Old and Bold Espresso Bar

Bakery: Old and Bold Espresso Bar
Address: 435 Hwy BC-16, Burns Lake BC
Website: facebook
Style: German, European
Price: $$$$

The one benefit of going back the same way as you came is finding something you may have missed the first time around; this was the case with Old and Bold Espresso Bar, a German bakery/coffee shop/antique store that I have zero recollection driving past on the way there.

Despite not being considered an outright bakery, this cafe has quite the selection of baked goods that range from cinnamon buns to French pastries to slices of slab cakes. Everything in their display case looked pretty tasty, but one setback was definitely the price: I really could not understand why it was so expensive. $5.50 or so for a cinnamon bun when you could get a whole loaf of amazing cinnamon bread down the street for less seemed absurd to me. In all honesty, there was no justification for the "Vancouver prices" and, had it not been a German bakery with so many tasty options, I would have considered leaving.

 Instead I went with the mango quark cheesecake ($6.50). I'll confess I'm not too fond of tropical fruits and mango is not my preferred choice, but I do have a soft spot for quark cheesecake and there really is nothing more German than quark. ;) Digging in, I immediately noticed the "fridge crust" along the edges of the cheese mass - this thing had been sitting there for quite some time. Both taste and feel gave it away, which was such a shame, because besides the dough bottom being too thick (i.e. either less dough or more cheese to counteract the dough would have helped), it would have been a pretty good, European-style cheesecake. But as I always say: there's no excuse for selling stale treats. Not worth the price at all.

Rating: **