Bernard Noir is a fairly new chocolate boutique, located in Downtown Vancouver. The boutique offers three of the ten most popular chocolates in Europe which include French brands Michel Cluizel and Richart, along with German brand Lauestein. Moreover, Bernard Noir carries their own chocolate made by a certified chocolatier. 
Asides from chocolate, Bernard Noir offers housemade pastries and dessert by Chef Yutta. The selection changes daily from a variety of croissants, scones and brownies, along with Belgian waffles to cakes and cupcakes. In addition, the boutique offers gourmet baguette sandwiches.
I was invited to sample some goodies and met the owners behind Bernard Noir. Bernard handles the business aspect while his wife Chef Yutta, does the baking. The owners are a strong believer in "fat makes you fat" and only use real ingredients for their pastries such as butter, cane or coconut palm sugar. Furthermore, the owners also believe in using less fat because "fat makes you fat".
BERNARD NOIR SIGNATURE HOT CHOCOLATE, ($4.70).
Rating: 4/5.
The hot chocolate was prepared by the barista and tastes very rich. Bernard recommended to finish a third of the hot chocolate and to let it settle for a bit so the real chocolatey flavours come out later. Other than the rich chocolate flavour, the steeped milk provides a velvety texture and the drink is topped with a bit of cocoa. The hot chocolate overall is actually one of the best ones I have had thus far.
MOCCA ($3.60).
Rating: 3/5.
BF ordered the mocha which of course has a stronger espresso flavour than chocolate.
FRENCH DOUBLE BAKED ALMOND CROISSANT ($4.70).
Rating: 3/5.
The almond croissant is not the flaky variation, but rather soft and doughy in a good way. There are plenty of chewy layers and a nice crisp from the roasted almonds. In addition, the housemade almond paste tastes rich and not too sweet.
When I mentioned the owners focus on using less fat, they really mean it. The almond croissant does not leave as much oil residue behind compared to other croissants and usually I love buttery croissants, but these work. The lack of fat does not compromise the flavour of the croissant and there is a light sweetness from the dusting of icing sugar.
POTATO CHEDDAR CHEESE SOUP, TOPPED WITH HAM.
Rating: 3/5.
A daily lunch special for $9.90 is always available which includes a sandwich and side of soup, but we only wanted the soup. The soup tastes very rich and creamy, along with a mild flavour from the cheddar which does not overwhelm the creaminess. Furthermore, the diced ham tastes tender and provides a salty component in the soup.
APPLE CHEDDAR CHEESE SCONE ($2.50).
Rating: 3/5.
The large scone is served with a slice of butter and has a natural light saltiness from the cheese. Moreover, the scone has a rich and sharp cheddar flavour. As for the apple component, the tiny dices add a bit of moisture and that extra flavour, but there could have been more.
Since "fat makes you fat", the scone lacks that usual butteriness due to the use of less butter. However, the scone still crumbles apart nicely and does not taste dry. Plus, butter is provided on the side.
AUTHENTIC BELGIAN WAFFLE ($4.00).
Food: 2.5/5.
Bernard mentioned their Belgian waffles are amazing and a must try. The waffles are made fresh daily like the other pastries and Chef Yutta was just preparing the batter so I waited twenty minutes for the waffle. I highly recommend preordering the waffles because they are pre-made a few times throughout the day, not pressed to order.
Served fresh off the press in this case, the liege waffle has a very crunchy exterior rather than a nice crisp. There is a rich caramelization (one of the best I have had with a waffle) however, which provides a bit of sugariness in every bite. Moreover, the waffle does not have that unappetizing heavy yeast favour . The waffle overall is too crunchy though and lacks that soft chewiness.
FRENCH DESIGNER MACARONS ($2.25).
Rating: 4.5/5.
The chocolatier for Bernard Noir does not only make chocolate, but also macarons! There are eight flavours which include vanilla, coffee, chocolate, salted caramel, lemon, earl grey, passion fruit and raspberry. I selected the last four flavours.
RASPBERRY MACARON ($2.25).
Rating: 4.5/5.
The exterior of the macaron has a soft crunch and tastes very rich. The flavour does not taste too sweet and there is plenty of chewiness. Moreover, there is a rich jelly which makes the macaron more "gourmet" than having only a generic butter cream.
LEMON MACARON ($2.25).
Rating: 4.5/5.
The lemon macaron is Bernard's favourite, which exhibits a soft crunch and plenty of chewiness like the aforementioned raspberry macaron. In addition, there is a rich lemon flavour that does not taste too tart. The highlight however is definitely the jelly filling. After passing through the buttercream, the middle of the macaron consists of a tasty lemon jelly!
EARL GREY MACARON ($2.25).
Rating: 4.5/5.
The earl grey macaron actually tastes like earl grey and has a rich earl grey buttercream filling. Okay, my words are getting repetitive… but these macarons are pretty darn good. The texture of these are also consistent.
PASSION FRUIT MACARON ($2.25).
Rating: 4.5/5.
Last of the macarons is the passion fruit. The macaron has a rich tangy flavour from the passion fruit component and a caramel buttercream filling. All the macarons overall are literally perfect. The macarons do not crumble apart, there is a good amount and flavourful filling, and exhibit a soft and chewy texture. Furthermore, the macarons melt in the mouth. The macarons overall are the best I have had in Vancouver thus far and are tastier than my former favourite, Soirette's.
LAUENSTEIN, NOUGAT MARZIPAN AND PISTACHIO MARZIPAN ($1.50).
Moving towards the chocolates, I selected two German marzipan ones by Lauenstein. My selection incudes the nougat and pistachio marzipan.
LAUENSTEIN NOUGAT MARZIPAN ($1.50).
The chocolate has a mild nougat flavour and tastes creamy along with smooth, until the slightly grainy portion of the marzipan. There is a controlled level of sweetness and I can taste more almonds than sugar, making it a higher quality marzipan.
LAURENSTEIN PISTACHIO MARZIPAN ($1.50).
The grainy marzipan does not taste too sweet and the chocolate is topped with a pistachio.
RICHART CHOCOLATES, HAZELNUT AND PISTACHIO ($1.80).
I also selected three French chocolates and the smaller ones are from Richart while the centre one is by Michel Cluizel. Beginning with the Richart hazelnut, there is a smooth and rich hazelnut flavour and a bitter (but not overwhelming) shell. As for the pistachio, the filling tastes smooth, thick and creamy. Moreover, the shell is not as bitter.
MICHEL CLUIZEL, HAZELNUT CHOCOLATE ($1.50).
The last of the French chocolates is the hazelnut by Michel Cluizel. Exhibiting a strong hazelnut flavour and a rich chocolate taste, there are also tiny bits of hazelnut.
BERNARD NOIR CHOCOLATE, HAZELNUTS ROASTED CRISPY AND TRUFFLE ICE WINE ($1.80).
Of course I could not leave without trying Bernard Noir's chocolates, so I selected two. The chocolates are $1.50 each but the ganache products are $1.80.
This is my favourite chocolate out of the bunch. There are crushed bits of hazelnut along with a smooth, rich and creamy consistency. In addition, the hazelnut taste is very strong and the chocolate tastes sweeter because there is no dark chocolate component.
BERNARD NOIR, TRUFFLE ICE WINE ($1.80).
As for the ice wine truffle, the dark chocolate shell has that natural bitterness and the ice wine ganache tastes very rich. The ganache does not taste too sweet and the flavour of the ice wine really stands out.
Beverages, pastries and dessert were compensated.
On my visit, Bernard stayed at the table with us and I was not expecting to spend two hours at the boutique. Let alone sit in one of BFs business seminars as if his ego is not big enough already… Since Bernard handles the business portion, we talked about our businesses and shared our extensive thoughts on the food and beverage along with the customer service industry. From our conversation, Bernard highly focuses on customer service and makes sure that repeat clientele is always in his mind (something unfortunately that some businesses forget). Moreover, he mentioned that Bernard Noir is launching afternoon tea services after the holidays and vouchers will be available.
As for the food, Chef Yutta handles that portion of the business so if I wanted specific answers, I would have to ask her instead of Bernard. However, the barista was extremely knowledgeable. Good help is hard to find and she was able to answer literally every question. Even if mixed up all the chocolates, I bet she would easily know which is which.
The highlights overall are definitely the macarons along with the hot chocolate. Both items are something I will come back for and I would not hesitant to try other items as well. Furthermore, the reasonably priced chocolates along with the luxury gift boxes make good gifts and are sure to impress (especially my parents and relatives).
POSITIVES
- Nice atmosphere
- Knowledgeable barista
- Fresh and housemade pastries
- Controlled level of sweetness
- One of the top macarons in Vancouver (personally my favourite thus far)
NEGATIVES
- Waffle is crunchy rather than crispy
- Some pastries may not always be available
- For those who want "butterier" and "sweeter" items
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