Pourquoi Pas Patisserie

Probably the best croissants you could find outside of downtown Vancouver.

It’s a very small and quaint patisserie with very limited seatings. If you come here early enough you could get some seats by the window or if the weather is nice you could snag the very few seats available outside. But really, they’re more of a to-go kinda place I feel like.

They’re very heavily French influenced, viennoiserie type of patisserie so don’t expect to find any sandwiches here. Would definitely come back to try their other pastries.

I was pretty excited to finally get cakes from here, since it’s my 3rd attempt (they’re usually sold out of cakes)! I love their clean quaint storefront, with it’s warmly lit interior and glass showcases of their pastries. Staff are friendly and not pushy at all, I took my time reading through all the descriptions before deciding what pieces to get. I got their Mont Blanc, hazelnut roasted banana choux, and a matcha black sesame cake slice ($7.85 each). Beautifully crafted cakes and aesthetically pleasing, the attention to detail is evident here.

Our favorite was the matcha black sesame, as it had rich sesame flavor which paired well with the slightly bitter matcha. The cookie bottom added a nice texture and was delicious as well.

The Mont Blanc had wonderful nutty flavors and overall well rounded. However, the chestnut on top was super hard and dry, it was difficult to chew. The chestnut cream also looked a bit dry, as if it had been sitting out for quite some time (I bought these around 2pm). Again, the cookie bottom was flakey and paired well with the cake.

I was a quite disappointed with the choux because the flavors were a bit odd and the choux was soft (I expected a little crunch/flakiness). The hazelnut mousse was smooth, rich, and amazing–like having a Ferrero Rocher in mousse form. However, the candied banana was mushy and the slightly sour taste didn’t pair well with the rest of the pastry.

I hope to try the other pastries next time, maybe today was just a down day for them, since I see so many raving reviews and they sell out so often!

Porquoi Pas Patisserie has beautiful pastries and desserts behind glass cabinets and a small shelf on the wall with their other products. The space is small but can seat 4 indoors and has 3 tables outdoors. The place serves desserts and drinks. Prices are reasonable for the food and beverages. We ordered the carrot cake pastry and the matcha black sesame cake. The carrot cake pastry was disappointing with the outside being super hard and the inside being really oily. I don’t know if it’s supposed to be like that, but didn’t feel it was worth it. The matcha black sesame cake was very interesting with strong matcha flavours for the soft cake and an interesting sesame cookie underneath. The sesame cookie was hard to cut with the spoon so we had to eat the cake first before getting to the cookie.

Best croissant in the tricities!! Look at how perfectly layered it is! The team here is so friendly and welcoming!

The matcha black sesame is our family favourite. Not too sweet and can taste both the aromatic flavours of matcha and black sesame layered with a crispy crunch base.

My husband and I were nearby and we thought “Why not?”

His cinnamon swirl was amazing (high praise) and I had a lovely croissant breakfast sandwich. The woman in the photo made us the best latte I’ve had in a while, so smooth and rich.

Only full fat milk and oat milk for the drinks, but no problem for us. We’ll be back for sure!