MISS VANCOUVER PIGGY
Every time I pass by Pekoe Tea Lounge on the corner of West Broadway and Laurel street, the words "home made gourmet pies" scream to me. Literally. Every. Single. Time. So after literally half a year of contemplating whether I should make the visit, I finally decided to make a move and juggled a few things around my schedule.
When I walked in, it was fairly awkward because the cashier and manager were standing behind the counter but no one greeted me. The staff were not even talking to each other, just literally staring at me. So after greeting the staff myself, I ordered a cup of hot chocolate and a slice of pie. When I finished ordering, the barista mumbled "it will take a while because I have to…", have to what?! 
As C'est la vie a Maggi and I were about to go our separate ways after a short food date, I shamelessly mentioned that we have to make another stop because I was not satisfied. I needed to kill a craving for something delicious in order for my stomach to feel full, so we searched the available eateries in Chinatown. And as it turns out, The Pie Shoppe has been on my wish list without me even knowing!
The Pie Shoppe is run by two ladies, who I presume are sisters because of an overheard phone call of one saying, "I love you too, mom!" as the other lady was about to end the call. The small shop serves housemade and fresh pies daily, with a focus on locally sourced and seasonal fruit. The pies are also made on site!
When we walked in, we headed straight towards the pie display. There are no tags in the display because the selection can change daily so a chalkboard menu is conveniently located high up and at the back of the shop. Our our visit, the selection included Caramel Apple, Chocolate Pecan, Rashberry Rubarb and Blueberry Apple Crumble. The prices range from $5.00-$7.00 per slice and $20.00-$30.00 as a whole.
After getting our pies, we grabbed the only table that was available. I will admit, I was a bit uneasy having the pie here rather than to go because the interior does not look very clean. Maggi calls this the "grungy" atmosphere however, and is supposedly sort of popular nowadays… But to me, the decor resembles a thrift store. There are stained stools and the atmosphere is not my cup of tea. I even felt uncomfortable with the idea of sitting on the stools too and preferred a seat on the short wooden coffee table, which I confirmed if I could sit on just in case it broke LOL.
Choosing to pass on dessert at Save On Meats, C’est la vie a Maggi and I were saving our bellies for Acme Cafe, specifically for their pies! When we walked in, our eyes were immediately drawn to the pastry bar and after taking a look at their selection, we were seated at a comfortable booth. As we were frantically looking for the dessert menu, a friendly waitress came by and mentioned Acme's desserts change daily and had the menu written on her notepad.
So, deciding to use our eyes rather than ears, we headed back to the pastry bar. Here was a selection of red velvet cake, pies (banana cream, orange creamsicle, raspberry rhubarb, blueberry, sailor cherry rum, and individual sized pecan pies), chocolate chunk croissant bread pudding, chocolate brownie with chopped walnut, croissant, loafs and plenty of cookies along with bars. Being the indecisive person that I am, I was deliberating between the strawberry rhubarb and the blueberry pie.
Why the indecisiveness? I worried the strawberry rhubarb would be too sour and the blueberry may not even be that good. However, to help with my indecisiveness, the friendly cashier scrapped a bit of filling off of both pies for me to sample, and I went with the blueberry. In addition, she also recommended the croissant bread pudding since it is a favourite of hers, and provided us a sample to try as well. We found the bread pudding to have a soft croissant texture along with a nice sweetness from the chocolate, it was neither mushy nor too sweet.
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!
Not a fan of starting a post without much to write about, since, well, it will be boring. However, I justify this post despite the lack of content because I will be revising Aussie Pie Guy to try every pie available! What can I say? This cute little dinky pie and friendly staff sold me. Something so small such as having a smile on your face honestly lures back most customers, just like that. Would I bother coming back if the pie tastes average and the staff is "meh"? Na. The staff did not even have to do anything… they were just normal and friendly, surprisingly something that most people cannot be.
