Willow Cafe Bakery

Bakery: Willow Cafe Bakery
Address: 797 W 16th Ave, Vancouver BC
Website: https://willow-cafe-bakery.business.site/
Style: Canadian 
Price: $$$

I always ask myself the question: should a cafe baking their own pastries, pretty much exclusively for the purpose of having it with a drink on site, be considered a bakery? Of course it is commendable that a cafe bakes their own goodies - at the same time that's simply how it should be - but... sometimes you want a real bakery treat and not a coffee accompaniment like a cookie or scone! To be fair, Willow Cafe Bakery is a little of both; their baked goods are without a doubt of the accompaniment kind, though they have (rather "had"... they must have been cleaned out during some sort of morning rush) slightly more than the average cafe: croissants, a few squares, biscotti, small tarts along with larger, take-home items like homemade pie and bagged cookies. They even sell bread, though it almost seems out of place on a side shelf of a cafe. I only really wished they had more "fresh baked daily" selection.

Thinking it was one of the latter, I grabbed their almond twist ($3.29; also available in cinnamon). I personally would have preferred the cinnamon, but even there and then it looked more brittle than the almond. Outwardly, it looked like a nice flaky, slightly chewy pastry; actually it looked pretty good! I was, however, disappointed at how hard it is. This was a cookie, not a pastry. The icing chipped off upon contact and the still somewhat chewy almond filling completely crumbled once you bit into it. I did like the taste; still, I don't know if it was over-baked or supposed to be like this, but either way it would have been much better if it had been fresher.

Rating: **1/2