Trafalgars Bistro

Trafalgars Bistro
2603 W 16th Ave
Vancouver, BC

Before settling the bill in Baru Latino (as mentioned in yesterday’s post), Mijune (of Follow Me Foodie) and I were deciding if we should get dessert. In the case of Baru Latino, they had some offerings but, as mentioned in that post, it was so dark, I might as well wonder what we were actually eating. Instead, we chose to go somewhere else. Two options popped out: True Confections which was just across the street and Trafalgars Bistro. You can pretty much guess where we ended up by the title of this post, hehehehe.

Before I continue, a short stories of my navigation skills (or lack of). Last year, I flew to Pearson International Airport (in Toronto) because I had to go to Hamilton, Ontario. After I arrived at the airport and meet with a colleague (who was flying from father east), we got our car rental and drove out of Pearson. I had the instructions as per Google Maps but, when I arrived at a fork at 60 Km/hour (which did not clearly indicate which way was which), I took an executive decision and took one of the exits. After driving for about 30 minutes in what I thought was the right way, I suddenly realized… Why is the sun hitting me? Translation, I was driving east bound rather than west (where Hamilton is located, in reference to Toronto). Now, don’t get me wrong, I think I am a “safe” driver but, at times, my navigation skillz leaves a lot to be desired. What this had to do with Trafalgars Bistro? It happens that I was the one leading the way (mostly because I was using the iPhone “GPS”) when we turn to Trafalgars Street, which happens to be a small narrow street in Vancouver. At one point, I had to pull aside to make sure I was in the right way, again because it just looked like a never ending stretch of houses. Fortunately, it was just a matter of driving for a couple additional blocks and we got there… Eventually! ^_^;;;

Once we were inside, we walked into what seems to be a really quaint restaurant. Lightning was again an issue but, unlike last time, I decided not to use the Speedlight. Translation? The pictures below contain some heavy post-processing… But, putting that aside, Mijune asked only for the dessert menu. They have a quite interesting list and, after a bit of debating (partially because I am not necessarily a big fan of sweets so I let Mijune to decide if there was something else she wanted to try), we made our orders.

In Mijune’s case, mango coconut (?) roulade. One thing that sort of caught us (or, at least me) off guard was all that icing on the roulade. The “problem” here was that, when I tried to “steal” a piece from my side, the frosting decided to “crack” open (literally). We were wondering if that anything to do with the butter they used or it was due to the cold. The waitress confirmed it was the butter. OK, that sounds OK, as a lot of baked goods use butter. However, if it wasn’t because it covered easily a quarter of it (which makes the roulade larger than what really was)! Once, past that, the dessert itself wasn’t that bad; though, in my opinion, it wasn’t that good either. The roulade had that cake-y texture with some fruit filling, as expected, based on the name. While I did bite into a piece of fruit, I did not feel there was anything else to it. Yes, you can say I was a bit disappointed from that perspective.

Here is my dessert, which happens to be a special for the day: Pumpkin maple cheesecake. I will be straight to the point here: calling it a cheesecake is a misnomer. Sure, it is possible some cheese was used to make it, but the ending consistency was more on the lines of a mousse. Furthermore, it did not have a crust at the bottom I come to expect from NY style cheesecake. The taste itself was quite interesting, not too sweet and flavours we mild (unlike, say, a pumpkin pie). This is the type of dessert I would have without any complains. However, I was expecting the custard-y consistency of a cheesecake, not that of a mousse. It is as if you asked for ice cream and you were given shaved ice instead. Both are good in its own ways but you are not getting what you thought you would be getting!

Unlike at Baru Latino, here, the ambiance was more “calmed” and tranquil, which made Mijune and I believe that, on nights, the target demographic would be that of seniors, which reflected on the other customers who were there when we arrived. And, of course, it was more suitable for conversations. For the most part, service was professional (with one small “hiccup” I won’t delve into). I know that, frequent readers would have noticed, if I have to mention service and such, there is a reason behind it. Yes… It just happens that, after we settled the bill and walked away, we went to Sweet Obsessions, which happens to be next door (and, basically, part of the same group). The “funny” thing here is that the ambiance is similar to that of bubble tea joins at 10:00 p.m., i.e., a bright, more modern decoration but noisier due to the customer’s average age. While browsing their goodies, we found out the same ones as we had at Trafalgars but cheaper.

So, that brings back the question, how good was it? Since I had only dessert, I can comment on that part only – in this case, the extra $$$ you fork in comparison to Sweet Obsession is mostly to provide a different ambiance. Was it worth it? It think this would be $$$ I am willing to pay, specially if I don’t have to shout to make sure my guest is able to hear me. But, as for the sweet themselves, I was not necessarily impressed but I won’t say I dislike it either. Regardless, in this case, what really made the night was Mijune, whom I was able to share ideas and thoughts of our hobby, food blogging. Mijune, again, thanks!

Tagged under: Dessert • Pastry • Vancouver