Hazukido Cafe Plus — Restaurant in Richmond

March 26, 2025, between 4:00 PM and 4:30 PM, I took my friend and my kids to a shop to try their croissants. I had visited before when they had just opened, and I remembered their croissants being good but not the best compared to other croissant shop in Vancouver. However, after yesterday’s experience, I would never recommend this place to friends or family again.

My kids ordered a Citrus Croissant, a Strawberry Custard Croissant, and an Earl Grey Croissant. When one of my kids started eating the Earl Grey Croissant, she immediately said it tasted weird and unpleasant. Curious, I took a bite myself and was shocked—the filling had a gritty, sand-like texture that was completely unappetizing.

I approached an employee and politely asked about the strange texture. Their response surprised me. She told me that the grittiness was normal because they used fresh tea leaves. As someone who has visited numerous croissant shops in Vancouver and Paris—and as a pastry cook myself—I can confidently say that croissant fillings should never be gritty. Their response made it clear that they were unwilling to listen to customer feedback.

At this point, I thought it was just the Earl Grey Croissant that had an issue. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

My youngest daughter then tried the Strawberry Custard Croissant and found that the custard also had a gritty texture and tasted off. When I tried it, my immediate thought was that the shop was cutting corners by using custard powder instead of making fresh custard with egg yolks, milk, vanilla, and butter. A properly made custard should be smooth, creamy, and light—not sandy.

I went back to the employee and politely mentioned that something didn’t taste right. Instead of listening, she got visibly annoyed and kept interrupting me before I could even finish explaining. She spoke loudly and defensively, insisting that this was "normal." I reiterated that I was just trying to give feedback, but she dismissed me and, in an unpleasant tone, said, "Okay, I’ll just refund you."

This was the worst customer experience I have ever had at a café.

In total, I spent about $40+ at this shop, including not just the croissants but also a Mango Sparkling Refresher with Kiwi Popping Boba and a Passionfruit Sparkling Refresher with Kiwi Popping Boba. Sadly, both drinks were also...

I reserved a table for two in advance to try the afternoon tea set back in May and when I was walking to the hostess stand I was immediately told by the server to wait a moment and then he ran off for a couple minutes.

When he returned he asked if we were walking-in and when I informed him we had a reservation and the server seemed visibly shocked, scrambled for a moment and then led us to our table.

We wait to order for around 10 minutes and then our server returns and we place an order for the afternoon tea set. We were informed that there was a selection of drinks that were included with the set that we could pick from and we had also inquired if we qualified for the free croffle promotion.

The server confirmed that we qualified and also double checked all the items we ordered and then left. After we had been seated and placed our orders, 10 more minutes pass and a different server comes by and fills our empty glasses with water for the first time since we've been seated.

30 minutes pass as we watch the 4 servers on the restaurant floor side of Hazukido Cafe, seated with about 30 people. Our drinks haven't shown up in this entire time period, and then finally our afternoon tea set arrives. We ask the server bringing our food if she can check on the status of our drinks and croffle. The array of pastries, karaage and fries are pretty tasty however not particularly memorable. By the time we are done eating, our water glasses haven't been refilled even once, our drinks are still nowhere in sight and we didn't receive the croffle. At this point we flag down another server and ask her if she can also check on the status of the rest of our order. The drinks eventually come out and we ask to have the drinks taken to go and give up on the croffle. Our original server then returns with the bill while we are waiting for the drinks to be poured into to-go cups. We paid and left as soon as we received our long awaited drinks, not wanting to spend another minute inside.

From this experience I feel that Hazukido wasn't ready to step up to the challenge of juggling a restaurant-style space alongside their walk-in bakery model and the quality of food was not particularly impressive to a degree where I could overlook the substandard quality of service and $50/person bill...

What’s clear when you step in is that the owner clearly loves their dog. Pictures and paintings of their dog cover the main wall, and it is an adorable display of a personal sentiment which gives the store interior a humanistic (and doggy) flair.

Anyways, I visited here twice to have breakfast and both were pleasant times. I had their Benedict and Avo sandwich, paired with truffle fries. Throw in a coffee, and it cost me in the mid $20~ range.

The food was actually great. My sandwich was neatly presented, and despite its simple ingredients, the preparation gave my meal a satisfying depth with its flavour and texturing. Same with the truffle fries, which arrived at my table neat, at the perfect crunch. They were perfectly flavourful in without needing to be lathered excess oil, like in many others places I order them. Excellent!

The only aspect of the food which raises a brow slightly is the proportion. On one hand, as a fancier cafe, the amount of food for the price seems to be spot on, in the sense that I was well satisfied with my meal upon the last bite. I was neither uncomfortably stuffed, nor feeling greedy for more. In short, you will feel complete by the end of it. At the same time, with the economy as it is, a mid $20~ price tag for a sandwich feels like it should get you more somehow? It kind of feels like watching an amazing movie with a vague ending. It’s worth the price of the ticket, but the impact is subdued. I will repeat, however, that the food is absolutely worth the try!

The service was great, mostly because of one girl. I last ate at this cafe a month ago, and I never got her name, but she’s shorter (sorry), and wears glasses… she’s Asian too if that clarifies anything in Aberdeen. Anyways: she’s a prize of a worker. She was always friendly, spirited, attentive, social, and well coordinated with her tables and her communication with the rest of her team. The rest of the workers that helped me were good too. But compared to the main server girl who helped me, everyone else felt vanilla.

All in all, this cafe is enjoyable and worth the try. It has a vibrant presence in Aberdeen Mall, with very few other cafes able to match its quality and style. I will definitely be back during a cozy morning meet-up...