Le Marché St. George — Restaurant in Vancouver

I've pass ed by this cozy coffee shop a number of times over the years while en route elsewhere, and have always thought "I want to try this place", so when my mum proposed grabbing coffee here before our lunch date, it was a no brainer!

The café is housed in a quaint green heritage building; think rustic-chic farmhouse, distressed wood and eclectic touches within (like the huge disco ball atop their pastry display!). There are a few seats outside the coffee shop which are perfect for a dry day, and about 3 window-front stools available. If you want to enjoy your treats there, you'll want to plan accordingly since it's a favourite amongst locals and the go-to in this residential neighbourhood.

Once you come in to Le Marché, you'll see a large chalkboard drinks menu above the cashier and a small display of their assorted pastries - multiple types of croissants (butter, ham and cheese, chocolate, almond), pain aux raisins, cinnamon buns (which seem oddly out of place, but tremendously popular), canelé, and so on. You'll also see a procured selection of local goods for sale, artisanal baking goods, cookbooks, kitchenware, coffees and syrups, teas, Jams and honeys, as well as a refrigerated and frozen section including cold beverages, soups, and pre-made meals for folks on the go. While I wasn't tempted by anything, I love looking around.

I ordered a chai tea latte with skim milk, my mum ordered a coffee, and somehow we ended up sharing a pain aux raisin (pre-gaming for lunch). We were lucky to score the window seating while we sipped and savoured. The chai latte was disappointing as about half of the small mug was foam (!!!) and the drink should have been hotter. With that said, the flavour of the little latte I had was tasty - I just wish there had been more of it. Oh well. My mum enjoyed her coffee, which was a rich medium roast.

The pastry we shared, however, was EXCELLENT! It was so buttery, rich, moist, and simultaneously fluffy with cinnamon raisin goodness. It was exceptional, and had we not already made reservations for lunch, we would have shared another of their pastries. My mum is an incredible baker, and so I've been spoiled with the best homemade treats - we were both wowed by how good this was. It was a pleasant spot to kill about a half hour, and you can tell it's well-loved by local residents who come by with their kids, strollers, pups, laptops, and seem to be on a first-name basis with the staff. It's nice to see.

Final verdict - I would recommend this spot for their baked goods and a coffee if you're in the neighbourhood. As I live out at UBC, it's out of the way for me and it wouldn't be a destination (for me), but would definitely be happy to stop here to grab a...

My wife and I came in to enjoy a couple orders of the delicious croissants and coffee. We often come to this cafe as we liked the atmosphere and food served. I honestly have never had this issue the many, many times we have visited.

It was a Wednesday afternoon and not busy at all, compared to the peak times we usually visit. My wife entered the cafe to snag a table as I briefly parked our vehicle very close by. My wife managed to get a table so I sat down while she got up to order. There was one woman in line ahead of us. As soon as the lady in front of my wife finished ordering, a staff member came up to me and rudely asked “have you ordered?” I responded and pointed to my wife who was in the middle of ordering. I was then asked abruptly to get up out of my seat to allow the woman who was ahead of us in line to sit. The staff said seating is “first come first serve”. Which made no sense as we got the table first and it is unknown if the person inline ahead of you is getting their order to go or to stay. The lady in front of us also made no effort to claim a table. It is also the customer’s job to secure their seat, in a self seating establishment, which we did.

In all my time visiting many places that sells coffee and tea, I have never heard of this rule. Like I mentioned, my wife and I visit this cafe/market many times and have never ran into this awkward scenario. To make matters worse, the person who was behind my wife in line, nearly pushed my wife over to sit on the one stool available by the coffee station. The same staff saw this and did not feel inclined the alert this customer of the new house rule.

My wife and I got our items togo as it was clear that we were not allowed/able to sit in peace and enjoy our over priced croissant and coffee. We usually love to come to this place, even at peak times. This past experience put a bad taste in both our mouths. As someone who has worked in a multitude of hospitality jobs, this was in true bad form to tell a customer to get out of their seat. Maybe staff should relax and have a cup of their own product. It should not be this high strung! Especially if you’re not gonna make a cappuccino correctly and act like we are somewhere other than a residential area in Vancouver. This isn’t the police station it’s a cafe. Many other down to earth cafe’s with wonderful service and products we will...

I like hidden spots like this - it's the lone café in an otherwise completely residential area, and it doesn't look at all like a café until you get close and see all the people sitting outside. The interior is also woody and rustic, which is matched my the locally made goodies they sell (things like artisanal chocolate, condiments, soap and lotions - the usual crafts). I was there around noon on a Tuesday and it was very busy - it might seem hidden but it's definitely not a secret. I managed to take the one table left outside, but was directly in the sun and it was HOT, so I ended up moving as soon as a shaded table opened up. They serve French baked goods, light meals, and coffee/tea. Love that they have so many tea lattes. I got a tomato confit, herbed goat cheese and arugula sandwich, a butter tart, and an iced creme brulee fog. I really liked the tart and fresh tomato confit, and the croissant was perfectly flaky. It was a little small but priced appropriately for the size. The butter tart was textbook perfect - I wouldn't say there was anything really notable about it, but they could not have done a better job with the basic butter tart. The creme brulee fog may have actually been my favourite thing I ordered - it wasn't too sweet, and the creamy, custardy flavour of the tea was subtle but really unique. I was surprised to only have spent $18 total, making this one of the cheaper sandwich + dessert + drink meals that I've gotten recently. While the portions were smaller than average, the quality was top tier, so I'd still say it's good value. I will be honest and say that with the way I've heard people talk about this place, I expected to be completely whisked away to Europe or a mythical "simpler time", and I was not - I still felt like I was in Vancouver, and that there was nowhere I could be but Vancouver. And although it's a "neighbourhood cafe" by virtue of the location, I didn't really find the atmosphere any more neighbourly than your average downtown coffee shop, not that it was hostile, but the vibe I got from the staff and the other patrons was indifferent, everybody trying to keep to themselves or their own group. Maybe my own blah mood affected my perception. All that being said, with realistic expectations, this is a cool destination, worth going out of my way for to...