Faubourg (Bakery) - Vancouver, BC

After a nice afternoon tea at Faubourg, I just couldn't leave this place without trying some of their other wares.  The only problem?  There's so many options, I don't know where to begin!

Assorted Macarons - $21 (dozen)

Of course I had to try their macarons - macaron mania continues!  These ones have a very light and crispy exterior and softer but still relatively light interior.  I think of all the macarons the Hungry Piglets have tried, these ones have had the best texture.  The flavors we tried included:

First row

Pistachio: lots of pistachio flavor and the black sesame seeds add a nice nutty touch to it

Faubourg Signature - there's a reason why it's the signature flavor because it was my favorite.  It has a sharp and distinct passionfruit flavor with a hint of coconut from the flakes on top.  Delicious!

Lemon Ginger - very good tart lemon flavor of this macaron would go great with any black tea but where's the ginger?

Grapefruit Campari - Mr. Piglet and I did a blind taste test so we didn't know flavors we were tasting until we checked back afterwards.  Mr and I couldn't figure this one out - it only tasted sweet and we were both quite surprised when we found out it was grapefruit.  Shouldn't grapefruit pack a harder punch?

Second row
Cappucino - any coffee lover would love this macaron as it has great robust flavor

Chocolate - it tastes like chocolate, not really anything special but if you love chocolate, then you'd like this since it had a strong chocolate flavour

Forest Berries - is it supposed to be grape? lavender?  Mr. Piglet and I have no clue what it is other than sweet and when we find out it's forest berry, we're still not sure what it is.

Raspberry Rose - great distinct raspberry flavor, tasty and would go really well with a plain tea but the rose flavor is missing

Third row

Hazelnut Praline - just sweet and again, we couldn't figure out what it was.

Salted Butter Caramel - the surprising hit of the bunch, the sweet and salty combination was just awesome and perfect with a hot chocolate

Tahitian Vanilla - if you like vanilla, you'd like this macaron but Mr and I thought it was too plain compared with some of the other great flavours

Lime Basil - we had this during afternoon tea as well and it sounds like an interesting combination but all we tasted was the lime

 

Pistachio Croissant - $3.05

Light and airy pastry packed full of pistachios.  If you love pistachios, this is the pastry for you.  If you don't love pistachios, this pastry is worth the try.

 

Pain au Chocolat - $2.95

Excellent, just excellent.  Nothing more to say.

Small Assorted Pastry Box - $16

This is sure to be a hit at any dinner party.  Every little piece has its own attitude and they all pack a punch.  They also put a little bit of a sugary glue at the bottom so the little pieces don't move around when you're transporting them - it's those little things that sets Faubourg apart.

Blueberry tart - I thought this was all about the blueberries but underneath the blueberries is a vanilla custard that's out of this world!  It has so much vanilla flavour probably because they use vanilla bean pods - check out the black flecks!  Even though Mr and I are chocolate fiends, this one was our favourite of the bunch.

Lemon tart - this one was a close second to being my favourite.  The lemon curd is tart but sweet, smooth but rich...  just awesome.  They cut the curd (ha!) with a bit of vanilla foam on the bottom, which lightened up the curd really well and that pearl sugar give it a nice crunchy bite.  Put all of that in a dense cookie tart shell and you have one tasty delicious tart.  

Chocolate Caramel Tart - I normally don't like caramel but Faubourg has got me rethinking it!  First it was the macaron and now it's this tart.  Rich dark chocolate ganache and then a rich caramel centre that doesn't ooze but just kinda peeks out and goes "hello, I'm awesome".  Top that with some unsweetened dark chocolate bits on top for that extra crunch...  I've converted to the church of caramel!

Chocolate Opera - almond sponge, chocolate syrup, dark chocolate ganache, coffee butter cream, chocolate glaze...  very decadent and is the ultimate dessert item.  

Berry Opera - a twist to the traditional opera above, this one also holds its own.  Raspberry flavour permeates every layer and if you love berries, you will absolutely LOVE this cake.  These pieces are tiny but this cake packed a tonne of raspberry flavour even so such a small cake was enough for us.

The Hungry Piglets will definitely be back to hit up the pastries and desserts here.  The flavours, textures, attention to detail and the presentation are just top notch and could rival all other dessert places in the Lower Mainland.  Who am I kidding?  I'd make the drive here from another province just for the blueberry tart.  Yum!  Bon appetite!

Pros:

• Delicious desserts and excellent macarons
• Beautiful presentations
• Top notch baked goods

Cons:

• Busy busy busy!  Servers were bumping into each other, helping people out of order...  just a bit chaotic
• Pricey!
• Street parking (free parking is a few blocks away if you want to make the trek)