After finishing our donairs and grabbing my freshly tuned up bicycle, we cycled to UBC and headed back to Kitsilano. About the tune up, I was pretty pissed and not happy. Denman Bike Shop has disappointed me more than once and with their rude customer service every single time, I am done with them. For my tune up, the shop did not even check my brakes and adjusted my seat four inches higher than what it was originally. Furthermore, when I mentioned my brakes still screeched, the owner/manager's response was "did you tell us?". Uhh… what is a bike tune up then? So they did not even check the brakes at all? My brakes were pretty bad and even with the slightest use of them, they caused a loud screech. 
When the bike shop did end up adjusting my brakes, they did a crap job. The brakes were crooked and pressed against the tire, which I was too dumb to realize until after an hour of riding. At a professional bike shop? From mentioning they will give me a call when my bike is ready (which they never did!), my seat changed and not adjusted back, and plain messing up my brakes, why support this business? This was not even during a busy time too! I am always more understanding if a business is busy, but when it is not? Seriously? Note - this is only for the location on Denman, I have never been to the shop on Main Street but I hope the staff are certainly friendlier and do not make careless mistakes. The brakes are a goddamn main component of a bike.
After having to cut our ride short because of my brakes, we cycled through Kitsilano and decided to try out Aphrodite's Organic Cafe and Pie Shop. The cafe has an organized, colourful and easy to read chalkboard menu. There are generic cafe offerings such as drinks, sandwiches, pot pies, quiche and puddings. As for the highlight, there is a separate chalkboard menu for Aphrodite's organic pies and quiches!
Aphrodite's offers organic pies as in every ingredient is organic, from the fruit to the unbleached flour. Some of the flavours on our visit included apple, cherry, apple blackberry, lemon meringue, blueberry, pumpkin, pecan, peach (which is seasonal), raspberry rhubarb and strawberry rhubarb which go for $7.50/slice. In addition, some vegan pies (wheat and gluten free) go for a couple of dollars extra. For those who would like to purchase a whole pie, the prices range from $25.00-$28.00 and the vegan ones start at $42.00. 
Walking in, we waited around five minutes at the front and the cafe was empty. However, when peaking into another room, it turns out that all the staff was there. Aphrodite's seems to have expanded and offers a dinner menu along with a dining area, not just cafe food. I definitely recommend reservations because on a weeknight, most of the tables had a reserved sign. After heading back to the cafe section, we waited only another five minutes and a friendly waiter asked if we had been helped.
After a while, we wondered why the pies took so long and thought perhaps they were heated in the oven. However, a few minutes before the pies were served, we heard beeping from what turned out to be the microwave. I went for the pecan pie which was still cold and when I asked a waitress to heat up the slice, she reheated it again in the microwave (which is fine). The thing is when the microwave went off, she used her fingers to feel if the pie was hot enough and microwaved it again. Not very sanitary… or at least do not let customers see.
PECAN SLICE ($7.50).
The crust has a nice crunch and tastes like a shortening base rather than butter. In addition, the crust is crumbly (in a good way) and not a flaky variation. As for the filling, there is a maple flavour which does not taste too sweet and the pie is topped with a generous amount of pecans. Definitely not stingy. In addition, the cute cinnamon hearts are appreciated.
STRAWBERRY RHUBARB SLICE ($7.50).
The filling has a nice tartness from the rhubarb and there is enough sweetness from the raspberries, where both flavours balance. Furthermore, the chunks of rhubarb are slightly soft but not mushy. As for the crust, crisp as well as buttery like the above.
TOTAL: $15.75.
See the brake? The brake is pressed against the tire and there is so much residue from rubbing against the tire.
Although we only tried a couple of pies, we thought there was a generous amount of filling and nothing tasted to sweet. Also for those who are big on organic, this is the place. However for those who are "meh", may find it nothing special and pricey. As for the service, there was none which is expected for the cafe side. And about that waitress who used her fingers to check the temperature of the pie? Yikes, maybe at an Asian restaurant… but I never thought here.
POSITIVES
- Not stingy on the filling
- Housemade organic and vegan pie
NEGATIVES
- No one was at the cafe, only the dining area
- Front of the house staff should never be touching food with their fingers
LITTLE THINGS
- Perhaps I should have written a separate post on Denman Bike Shop than venting here, whoops. The tune up was $40.00 too and I should have went elsewhere for a better job
Food: 2.5/5
Service: 2/5
No comments:
Post a Comment