Breka Bakery & Café - Bute — Restaurant in Vancouver

I've been to this location twice, so this is a combined review.

The first time, I had the misfortune of having to stand just inside the doorway as there was already a long line up snaking its way to the cash register. I'd like to point out that because of this, I couldn't see what was in the display cases. People were inadvertently bumping into me trying to either get in or get out, and the line was moving slowly.

When it was my turn, I told the girl a few items that I wanted for sure and was frantically trying to absorb all the items in the display cases as I wasn't familiar with all the offerings.

Apparently she didn't want to wait, as she huffed something like "Why aren't you ordering, don't you know what you want?" and stepped away to do what I don't know.

Well, I know for sure that what I do want is good, respectful service. I was about to order a lot more items, but her tone totally put me off.

The guy manning the register let me see all the items before purchasing them, and I noticed that the boxes packed did not match up. The girl was there, so I told her politely that she had forgotten the Chocolate Walnut Babka. She glared at me like it was my fault, stomped off to get it, and made a great display of shoving all the boxes into a bag.

After such treatment, I was wary about going back a second time, but my mom had absolutely fallen in love with the Babka and had asked me to get her two loaves.

The second time I entered the place, there was no one lining up. A girl immediately greeted me with a smile and asked what I wanted. I came prepared this time, having looked up the menu online, because I didn't want to get attitude again for not having my entire order memorized.

Now that I could actually see all that was available, there were a few items that I wanted to take a closer look at, but I was hesitant as I didn't want to have this girl yell at me too.

The girl told me "Take your time, whenever you're ready." She was so friendly, that I ended up grabbing a lot more items than I had gone in for. And she had packed the order right, unlike the other girl.

I can't comment on the items as I didn't eat any of them myself, but the people who did eat it said everything was delicious. The prices were quite reasonable considering that most places have jacked up their prices due to so~called inflation.

The difference was night and day between my two visits. I didn't go into Breka to get haughty attitude from the workers. If I wanted that kind of abuse, I would have stayed the Hell home. Good service from the second girl tipped it in Breka's favor that I would go back again.

I do recommend the place, but caution you with Forrest Gump's sage advice that "Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

And truly, walking into this Breka, you...

This Breka cafe is large and sunny with lots of seating, including small tables, a communal table, and window counters, but is nonetheless always full when I pass by. Although the design is nice, the atmosphere was really hectic because of how busy they were; trying to get a seat was a free for all, the staff was yelling order numbers, and I felt rushed to order before I got to the front of the line which meant I hadn't gotten to even see everything in the display yet. I did manage to grab a seat at the communal table where I was able to enjoy my lunch. I got an egg salad sandwich, a date & walnut hamantaschen, and a cup of sencha. The challah bread that the sandwich was made with was very light and a little sweet and goes well with the egg salad. I would have liked the sandwich a little more if it had lettuce or greens instead of just the egg salad inside. I like that they pair their sandwiches and savoury pastry pockets with a pickle slice. The hamantaschen was also very good - the cookie was fresh and soft, and I loved the flavour of the date-walnut jam filling. Tea is decent too. I've tried other things from other locations, and in general, I think all of their food is tasty and great quality for the affordable prices. Some of the savoury sandwiches and pockets are a little oily/buttery, but they are very tasty. I've really enjoyed all of the cakes I've tried; the desserts are sweet but they come in reasonable portions so I don't feel like it's too much. The donuts are heavenly, super fluffy, but very sweet. The muffins are the only baked good here that I've been a little underwhelmed by - they're not bad but just average. This is not my usual Breka but I wanted to try this one to switch it up. I probably will not come back to this one because I feel like the other locations are more laid back and have nicer staff, but I am just basing this off one visit, so it's of course entirely possible I just visited at a particularly stressful time. I did feel like it was hard to relax while I was...

I love Brekka. However, our experience at the BUTE Location was horrible.

I ordered the cake and the lady was helpful enough. I asked her if she can do a dedication note, she had to ask the manager and they did a cute job.

As for my coffee order, this is where everything went downhill. I asked for a dairy-free Caramel Macchiato for my boyfriend and a Decaf Cappuccino for myself. The cashier said they don’t have dairy-free options. I was stunned, we normally order this in other branch. So I clarified, if they have any lactose-free, to which she insisted they do not have. I figured I have to say one by one just to give it a shot. I said how about Almond Milk, Oat, Soya ?!? 😳😕 To that she said they have.

I’m pretty patient and I’m an immigrant myself perhaps, she is still learning English and terminologies. However, if you are working in a cafe like Brekka considering how the traffic goes every single day, I’m betting that we aren’t the only ones who asked for dairy-free, she should have the basic knowledge of their products and the alternatives that they offer. She works in the front line, the face of Brekka that time.

So when I got the order, they made the macchiato but paired with Hot Chocolate. I checked my receipt. I was charged with 3 drinks. So I have to wait and cut in line to go to the cashier and raise my concern. That time, I asked for her manager to rectify the situation. I always tipped. That time, I wanted to take it back but let it go instead. She’s not the only one that benefits it, it’s a whole team. I work in the industry too so I can relate.

However, not most people will be understanding. So please train your staff properly. Every single one of the staff affects the entire impression of the place and the service. We took a sip, snap a photo and left. Wanted some air after that inconvenience.

To make it worse, they forgot to make my Hot Cho

EDIT : sorry for the confusion, it was at...