Elysees Cafe & Bakery: French-Mexican cafe in Oakridge
Everyone and their mom is obsessed with matcha this year and I too am basic like that 🙂. Because of this, I have been more interested in cafes even though I don’t drink coffee.
I was invited to check out Elysees Cafe & Bakery, a French-Mexican inspired cafe in the Oakridge area (yes, near all that construction 😣). They have a full lunch menu and tons of pastries and desserts, along with wine and alcoholic beverages too!
📍 Elysees Cafe & Bakery
6161 Cambie St., Vancouver, BC V5Z 3B2
The vibe
Elysees’s space is actually really cool. They have huge windows that let out a lot of natural light and it has a very eye-catching red component to the exterior build. When you are walking towards the main entrance, you can see an outdoor patio area that extends their dining space and also allows for fresh air and “indoor-outdoor” vibes.
You order up front and sit down. Table-space is pretty small and it was very busy when we came on a Sunday afternoon. You can see the entire menu on the walls and all the pastries lined up in a glass area. For the lunch menu, there is also an ipad that shows what the dishes look like – this is helpful for me as I am a visual orderer 😗!
There is also a section of the cafe where you can see the actual baking/behind-the-scenes of the kitchen – cool! You can tell everything is made fresh.
Food and drinks review
Disclaimer: We were invited here as part of an Instagram collab, so everything featured in this post was free. I have included prices for transparency. Prices are in CAD and rounded to the nearest dollar for simplicity.
Matcha yuzu + Yuzu sparkling + Tomato feta pastry ($6)
During our visit, they had 2 drink specials: matcha yuzu latte and yuzu sparkling ade. These 2 drinks are seasonal so no longer on the menu for Fall, but they will have new specials (hint: pumpkin perhaps 😉?). Price for a regular matcha latte is $6.
I didn’t love the matcha with yuzu jam/seasonings at the bottom. I guess I prefer my matcha on the sweeter side but the matcha itself was good.
For pastries, we tried the tomato feta cheese galette. The tomatoes and feta cheese went well together, but I was expecting the pastry to be more flaky. Baked goodies range from $4-8 per item.
Le maison burger ($18) + combo ($3)
This burger was just… wow 🤯.
It was the first item listed on the lunch menu and originally, I thought $18 for a burger is steep, but this burger was so juicy and delicious 🤤! Literally dripping down my chin and an explosion of meat flavour with the beef patty. There is also gruyere, lettuce, caramelized onions and mayo in the mix, held together with a good quality brioche bun that did not break or get soggy.
You can make this a combo by adding $3 and you get a choice of salad or fries. Here we chose fries and they give you a decent amount – fried and seasoned well!
Fried coq au vin ($18) + combo ($3)
The second lunch item we ordered was the coq au vin. This is a classic French dish featuring braised chicken in wine, but here they actually have the chicken leg poached in wine and then fried. They also add a sweet chili glaze to it, which I liked but my husband found it to be too sweet. There is also a small side of assorted pickles (nice snack).
In this photo, apparently the chicken meat they received was on the smaller side so they only charge $14 if that happens. Regular price and portion is $18.
For the combo, we added the salad this time and it’s a good amount of salad! I liked the dressing but both my husband and I felt it was a tad too overdressed.
Chocolate pistachio cake ($8) + Passionfruit mousse cake ($8)
For dessert, we tried 2 of their cakes 🍰 – chocolate pistachio and the passionfruit mousse. Both were very cute and had a good presentation.
I preferred the passionfruit mousse because it was soft and had a lighter flavour with chunks of fruit inside. My husband preferred the chocolate cake because of how smooth the chocolate was and the layers held really well. But I didn’t feel like there was a lot of pistachio flavour and I found the chocolate cake a bit too sweet if I were to eat it by myself.
Final thoughts
Loewe’s rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
We had a yummy and very filling lunch at Elysees Cafe. There are so many things on the menu from coffee, wine, pastries, desserts, and actual meals/entrees! Whether you’re here to catch up with a girl friend, work on an assignment/project, or here alone, the menu can fit your needs.
My favourite items were the maison burger + fries, coq au vin, matcha latte, and 2 slices of cake (so I guess almost everything 🤭). Definitely their lunch menu was the most pleasant surprise as most cafes have insufficient lunch offerings.
Coffee/drinks and pastries are all in the mid-range for pricing, with the lunch menu being a bit pricier but in my opinion, worth it for the quality of food.
My only gripe is that there weren’t too many aspects of Mexican culture/food in the menu (that I saw right away). Most of the menu is still focused on French inspo.
We will definitely be back for that burger or for a matcha latte if we are in the area.
Sincerely, Loewe
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