Bjornbar Bakery

Bakery: BjornBar Bakery
Address: 102-3053 Edgemont Blvd, North Vancouver BC
Website: https://bjornbarbakery.com/
Style: European, Canadian 
Price: $$$ 

On my last trip to Vancouver, I stayed in North Vancouver, which was a first for me. Well, staying, not seeing. And what better way to mark this not that remarkable occasion than reviewing a North Vancouver bakery and making a dedicated tag? I know!

BjornBar Bakery has been intriguing me for the last three Vancouver trips I or my correspondents have been on (and the bakery itself isn't even that old), mostly due to the Scandinavian origin of the name. Perhaps I was expecting a grand spread of danishes and cinnamon buns... in this sense I was a bit disappointed to find it fell more into the French-inspired meets gourmet squares. When I arrived later in the afternoon, I could really only deduce this from the signs left on empty shelf space and the wall of meringues and savoury pastries. Even the display area dedicated to two rows of squares was more or less cleaned out besides a few that did not manage to capture my attention; the size-price ratio was not working in my favour, either. After all, for a place that uses "classy" to describe themselves on their site, I expected higher prices and certainly found them. I wasn't, however, expecting  to wait so long to be served while the employee was simply standing behind the counter, ignoring me; it was only after a man whom I took to be the owner/baker came out, apologized, and kindly took my order that I got what I wanted. It was a bit frustrating, insulting and I can't separate it from the whole BjornBar experience.

 Nevertheless, I disregarded those famous squares this time around and instead went for the strawberry and white chocolate galette ($4.25). Really, it did not resemble a galette all that much except for the concept of dough and berries in the middle; actually, it looked a lot like a spandauer, a real Danish "danish", if you will. With its flaky, flower-shaped dough with a thick berry filling in the middle and white chocolate drizzle instead of classic icing... how is this not a spandauer!? *calms down* Still, in Danish as well as French baking, the dough is king, and this dough was light and airy, perhaps a little too airy and not flaky enough, and not possessing as much buttery flavour as I would have liked.

A charming place to take someone and sit for a bit, but not my first North Vancouver pick.

Rating: **1/2