Bonchaz Bakery Cafe

Before going to Bonchaz bakery cafe, I have never heard of a “bonchaz” bread. Milk Tea informed me that it was a yeast milk butter bun that is topped with a crumbly topping and then baked; it’s the Mexican version of the Chinese “pineapple buns”. I really like pineapple buns, so I thought that I would give Bonchaz a try.

So on a cold and rainy January afternoon, Mochi, Milk Tea and I took the number 44 bus from UBC to Bonchaz, which is located near Waterfront skytrain station.

Upon arrival, we were greeted warmly by the server. The interior of the cafe was actually quite large, even though it didn’t look big from the outside. The menu looked very cute too, with all the items written with neon-coloured chalks on a blackboard.

Interior of Bonchaz Bakery Cafe

Bonchaz has a lot of things on the menu, such as sandwiches, coffee, soup, and of course the bonchaz pastries. We only had bon chaz in mind, so we were not really interested in the other items on the menu. However, we were told by the server that they actually ran out of bonchaz and were preparing more. She said that we would have to wait one hour before they would be ready. We had nothing else to do that day anyway, so we decided to wait. Also, my mom was coming to visit from Taiwan that very night, and we wanted her to try some too.

While waiting, we discovered a cozy seating area near the back of the cafe, with a bookcase full of board games beside it. Mochi wanted to try Scrabble, so we learned how to play Scrabble while waiting for the bonchaz. One hour went by very quickly, and the next thing we knew, the bonchaz were done!

We got a box of 6 for $8.95, and got all four flavours: the Original Bonchaz, Banana Walnut, Chocolate Truffle, and Flavour of the day (which was green tea).

Mix and match 1/2 dozen $8.95

The Original Bonchaz 3/5

This original bonchaz is dusted with icing sugar. The bread tastes soft and is topped with a sweet and crumbly topping. It is not too sweet and it tastes the best after heating it for a few minutes in the oven because if it is left out for too long, the topping becomes soft and less crumbly.

Banana Walnut Bonchaz 3/5

This bonchaz is topped with California walnuts and filled with a fresh banana filling. Again, it is not too sweet and the crunchy topping with the toasted walnuts tasted great with the banana filling.

Chocolate Truffle 4/5

This one is my favourite flavour out of all four of them. It is topped with chocolate sprinkles and filled with a 70% cocoa filling that tastes rich and chocolatey.

Flavour of the day: Green tea bonchaz 2/5

I didn’t really like this one as much as the other flavours. The green tea bonchaz is topped with toasted coconut and filled with a green tea filling. I thought the green tea filling tasted a bit sour compared to the rest of the pastry bun.

Overall the service was great though. The server who helped us gave us a discount since we waited over an hour for our order, and she was very friendly and nice.

It was nice to spend a cold and stormy Friday afternoon in this cozy cafe, listening to nice music and playing Scrabble with Milk Tea and Mochi. I was temporarily able to forget all my worries from school and life and just lived in the moment. :)

Food 3/5
Service 5/5
Ambiance 3/5