Used to work at Notte's Bon Ton...my first job in Vancouver...1992.
Adrienne Marie Rozario Uitermarkt
+5
My fav tea & cake shop when visiting Vancouver. I have fond memories about the old Granville location from years ago, as not only did it have old-world elegance but also the tealeaf & tarot readers was a plus. =)
My family has been going here since I was a kid, most delicious cakes and pastries in the city
The best pastry shop in town. My family has been enjoying the same recipes for 45 years. When you've got a good thing going, don't change it! It's so wonderful that some things remain the same.
I love this bakery. For many years it was the only pastry shop in Vancouver that used all butter, real brandy and other authentic ingredients in its cakes, cookies, and delicious treats. Although other pastry shops have popped up over the years and they too use good ingredients, the consistent quality and excellence of the Bon Ton is still in a league of its own. As a child my sister and I would receive marzipan animals at Christmas time, the most amazing Easter eggs at Easter, and of course a diplomat cake for our birthdays. When I got older I started buying things myself, including the delectable Saint Honoré cake. If you are looking for a real croissant and by that I mean something that keeps its shape while you are eating it, the perfect size, and of course one made with butter, this is THE place to go.
We got our wedding cake here 23 years ago (when it was still on Granville). Diplomat 4-tier horseshoe cake. Incredible! This is our first choice when we are looking for a any special occasion cake.
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Maybe I was just fortunate enough to catch them on a good day, but I found the ladies working at the bakery to be relatively pleasant during my visit. I was automatically drawn to the impressive variety of mini pastries that they had on display. I don't know what's in any of the treats - they were all given odd and unique names like "dobos" or "jealousy" - and there were no descriptions. I picked my treats based on their appearances and got the Canadian Cheese, Three Sisters, Chocolate Devil, Progressive, Jealousy and Dobos (details below). The total came to just over $14 for 1/2 a dozen, which works to about $2.25 each (without taxes). Although I wasn't blown away by anything, I found all the treats to be quite tasty. My favourite is the Jealousy, followed by the Progressive. Overall, I quite enjoyed my visit and will be back again to try some of the other treats that I've missed from my first visit.
Canadian Cheese:
3/5
This is a cookie sandwich consisting of two thin cookies sandwiching a sweet, creamy filling that's crusted with what I think are bits of toffee. The cookies were very crispy and melted in my mouth. I found the filling to be a bit greasy and one dimensional in flavour. Because it was named "Canadian Cheese" I expected there to be some cream cheese present, but I did not detect any of it in the filling.
Three Sisters:
3.5/5
This is a small piece of cake topped with a tri-coloured frosting and coated in chocolate. The frostings all tasted the same to me, so I think that the colouring was for aesthetics only. While the frosting was a bit greasy and the chocolate a tad waxy, I still quite enjoyed this treat.
Chocolate Devil:
3.5/5
This is a small bar consisting of layers of cookie/cake and what I believe is caramel icing, and coated in chocolate. Once again, I found the chocolate to be a tad waxy and perhaps not of the highest quality. The cookie/cake and icing however were quite tasty.
Progressive:
4/5
Two cookies with a sweet (I think it's coffee?) filling and coated in almonds. In spite of their thickness, the cookies were incredibly crispy and light, and shattered and melted in my mouth when I bit into them. They also seemed to contain some toffee inside as I could detect a distinct caramelly flavour. Although I did still find the filling to be a bit on the greasy side, I did enjoy it much more than the one in the Canadian Cheese due to the "coffee" flavour. It also had a slightly salty taste that balanced the sweetness well.
Dobos:
3.5/5
This conssited of two layers of cake sandwiching a layer of icing and topped with and topped with an additional layer of icing. While I thought that the cake was chocolate-flavoured, there seemed to be also a mild spice that I couldn't discern. The cake, although not exactly moist, was quite tender. The flavour of this was a bit mild to me,
Jealousy:
4/5
This was my favourite of the six. It consisted of layers of cake, puff pastry and icing. I was really impressed by the puff pastry, it was nice and flaky and perfectly baked. The cake was also quite tender. Although the icing was again still greasy, it didn't really bother me as much due to the cake ans pastry, which helped break it up.
My Aunt bought a cake from Bon Ton she had told me, I said to her Bon Ton? are you even speaking English? Up until yesterday, I had no idea what Bon Ton was but that napoleon cake that I ate was amazing!
True confections napoleon got nothing on Bon Ton. The napoleon is their most famous cake. My aunt told me this is the most famous cake shop as well. Maybe while she was growing up, as I had never heard of this place as I had mentioned. The HNY writing on the cake could have been nicer, that "H" is wack.
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Bon Ton's Diplomat - there is no other !!!. I have read some of the reviews here, and express the same sentiments - my father used to take us here when we were little. When I was a teenager, I would bus to Granville Street and bring home a Diplomat Cake, my father's favourite cake, of course only from Bon Ton. We had a few of their pastries but I'm not a real sweet tooth. I must rave rave rave about the Diplomat Cake! I have tried this cake from other pastry shops - hands down, there is no comparison. My brother was in town recently and he picked up three, two to go on the plane; and I bought two. I phoned the night prior and wanted to reserve five; however, I couldn't access my credit card for a deposit because I was driving (couldn't very well reach into my purse while driving!). The lady told me to come before 10:30, so I did. And we bought the last five cakes! People were giving us the evil eye, as there was a line-up of 15 behind us and they were all hoping we wouldn't buy them all. Ooops! But not sorry. The lady I spoke with was very courteous and helpful when I asked about pricing, etc. For the type of ingredients used, butter pastry, butter cream frosting, rum, the 8" Diplomat was very well priced, $32.50. I have purchased Diplomats from other pastry shops - $35 - all they were? White cake with a layer of pastry on top, middle, and bottom, using whipped cream! And there was no rum! I look forward to trying their other pastries, as I've heard so much from my friends' experiences. Hats off to you NBT!
Butter makes it better!!!. The diplomat here totally beats True confections!! It's so much more moist and well...buttery!!! The pastry part is so nice and flaky mmmmmmmmmmmm.....if I die of a heart attack I don't care more butter more better!! (not grammatical but I don't care!!) Love me some diplomat. Word of warning though don't eat in the cafe if you're not gonna order from their cafe...even if you order some pastries from their bakery and you're just trying to eat it at the table...they will totally chew your head off....so yeah totally don't appreciate the attitude but I appreciate the pastry so I'll let it fly....this time.
Mini sausage rolls! eee!. Omg...we saw a huge pile of mini sausage rolls...each about the size of your thumb...and bought a dozen because they looked so good. My kids LOVED them! they were still warm and flaky, tender, savoury, delicious!
Of course, also bought the diplomat slices because they're classic, and tried the florentines, dobos and eclairs. High quality ingredients are used and reliably delicious.
Food-voice. Independent Opinion
+4.5
Notte's Bon Ton Pastry ------- 3/6/2011
Best cakes and French pastries in town.
This famous French cake and pastries shop in Vancouver since 1926, they maintain their European tradition and using genuine ingredient
I remember when I was a teenage, mom usually send me to Granville Street ( Back in the 50, we go down Granville Street by Electric Street Car) pick up a Diplomat from Bon Ton, there's always a 10-15 person line up, particular around 4-5 when the office workers finish work. The legendary Diplomat Cake with multi-layered, rum-soaked sponge and puff pastry cake is the best in town.
I remember when they were in Granville Street, they seems to have a bigger store than the present one in Broadway, its customary for a restaurant or café stipulated a minimum charges, particularly when rent is high and space is limited. Back in the old day when they were in Granville Street, I believe they also serve Sandwiches in addition to their famous French pastries. I always have good memory about this place.
Whenever I want a good piece of cake, I always go down to Bon Ton pick up a Diplomat Cake instead go down the street pick up few buns and egg tarts; there is completely no comparison to Bon Ton Diplomat and those French pastries. Yesterday, I went down there to buy a Diplomat but they all sold out. The server suggest I try their Blueberry Cheese Cake, for some reason, I don't like cheese cake that much, particularly the New York type Cheese Cake, I like the cheese cake (soft and light ) served by White Spot Restaurant.
Anyway I bought one instead of go home empty handed. To my surprise, the Bon Ton cheese cake is different from any other cheese cake, its not very rich and just like the Diplomat cake with several layered of cream, cheese cream and sponge cake combined. (Not just one brick of solid cheese cake) It's light for cheese cake and very tasty. As usually Bon Ton always makes their cakes differently and the best. It's always enjoyable to have cup of tea and a piece of cake or pastries from Bon Ton.
Notte's Bon Ton has been my family's 'go to' place for birthday cakes for about 50 years!
We lived in Powell River and it was a special treat for us when my parents brought home a Bon Ton Diplomat or Mexican cake for our birthdays. We served Bon Ton Petits Fours at my sister's wedding reception.
The Bon Ton has moved from it's Granville Street location to Kitsilano, so it's a little less accessible, but still the same wonderful quality. I'm buying Bon Ton this weekend to celebrate a friend's 60th birthday.
Always a hit! Always superb!
Best Diplomat Cake on the Continent. I live in Connecticut now but travel across the country to get the Diplomat cakes from Notte's, which I've been savoring since I lived in Vancouver in 1974. I've had them delivered by FedEx, I've carried them home on the plane. Although I've tried, I've never found another bakery any other place I've lived that comes close to matching this cake, although I've come close to reproducing it at home when I'm desperate for a taste, but don't have a trip to Vancouver on the agenda. The BEST!
JAH. Notte's Bon Ton Pastry & Confectionary is the very best pastry shop I have ever found. I have traveled the world and pastries are my passion. In 1959 I discovered this wonderful shop and have been enjoying these delicious gems ever since.
Angela H.
We peered through the windows at the beautiful dainty cakes. The smell of sugar and nuts and all things sweet wafted through the air
We headed over to the bakery after having Dim Sum at Sun Sui Wah and Bebe promised that instead, she’d surprise me on my actual birthday with something else…I can’t wait! In the bakery’s window front display, there are a multitude of trays of petit fours. You can find a mini version of the Diplomat among a bevy of multi-coloured, nut-encrusted, maraschino-bejewelled pastries. There are so many to choose from that it is quite overwhelming—almost. The bakery keeps a supply of Diplomat Cakes as well as other cakes on hand and we didn’t have to pre-order one. I imagine though that if you had an important party, you’d want to pre-order just in case they ran out on a busy day.
i made an order before heading over to the store and boy was the person on the other line RUDE ! i read a review elsewhere that the servers there are rude but gave the bakery the benefit of doubt. service aside, the store was filled with smell of nuts and such aroma made me crave for yummy cake more and more.
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