Polly and I had the opportunity to meet again after a long break. We last met for cake meet before the school year ended in late June 2010. Life has been busy and Polly has some change to her work schedule. Hopefully the cake meet can continue.
We wanted to go to Cocoa Nymph Chocolate for the Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival initially. When we were there, we found out that other than hot chocolate, Cocoa Nymph Chocolate only offers chocolate. We wanted to have a bite. So, we look around to see if there is place we can go to. Just across the Cocoa Nymph, we saw this Simply French Cafe which looks like a place that suits us.
Simply French Cafe offers croissant, salads, soup, sandwiches, muffins, biscotti and other cookies. It seems like a place for us to have a small bite and chit chat over coffee.
Simply French Cafe is a neighbourhood cafe. The customers include seniors and younger women with a book to read or notebook surfing the internet. It has a rustic look with two simple chandeliers which add elegance to it. At the back of the cafe, there is a small area with display of gift items for sale. The server (not sure if she is the owner) told me that those gift items were imported from France, India and all over the world. I was also told that this cafe had opened for slightly over a year.
Polly ordered a hot chocolate while I had a regular coffee. The hot chocolate is topped with whipped cream and a piece of chocolate. It’s $3.60. My small coffee is $2 plus.
We shared a Caprese Panini. The sandwiches were ready prepared and grilled when you order it. The Caprese Panini has basil pesto, tomatoes and brie. It will be quite filing if you have the whole sandwich by yourself. We asked our panini to be cut in to two pieces for sharing. I cant recall the price, probably around $7 to $8.
We also shared a sweet treat. It’s called Alar Bar which is a cookie based bar topped with chocolate and walnuts. We asked the server why is it called Alar Bar and we were told that it is named after a customer who orders this bar everyday. It’s $2 plus per piece.
Polly and I had a great time catching up with one another. Polly shared with me her vacation back to Malaysia last December.
Business Hour
Mon to Fri: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Saturday: 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Sunday: closed
that hot chocolate looks really good especially in this cold weather. i like that it’s also served in a cup and not a bowl or palm mug
You’ll rarely find hot chocolate served in a mug in France…..it’s always served in a bowl….. so to me it’s not as authentic.
i like mugs better because i don’t have steady hands! lol also the surface area of a mug is larger so the hot chocolate gets cold faster. i grew up drinking milk from a bowl though!!
lol…. actually I totally agree! I’m a mug girl myself…. but I suppose just that it’s supposed to be a French bistro experience, I don’t mind on occasion to have the authentic presentation since it allows me escape to France for a few minutes…..
My cat also grew up drinking milk from the bowl too.
Meow…… hehe…… I would really like to try this cafe….. I didn’t know it existed….. thanks for the lovely write up and photos…. I love my daily ‘fix’ of Chowtimes.
We have been questing for the best croissant lately. Today we had croissants from , Thomas Haas, Le Petit France, The Pastry Club Dessert Cafe and Faubourg. THats a lot of croissants not to mention pain du chocolate, sour cherry tarts…..
This is the first 4 of 7 we had on our list. I might add this one to our list to make 4 more next weekend since we will be out that way anyways.
So far I would put Fauberg in first place with Thomas Haas a close second. Le Petit France gave fantastic service and the lady was delightful, the croissant tasted good but was too bread like and not layered the way I expect a croissant to be. The Haas came second only because there was no plain available. We had the pecan and almond and both vere good but the almond was loaded with perfectly toasted almonds.
Hi Sedap Makan: Have you ever read Joe of VancoverSlop’s series on croissants? Wow, you went to all those places and had their croissants on the same day? That is a lot of commitment! Ben
definitely thomas haas trumps faubourg but baguette & co. might be good too