch sometime!

Service: Good Parking: Free Location: 6540 Burlington Ave....