Hiel Cafe — Restaurant in Burnaby

Hiel Cafe is located at the busy intersection of 6th Street and Tenth Avenue on the Burnaby/New Westminster border. Due to the traffic, and despite the parking lot, it can be difficult to find parking since street parking is restricted and the parking lot always seems full from the rest of the business complex that it’s located in.

On my first visit, I decided to try their Egg Avo Croissant ($8.25) as well as a London Fog. Their presentation is on point with a beautifully plated croissant filled to the brim with thinly sliced avocado, egg salad, and cheese. The London Fog was deliciously creamy… I don’t normally order this drink but I think I’m converted.

On a return visit, I ordered the Tuna Poke ($12) along with a Matcha Latte. As with my first visit, plating was pleasing to the eye and the environment was inviting.

The poke is not pre-marinated and comes with soy and wasabi on the side. Still, it was an enjoyable lunch with plenty of cubed pieces of tuna sashimi along with an assortment of tomato, corn, peas, pickled radish, seaweed, avocado, carrots, lettuce, cucumbers, shredded nori, and pickled radish on top of the rice.

The following week, I came back to grab a quick sandwich and wound up ordering the Croissant Panini ($9) with ham, egg, lettuce, tomato, and sprouts as well as a Matcha Latte (bit disappointed that there was no latte art this time around). While the croissant has serious cross-hatched grill marks on the top, I found the ham on the inside was still cold. The croissant was still flaky but I think I preferred their non-grilled croissant better so I’ll have to remember that for next time I visit.

I returned on Hallowe’en for some eats and decided to try their Soufflé Pancakes served with strawberries, grapes, and whipped cream and paired it with a Hot Chocolate (complete with a Hallowe’en-inspired art on the top). It takes about 15 minutes for them to make this dish so be prepared for a bit of a wait. Ohhh… these pancakes were so soft, puffy and jiggly!

When the rainy weather finally arrived in late November, I came back for their London Fog and a Tuna Sandwich served on whole wheat with lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, and cheddar cheese. This time around, however, I decided to try their adjacent room which has a long, wooden communal table. This would make a great place to meet up with friends or to get a bit more privacy from the rest of the cafe.

Dropped by during Christmas Eve to grab a quick lunch… Prawn and Salmon Sandwich ($11.25) with a London Fog ($5). The plump shrimp and smoked salmon was accompanied with lettuce, sprouts, and cheese on multigrain bread and turned out quite nice.

One of my favourite cafes...

I loved everything here! The mood was so nice: the general noise level was low with relaxing music, and the cafe space is open and just effortlessly pretty (and it’s on the corner so there are two walls of windows, yay for natural light). The seating inside looked pretty comfortable, but I chose to sit at one of their two outdoor tables. Although their patio space is elevated away from the sidewalk so you have space, and their chairs are also comfortable, the ambiance just isn’t as pleasing as it is inside because the block isn’t the most scenic and it’s missing the music, but I’ll always choose outdoor seating and still enjoyed it out there! The people were so nice. I took a while to decide what I wanted and had a few questions about the drinks, and the barista was very sweet and patient. When I went back inside to bring my plates in before leaving, both of the baristas thanked me enthusiastically. They bring the food and drink to your table, and mine came out pretty quickly. I got the Veggies and Brie Panini, a slice of Red Velvet Cake, and an Einspänner. I’m usually more inclined towards tea and with so many tea drinks, it was a tough choice, but the Einspänner called to me and it was very nice! The sweet cream layer was very rich but the drink as a whole wasn’t too heavy and the sweetness to the cream was just a light touch to smooth everything out. Kind of a unique drink and I’d highly recommend it! The panini was also very good and a little bit different from the veggie paninis I usually get because it had fresh veggies instead of roasted, but I thought the crunch and brightness was nice. I really liked the herbiness of the sandwich. Also the dressing they used on the side salad was so good, it was kind of similar to the ginger dressing you get on the side salads you get at lots of Japanese restaurants, but more complex. The cake was a delicious way to end the meal! The cake was super fluffy and the cream cheese frosting wasn’t too sweet. Everything was very nicely presented but I thought the cake was especially pretty. The prices are reasonable for the portion sizes (which are neither particularly big or small) and the...

I came here twice already! The first time my husband and I ordered a matcha latte (remember to ask them NOT to put sugar....it was quite sweet in terms of matcha latte!), soufflé pancakes abs croissant French toast. The soufflé pancakes were amazing!!! Two pancakes were in a dish. Very fluffy and soft and tasty!! The cafe also gave a lot of fruits. Indeed two people could share the soufflé pancakes but we also ordered the croissant French toast. We were quite stuffed by the time we finished both dishes. 😆 the croissant French toast was great as well!! We rarely saw cafes or restaurants would make croissants as French toast. It meant they soaked the croissants into egg mixtures abs pan fried them like the regular French toast.

We ordered regular breakfasts - croissant sandwich (with ham and egg) and brunch waffles (egg, smokey and cheesy sausage, salad with avocado, tomatoes and cucumbers, and waffles with maple syrup). The quality of all these food was okay but we could have these better somewhere else (at other western restaurants).

Overall, everything is good. But I highly recommend trying their soufflé pancakes. That’s their signature dish here!!

They have a small parking lot right next to the building. Free for half an hour. If you do dine in, you can park on the streets. Lots of free street parking in the neighbourhood.

Customer service was good. Pricing was reasonable. I would definitely want to come back for the...