Sherman's Food Adventures: Thomas Haas

Thomas Haas

Inspired by Kim's post and the fact that I would be in North Van already, my son and I paid a visit to Thomas Haas. Back in my Charlie's Chocolate Factory post, I mentioned that he would not appreciate the quality and intricate flavours of Thomas Haas. After all, anything that is sweet is usually fine by him. I could probably give him a cube of sugar and he'd be giddy for the rest of the day. So off to Thomas Haas we go to see if it is as good as everyone says it is (including my picky sidekick). Actually, I had already had a taste of Thomas Haas on my visit to Vij's. Although it didn't blow me away, the chocolates were indeed smooth, delicately crafted and not super sweet.

We headed over on Saturday morning and as expected, it was an absolute zoo. For the amount of seating space provided, it's best to just get it to go. The fact it was raining as well didn't help the matter, it rendered the seats outside unusable. Since I've already tried the chocolates, I decided to sample their pastries and a sandwich this time around. I got my son a piece of Manjari Chocolate Cake and a Prosciutto Panini for myself. With Prosciutto, butter, asiago cheese, roasted red pepper, watercress, and mayonnaise on organic casalingo ciabatta, the panini was delicious. A little heavy handed on the prosciutto, it was a bit salty; but I'm not going to say no to more meat! My son took a few bites of the chocolate cake and decided that it wasn't for him. I don't blame him, there's rum in it! Well, I really guess he doesn't appreciate the more gourmet chocolate selections they have here.

I also got a Double Baked Almond Croissant, Lemon Tart, Almond Marscapone Cake, Fruit Danish and Macaroons to go. For my beverage, I went for a Mocha. Viv and I absolutely loved the almond croissant. The outside of was sweet and crunchy, while the inside was more buttery sweetness. This was an extremely sinful treat. The lemon tart was fantastic. The filling was very well... tart. Thin, only slightly sweet and very buttery, the crust was a perfect accompaniment to the tart filling. The macaroons were alright, a little too sweet for our liking. Just a bit sweet while still exhibiting the flavour of coffee, I did enjoy my mocha, in between my son's complaining about the cake. I gotta say, most of the items I tried at Thomas Haas were pretty darn good. I will be back.

The Good:
- Carefully crafted pastries, cakes and paninis
- It wasn't really too expensive
- Great service

The Bad:
- Nowhere really to sit
- Crazy busy all the time

Thomas Haas Fine Chocolates & Patisserie on Urbanspoon

9 comments:

holly said...

I find that it is quite a trip to make to the original N. Van location (more troublesome than going to Richmond), but now that they've opened a sister store in Kits, I might be able to swing by more often.

They do make good chocolates (the Earl Grey is my favourite) and their pastries are scrumptious, if not deadly on the waist.

I think we all deserve a decadent treat now and then don't you?

KimHo said...

Wait, won't the alcohol counter the effect of the sugar overload?

I will disagree with the cost factor. Some pastries are well priced (almond croissant); some others not necessarily so (tart, et al). However, given their size and quality, I think guess you have to fork the $$$... :)

Thanks for the shout-out!

Sherman Chan said...

Holly... More troublesome than Richmond??? LOL... Yes, we should eat it once a month.

Yes, not everything is moderately priced; but as you said about the size and quantity, I think it's still good value.

Anonymous said...

You just stoked up some major cravings. THaas and Ganache are my 2 favourtie places and haven't done a major dessert run in a while and no, DQ and Anna's bday cakes don't count!!!

Our last dessert run was after Wah Wing. The ritual is to go to Casa del Pane at Newport Village for desserts after lunch. Naturally, we do the Chinese 6 but always end up with more, much much more as we're not in that area much. Of course, you can't really compare it to TH or Ganache but it's pretty darn good.

I also think it's extremely good value for what you get for the cakes/tarts. At $5 and change (it is still at that price pt.?), you can't really complain.

Happy eating,

PS Ganache has a email list and every season when he creates new desserts, he would unveil it on a Sat. for a free tasting. Sadly, I haven't been to these in a while...

Sherman Chan said...

Thanks for the tip about Ganache!

trisha said...

i've tried to go there a countless number of times but can never find parking reasonably nearby. (as in, not at the auto mall!) the few times i did park, the line ups scared me right out of the place. i will have to take a book and just wait it out... i keep hearing excellent things. that almond croissant is calling my name...

Sherman Chan said...

Trisha, it was crazy busy when I went and believe it or not, that was considered "quiet". They must be busy for a reason though...

holly said...

Sherman, you must go to Ganache. I recently went there after reading the comments here and I was not disappointed. They had all my favourite french pastries/cookies and then some.

I will definitely return between Fri to Sunday when they make their croissants because if their regular stuff is anything to go by, they should be absolutely divine.

I wanted to try everything, but limited myself to some macaroons as my wallet couldn't take it.

It also looks like a great place for dessert as they have some very interesting combinations.

Sherman Chan said...

Okay, Ganache it is!

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