The Baker and the Chef

I end up here a lot because it’s so close and I’m a very big fan of the food. I’ve never had a single bad experience with any of the staff but I can sort of see where the many other reviewers may be coming from. It might be a cultural thing, I’m not sure, but the staff seem to put more emphasis on speed of service and and quality of food than energy on customer service and I can see how that might irk some people. The space is really small as well so expect it to be cramped and loud during busy hours.
All their baked goods are amazing but they sell out fast so form a strategic mission to try some of the muffins before they sell out. The all day breakfast and soups are very good for a reasonable price and their pastas and salads are super filling.

The hot chocolate tasted like it was warmed up chocolate nesquik mix. I also had a sandwich which sounded nicer than it actually was prices were cheap-​ish. I would skip this place. So many other places to eat at in this area.

I usually go here for a quick coffee and panini on my break, which are always delicious. But today I decided to eat in and order something from the breakfast menu. I ordered the «All day Breakfast» and a 16oz latte and it was only around 11 $. I definitely recommend for breakfast.
They also had a student discount going on for 10% off.

I am incredibly disappointed in this place. For the last 3 time I’ve been here, I’ve had to wait over 20 minutes for a «quick breakfast» bun. No apologies what so ever when they even forgot my order one of those times. I don’t understand how this place is so incompetent. Get your act together.

Great find in Gas Town. The breakfast is big & the price is small especially if you stay @ the Cambie Hostel next door it’s only $ 5. Deal!!!

They didn’t know what a Espresso macchiato was and the toast was very commercial and the ham was cheap packet. Fine for students but don’t expect quality ingredients.

Middling, inconsistent food and absolutely horrible customer service. We’ve ordered from here a couple of times via
for delivery, but will not be doing so again.
Each order has been slightly incorrect (wrong type of panini sent, soup missing a biscuit, etc) and we’ve just carried on, but today was too much: We were shorted a salad, a sandwich that was meant to be vegetarian had ham on it, and the «oatmeal» we received was completely inedible. No joke, it had the consistency of natto – just brown, stringy, slimey tasteless snot. It was like it had been left in a pot from two days ago. It immediately went in the garbage.
At this point I called JustEat to request a refund for the missing and disgusting items. I was put on hold for 10+ minutes while my breakfast got cold, while the JustEat rep tried to track down someone from this restaurant. When they did get ahold of the owner, they would not agree to an $ 8 refund for our trouble – instead demanded I email them directly about the problems.
While I would not waste my time emailing over an $ 8 refund, I will take the time to write this review and warn others away so they don’t have the same crappy experience.
Hope that $ 8 was worth it.

The food is good, the service is piss poor.
If you’ve got somewhere to be avoid this place, because they take their sweet time. If you’ve got a couple hours to kill and are in no rush then it’s probably worth a try.
First time I went myself and a few coworkers had to wait 25 – 35 minutes for our breakfast sandwiches. They tasted great, but we work on a tight schedule so thanks to them I had to cut my lunch break in half to make up for it.
Second time I got breakfast from them I decided to order online and skip the wait, they called me after I placed the order and told me I can swing by at 10am and it’ll be ready (roughly 20 minutes). I got there, paid for my food and waited another 20 minutes for it to show up.
I’m not going back to this place.

I ordered waited 20mins, then got in a 5min line to ask why I had been waiting so long. They forgot me. I waited 5 more mins and then got a cold breakfast panini with under cooked bacon.

Stopped in for breakfast and thoroughly enjoyed the food and environment.
Very cozy, albeit a little run down, and suits the location very well.
I had the Quick Start which consists of egg, ham, and cheese in a savory biscuit. Very large and a great deal at $ 5. My partner had a veggie filling in an English muffin and this was tasty as well.
If you are looking for a very casual place with good, unpretentious food this is it.

We went to Meat & Bread a few doors down for sandwiches and decided to try this for dessert. We got cookies and mini cinnamon buns. The cookies were yummy if a little dry but the cinnamon buns were great. We had the option for with frosting or without and got a little bit of both. I really liked the maple flavor in the buns and plan to steal that the next time I make cinnamon buns at home.

Walked in to this place on a Friday afternoon after I read about it online. The ambience is cozy and casual with bench seating by the window that opens to the street.
I waited for roughly 5 – 10 minutes for the person ahead of me to put their order in and pay the cashier in training.
I ordered The Cambie which looked very interesting on the menu but was bland and tasteless when I got it. After double checking the ingredients it appeared that a couple of the items were missing from my sandwich which may explain the lack of flavor.
Would I go back? Probably not since there are two other sandwich shops within a block which serve much better food.

This place is a solid 3 stars. Not the most incredible food, but the price and portions offer a great value.
I got a breakfast sandwich on a herb biscuit, and honestly, it was pretty dry. It didn’t help that the biscuit comprised 75% of the sandwich, but the rest was lacking flavour too. It was, however, pretty filling, so that’s nice.
All that said, the staff were super nice and it seemed like they made a good coffee, so I’d definitely give it another try next time I’m in town.

Returning from an Asian trip, I decided to make a little stopover in Vancouver, and staying somewhere simple in a nice location. I chose the Cambie Hostel. That included breakfast at the Baker and The Chef.
I grew fond of the place, and tasted several dishes. Muffins: recommended! Capuccino: nicely prepared with good quality espresso. Breakfast sandwiches: they are gigantic, order half a portion unless you are ravenous. The soup is very good, and my favourite were the fruit salads, all made fresh in the morning, and at reasonable prices. Also the cooked breakfast looked very nice, and reasonably priced.(did not try it=. All in all: something for everytone here! Good prices, and good service.

I can’t say I have ever thought of this as my FIRST FIRST choice for a sandwich in Gastown, but The Baker & the Chef is not a bad little breakfast or lunch spot. They have a variety of panini and salads on offer, and all day breakfast, as well as fresh baked goods and soups. The standard IS above coffee shop fare, even if the menu items sound familiar.
I’ve probably tried a little bit of everything, and it’s all been tasty. The Seymour panini is my favourite but ask for it without the overpowering red onion. The cheddar and herb biscuits are amazing, as is the deluxe rice crispie square full of M & Ms and chocolate pieces — totally sinful.
The Rosemary Grilled Lemonade sounds weird but tastes great. Every once in a while this place tries something new and adventurous in terms of their specials and it’s always good. Keep on adventuring guys, this is Gastown, we can handle it.
It’s hard to find places to sit during lunch hour, and there aren’t tables that comfortably sit more than two. Plus you’ll always be surrounded by standing people who are waiting for takeaway — so perhaps not the best place for an intimate dining experience. But if it’s a nice day, take it to go, sit in Victory Square or the Woodwards courtyard.
The staff here has always been friendly and helpful to me. Maybe cause I tip? I dunno? But any of the grumblers on here about the staff must have visited a different place than me — I find them always willing to chat and to help out if they can.

Standard coffee house flare with a different color scheme that gives the illusion that it’s something healthy, however, there is nothing here that differs from the others. Food is nothing to write home about. Service was decent, however, nobody was there.

Considering Meat & Bread a few doors down, it’s an easy choice if you’re looking for sandwiches.
Picked up a chocolate chip cookie sometime earlier this year when I was on a cookie monster binge, wasn’t worth writing home about.
But it’s a quieter place as MB can be loud for sure.
I’d rather go to Bamboo Café.

Slow. Sandwich so greasy you could see through the bread. Disgusting. I’ll post a pic so you can see the $ 10 atrocity I received.

Breakfast and coffee are great.

Oct.13
I was looking for a place to grab a quick bite and couldn‘t help but notice this brightly painted sandwich shop,. I went in and saw a sandwich I like called the Seymour and the thought of melted cheese and crispy bacon instantly got my tastebuds going. I got the half sandwich and it was grilled to perfection. So many high quality sandwich toppings on the menu, I highly recommend it.

The Baker and the Chef is a cozy establishment on Cambie street that’s great for a quick lunch. The bar seating overlooks the street and the simple setting of the place makes it a nice pit stop if you want to avoid the lunch crowd (e.g. Meat&Bread).
The service is friendly, and the place serves an assortment of pastries and fresh salads to compliment your panini. There’s a fine deal of a half-​panini, salad, and coffee/​tea for $ 8. I ordered their Whistler (foccacia bread, roast beef, red onion, asiago cheese, mozzarella, horseradish mayo) and a fruit salad. The panini was delicious, the roast beef not too dry, the horseradish flavour well paired with the meat and choice of cheese. The fruit was fresh and served as a refreshment on the sunny day I was there.
Overall, it’s a fine location, with decent food and service. Definitely a convenient place to be for lunch in the area.
(6÷30)