Vancouver Food: PanDa Fresh Bakery

I've got a giant roundup coming up of most of the stuff I ate in Vancouver (well, everything I took a photo of, anyway), but I wanted to write a little bit separately about this bakery that we stumbled across. You may know that New York has a large food truck/street food scene (although it cannot compare with say, Hong Kong or Taipei); in fact, we even have an award ceremony for it! The Vendy Awards happen to be taking place tomorrow (sold out, so if you don't have a ticket, write yourself a reminder for next year) and I'll be heading there with my brother; I'm really excited and am ready for some good eating!


But New York is not the only place with a food truck scene; it's starting to take off in Vancouver too. But PanDa Fresh Bakery has done us one better--it's not just a baked goods truck. No, it's a baked goods BUS. And? They are actually baking the flakiest croissants fresh throughout the day. And if a warm, freshly baked croissant isn't enough to get your attention? Guess what--they STUFF IT WITH ICE CREAM.


Here's my croissant with a scoop of green tea and a scoop of black sesame ice cream. I had just finished lunch but somehow managed to find room for this too. There was a lady ahead of me who was studying the menu just as intently as I was (because of course, the evil geniuses behind the bakery don't just stuff ice cream in their croissants) and settled on a S'more croissant. Yeah, you read that right. But take a look at their menu:


Notice the panda shaped jar? Also, click through for a larger, more legible photo

A slice of cheesecake in a croissant? Oh, be still my beating heart. They also sell savory croissants, including a special the day that I visited of mac and cheese. In a croissant. (I think my heart just had a mild attack.) The guy in the truck was super friendly and didn't bat an eyelid when I took about a zillion photos of everything. He told me that they currently have 4 trucks; the one I went to was parked by David Lam Park, which meant that after I was done asking him my 80thousand questions, I could take my croissant and go sit by the water and indulge.


Oh yes. Life is good.

(PandaFresh doesn't seem to have a website yet, but they are on Twitter! Ah, modern life. And they are soon to be featured on Food Network Canada. Hey guys, if you want to expand to NY, you've already got one fan...)