Breka Bakery

Bakery: Breka Bakery 
Address: 818 Bute St, Vancouver BC
Website: http://www.breka.ca
Style: German, European 
Price: $$ 

I think it has to be a universal rule that a place open 24/7 can't possibly have good food. After all, what are the first kinds of food businesses that come to mind? Fast food. Never-quite-fresh, production-line fast food that's open in the wee hours of the morning and can say little more besides that: it's open and that's the need it fills. I would never believe anyone if they told me there was a bakery that was always open and wasn't a coffee-and-doughnut chain; for that bakery to have German and poppy seed baked goods AND be really good -- it could only be a joke. Surely, no one can possibly satisfy a poppy seed craving at 2am! And yet along comes Breka Bakery, a European bakery that is not only open, but serves a wide assortment of mostly pan-European baked goods, cake slices, German specialties like Bienenstich, strudels, and quark cheesecakes, doughnuts, and the list goes on and on. But wait (yes, this is starting to sound like a TV commercial), they also have reasonable prices! It truly is amazing.

The poppy seed square ($3.25) was a necessary purchase. There was enough poppy seeds in this thing to fail a drug test: a pure, heavy poppy seed mass with shortbread crust and lattice on top (unfortunately it got a little flattened in transit) that moist and flavourful -- much better than the previous poppy seed square bought. What a pleasant surprise! Now you know that, no matter when you arrive in town or no matter when you're hungry for something sweet, there's a great-tasting German/European treat waiting for you at any time of day or night -- wow, it's such a beautiful thing.... ;-;

Rating: ***1/2