31 replies to this topic

[Vancouver]

Has anyone tried Kei's Bakery on Burrard just a little bit north of Broadway? I noticed it today on the way to Orchid Delight (which was just as good as their previous location in Burnaby across from BCIT).

Kei's appears to be a rather authentic Japanese pastry bakery.

Cheers!

[sanrensho]

Interesting. I've never heard of this place, but I did find a few photos here:

http://flickr.com/ph...oesrails/page8/

I'll have to check it out some time.

Edited by sanrensho, 13 June 2006 - 09:36 PM.

[Vancouver]

Hm....Those look pretty similar to the ones you find in Japan! Thanks for the photo find! I'm looking forward to trying it soon (or hearing from anyone that does)!

Cheers!

[sanrensho]

Hm....Those look pretty similar to the ones you find in Japan!  Thanks for the photo find!  I'm looking forward to trying it soon (or hearing from anyone that does)! 

Yes, it does look pretty close to what a Japanese bakery typically offers.

I did some Googling and sussed out the following:

Address: 2351 Burrard St.
Hours: 11:00 am to 6:30 pm
Closed on Wednesdays

A few more photos here (text in Japanese):

http://norivalsinvan...e/11638446.html

[Vancouver]

That picture shows an-pan (red-bean bun). I love those! Ok, I'm there.....

Cheers!

[flowbee]

if you've ever seen an anime called "yakitate japan!" you'll know that watching it would make ANYBODY drool over japanese baked goods! i want to try Kei's melon bread!!

[Paul B]

Wow, that looks pretty authentic. I remember living in Tokyo in 1986 and having those wiener buns a couple of times a week to satisfy hotdog cravings. . .

[bccoati]

We tried Kei's a couple of weeks ago after a lunch at Orchid Delight (the oyster omlette was excellent, btw). It is indeed an authentic Japanese bakery. Very "kawaii". It's "european kawaii", in fact. We asked the Japanese owner/baker about the origin of the name "Kei's". He explained that the names of the people around him, who have influenced his life, all start with "k's". He even gave us two free buns to try (8 for the price of 6!). Some buns have cute names like "Mom's special" or "Cheese No. 2". The best one is probably the one with a piece of banana inside. I liked their buns well enough, but I prefer the softer, airier texture of the buns from Chinese bakeries.

[Vancouver]

I went there today and tried the Cream-pan #2 (they have two options with #2 being the more creative type that I had not seen before), An-pan, and Kinako-ball. There were all very similar to the ones I have had in Japan. The kinako-ball was particularly creative. It was filled with some type of bean paste (not red bean though as far as I can tell) as well as a mochi. The top is then dipped in kinako. It makes for a very pleasant taste and texture combination.

I spoke briefly with the owner, who has been in Canada for 6 years. He is originally from Yokohama.

He also gave me a sample of the Mom's Special, which is filled with his mother-in-law's tuna salad recipe and wrapped with a bit of nori. A nice lunchtime snack!

I definitely will be returning.

Cheers!

[flowbee]

i loooove mochi! i'm so there...

[teamboom]

I walk past it every other day (just like the new Orchid Delight) and I never go in. I will break my rule of not buying any snacks and indulge in a little japanese delight! :D

What is the mom's special? Did you try that bun?
What's the name of the one with the banana?

I'm getting really hungry now..

[Vancouver]

What is the mom's special? Did you try that bun?
What's the name of the one with the banana?

I'm getting really hungry now..

From above: "He also gave me a sample of the Mom's Special, which is filled with his mother-in-law's tuna salad recipe and wrapped with a bit of nori. A nice lunchtime snack!"

The one with the banana is just called "Banana pan" as I recall.

Enjoy and let us know what you try!

Cheers!

[flowbee]

we just tried a huge assortment of their pan. our favourite was the "mt. matcha" one with a green tea-flavoured custard topping and the banana one. wife liked the 2 sweet potato buns, especially the one with the mashed up filling (the other one had black sesame seeds in the bun and chunks of sweet potato inside).

definitely will go again to try their other ones, like the corn one that another customer recommended.

[teamboom]

Ok, so we woke up late today and I had to work at 1:30pm, so we stopped by Keis to get some goodies to share before a dreaded 8 hour shift in hell.
It's so bare but cute inside!!
I wish I brought my camera.

We got strawberry-red bean pan, Mt. Matcha, and banana pan. The guy was super nice to us and gave us a coffee one to try, too!

My favourite was definitely the Mt. Matcha. I liked how the custard was just a touch sweet with the green tea coming through just perfectly!

The strawberry-red bean tasted like peanut butter (red bean) and jelly (but the strawberries were fresh: definite plus!) but was delicious.

The banana pan - I didn't know what to expect, but it was just a light, eggy bun with a banana baked inside. It was sweet and light.

The coffee pan was pretty good, too. I think it was their "house special" or something. You could definitely taste the coffee in the bread, which was pretty nice.

I will definitely be back. They were super friendly, and everything was delicious!
I want to try the sweet potato twist and the kinako!

[sanrensho]

My wife made it over to Kei's Bakery today, so we happily munched on the following buns tonight:

-Matcha pan
-Coffee melon pan
-Strawberry an (red bean) pan
-Regular an pan
-Cream pan (filled w/custard cream, actually the kids ate this one)
-Banana pan

We also picked up some sliced white bread, which we'll sample tomorrow morning with homemade strawberry preserves. Overall, I'm pretty impressed. Flavours and textures seem spot on and "authentic." The breads are definitely distinct from what you'll get from Chinese bakeries, and the prices seem reasonable.

My wife had a pretty good talk with the owners. They're still working on getting a convection oven and are using a smaller oven in the meantime.

[Hiroyuki]

My wife made it over to Kei's Bakery today, so we happily munched on the following buns tonight:

-Matcha pan
-Coffee melon pan
-Strawberry an (red bean) pan
-Regular an pan
-Cream pan (filled w/custard cream, actually the kids ate this one)
-Banana pan

We also picked up some sliced white bread, which we'll sample tomorrow morning with homemade strawberry preserves. Overall, I'm pretty impressed. Flavours and textures seem spot on and "authentic." The breads are definitely distinct from what you'll get from Chinese bakeries, and the prices seem reasonable.

My wife had a pretty good talk with the  owners. They're still working on getting a convection oven and are using a smaller oven in the meantime.

"Authentic"? You mean their buns have that "mochi-mochi" texture that many Japanese prefer?

[sanrensho]

"Authentic"?  You mean their buns have that "mochi-mochi" texture that many Japanese prefer?

When I say "authentic," I mean that both the bread itself and the flavor combinations wouldn't be out of place in a typical Japanese pan-ya. Having said that, I don't recall every having strawberry an-pan, banana pan or coffee melon pan when I lived in Japan, although that was a few years ago. (And I visited _a lot_ of bakeries back then, mostly in Tokyo.)

The bread used in the pastries is actually a little less chewy than typically found in the Chinese bakeries around here. The texture reminds me of the pastries that I used to get from the Japanese Saint Germain chain, a little on the dry side but not unpleasantly so.

[LordBalthazar]

Dropped by today and finally checked it out. We had the Mt. Matcha (my wife's favorite), the cream pan, the sweet potato pan, and another pan that came with extra cream (and by that, I mean that they sent it to the kitchen for an extra dollop).

According to the owner, business is quiet, but picking up. Word has spread throughout the Japanese community and they've been cleaned out by noon on some days. It's a family owned and run operation with the wife doing all of the baking and, from what the owner told me, it's a challenge keeping up with customer demand.

[canucklehead]

I went in today - and I must say that I really liked their offerings. I had the matcha cream red bean pan - it was very good. Real matcha in the cream and red bean that had some 'bite' to it. Very authentic - just like the bread I used to get in the basements of Japanese Department stores in HK.

I have the melon pan, banana pan, and some thick cut sandwich bread sitting on my desk right now. I am trying to ignore them - but they are sending out "try me, try me, TRY ME' vibrations through the plastic bag. I may have to take a bite out them to shut them up.

BTW - one of life's greatest pleasures in toasted thick cut Japanese sandwich bread dripping with butter or perhaps peanut butter and a glass of icy cold milk. I know it sounds like something a 8 year old would eat - but it's gooooood.

[sanrensho]

BTW - one of life's greatest pleasures in toasted thick cut Japanese sandwich bread dripping with butter or perhaps peanut butter and a glass of icy cold milk.  I know it sounds like something a 8 year old would eat - but it's gooooood.

I second that emotion (minus the milk part--lactose intolerance). The pullman bread must be sliced at least 3 cm thick, and it must be white. Some Japanese cafes also serve a honey toast version drizzled with honey so that it soaks into the buttered toast.

How thick is Kei's slicing their white bread? Or is it not pre-sliced?

Edited by sanrensho, 25 August 2006 - 02:49 PM.

[canucklehead]

I second that emotion (minus the milk part--lactose intolerance). The pullman bread must be sliced at least 3 cm thick, and it must be white. Some Japanese cafes also serve a honey toast version drizzled with honey so that it soaks into the buttered toast.

How thick is Kei's slicing their white bread? Or is it not pre-sliced?

They cut the bread to order - I got it thick cut - it looks about 5cm thick. Drizzled with honey on butter... man o man - I know what I'll be eating for breakfast this weekend.

[sanrensho]

I got it thick cut - it looks about 5cm thick.

Good call on the thickness. If you really want to feel like a (happy) kid, get it unsliced next time and make the deluxe version of honey toast. Involves some minor knife work and may take some trial-and-error to perfect. I've only made it once before.

Warning: Honey toast porn

[eatrustic]

I got it thick cut - it looks about 5cm thick.

Good call on the thickness. If you really want to feel like a (happy) kid, get it unsliced next time and make the deluxe version of honey toast. Involves some minor knife work and may take some trial-and-error to perfect. I've only made it once before.

Warning: Honey toast porn

OK Sanrensho that is pretty cool! Let's hear more about the technique SVP. Looks like this will be my Sunday Brunch (except with maple syrup)!

[sanrensho]

OK Sanrensho that is pretty cool! Let's hear more about the technique SVP. Looks like this will be my Sunday Brunch (except with maple syrup)!

OK, I did a little Googling and there are two techniques you can use. For the tall version that I linked to, you would cut out most of the inside of the loaf and cube it (neatly). You could probably leave 1/4 or 1/3 of the bottom uncubed if you want.

Some instructions suggest drizzling the cubed bread (and perhaps the inside of the loaf) with honey at that point. Other instructions say to just reassemble, then drizzle honey and slather butter into the cracks. Like in the pictorial below.

http://www.yrph.com/.../recipe/02.html

For just a thick sliced version, you would just make cuts into the bread and slather with honey/butter.

Some recipes suggest topping with ice cream (!)/fruit/compote, and maple syrup is also mentioned in place of honey. I've only had the simple honey toast version.

Edited by sanrensho, 25 August 2006 - 04:04 PM.

[chocomoo]

I was finally able to try the Mt. Matcha bun and loved it! I think basically all the matcha baked goods from Kei's are delicious - I also tried the matcha cream & red bean pan, and the matcha financier. I haven't tried the matcha melon-pan yet, as I didn't want to overload on the matcha goods. I like the shape of the Mt. Matcha - star-shaped, so cute & pretty!

The owner told me to eat the matcha cream bun from the side that they squirted the cream in, as "it will squirt up your nose! Trust me, it's happened to me 2 times!"

I've also tried some salty ones now - the pepperoni one (the dough is dotted with black sesame seeds & wrapped around a stick of pepperoni) and the croquette (corroke). I really liked the croquette - there's no meat in the deep-fried patty, and it's topped with tonkatsu sauce.

[Kentan]

Yay! Kei's bakery is open again. Hiroshi said that they were closed because his wife Kaori, the baker, was suffering from really bad morning sickness and couldn't work. They were very close to closing completely! I'm happy that they made it through - they're a sweet couple and they are definitely the best Japanese bakery in town.

PS - Kaori's due at the end of April and it's going to be a girl!

[Vancouver]

That is good news all around! Thanks for the update!

[chocomoo]

Yay! I'm so glad - I was worried about them!

I've been totally craving the Mt. Matcha & the green tea rusks!

[chocomoo]

Kei's Bakery is closing at the end of July

They're moving back to Japan, and are planning to open franchises with Kaori's pastry teacher in Fukuoka, somewhere in the south of France (Hiroshi likes Arles), and somewhere in Italy. They hope to open a combined boulangerie/patisserie in Japan.

I'm hoping to visit Kei's again before they close so I can nab some of those Mt. Tea and Mt. Matcha buns. The seasonal strawberry & cream buns are pretty yummy too!

They will be selling their business to their friends, who will most likely be converting the space into a cafe.

[chocomoo]

Update: Their last day will be August 26 - phew! One more month left. I just tried the blueberry brioche today - not very brioche-like, but delicious nonetheless, filled with blueberries & cream cheese custard.