Breka Bakery & Cafe

After spending 2 hours at One Under, it looked like we were about to call it a night.  Well, that was not until Sweet Tooth spoke out.  You see, she loves desserts (as her name would suggest) and with a limited dessert menu at One Under, she just wasn't satisfied.  Therefore, we ended up traveling a fair distance to Breka Bakery & Cafe out on Fraser near 49th to get our sweet fix.  Strange decision because there are two in Downtown...

For myself, I wasn't done with the savoury items yet and started with a Fresh Tomato & Basil Bisque with a side of pumpernickel bread.  This was loaded with a considerable amount of ingredients including fresh tomatoes, cream, garlic, ginger, caramelized onions, sun-dried tomatoes, celery, carrots, orange peel, crushed tomatoes, fresh basil, dried basil, thyme, nutmeg, sea salt and pepper.  As a result, the flavours were complex and trended towards tart and aromatic.  I liked the chunky texture as well as the viscosity of the soup.  In terms of dessert, I went for the Black Forrest Cake. As much as it didn't look like anything, the cake was good and easy on the sugar.  Hence, the flavours were not super impactful, but the soft texture of the cake with the fresh whipped cream and cherry gel was pleasant enough.

Sweet Tooth ended up with the Mango Mousse Cake which was also conservative with the sweetness level.  That suited us just fine as too many places replace actual flavours with sugar.  The mousse was light and airy where the aroma of mango was present.  Again, there was modest impact, but still okay nonetheless.  Thick, rich and almost like a ganache, the Chocolate Mousse Cake was the opposite of the mango mousse cake.  Where one was light and mildly flavoured, this one was sweeter with hits of slight bitterness.  As mentioned, it was smooth and rich.  These 2 desserts ate better than they looked (not that they were ugly, but they were just unassuming and inexpensive).

I also decided to get a few items to go including the Croissant, which also looked rather ordinary.  However, it was good for what it was.  Now, I'm not saying it can compete with French bakeries such as L'Opera or Beaucoup, but it was still flaky with some laminating.  Inside, it was soft and airy with an appealing chew.  Again, not gonna compete with the big boys, but it did the trick.  Lastly, I got the Carrot Walnut Muffin which was only sufficiently sweet.  It was moist, fluffy, yet still dense in a good way.  There was definitely carrot to be found inside while the crunch of the nuts on top added texture.  Okay, some of you bakery snobs might be wondering why I'm saying nice things about Breka.  Well, for what it is, the stuff is solid and well-priced.  Works for us at 2:00am in the morning.

The Good:
- Inexpensive
- Good for what it is
- Friendly people

The Bad:
- Can't compete with the more ritzy patisseries in town (but wasn't meant to)
- This location could use a refresh