Great bread has FINALLY arrived in Nanaimo!

[Keyboard Scribe]

If you love Wildfire Bakery(Victoria) and True Grains (Cow Bay) and La Boulange (QB) then head up the hill on Rutherford Road to discover the newly opened bakery called Bodhi's (awareness in Sanskrit). I have now tried a great number of their products, but I have to stop now because it is starting to show. You guys have to take over. The French white baguette is fabo. The most amazing bread so far has been the flax, pine nuts and mustard seed baguette. All the croissant types are bliss with chocolate topping the list. The wife of the team, who makes the pastry, worked with Feenie at Lumiere. She also has a sideline doing over the top “event” cakes for weddings, parties, anniversaries…etc. Really, this is one of best finds in a long time! Enjoy.

Bodhi’s
5299 Rutherford Road
Nanaimo 250-585-6015

[grommet]

Thanks for posting that. There are very few places that make truly wonderful bread. Pain au chocolate is my absolutely favorite but it's maddening trying to find it made authentically - not just chocolate in a bun! I'm definitely willing to "test" theirs out. Thanks again.

[riverrat]

Sounds amazing! No fair that the north end gets to hog this one.

I've added them to our business directory, here: Bodhi's Bakery.

If anyone (like the owners) sees this and wants to edit the listing, they can PM me or use the site's contact forms - or they can simply add their own listing, and I'll see it, and remove mine.

[grommet]

Yesterday, in great anticipation, I surprised my boys by taking them for breakfast. We were all greatly disappointed. There were no clean coffee cups. We had to wait for them to be washed. We waited a long time for a knife...?, The croissants were crunchy and hard on the ends, with minimal amounts of chocolate or almond.(I picked up some fabulous croissants at about 7:30 yesterday a.m. from Columbia Bakery. They were still warm from the oven, flaky on the outside and slightly chewy on the inside - lovely. In fact, I'm having one now that was leftover and it's still very good)

I spoke with someone later in the day who had gone for brekkie there as well and he was also disappointed by the lack-luster carrot cake. He's not planning on going back and neither are we.

I understand that the business is new but that's not enough for me to give it a 2nd try. In fairness, I didn't buy any of the "artisan breads" but I'm not willing to shell out my hard earned cash to be disappointed again. I know where I can get good bread and would rather play it safe.

[mrraulduke]

That's a harsh review.
I was in there on Saturday, to pick up a baguette and a sweet treat and both were good. There was a huge line up and it's such a small place. No wonder they were out of cups, and baked goods. The key is get there early, cause the stuff is good and it goes quick. It's part of the growing pains for a small business with knowing what to expect, knowing how much to make, how much staff to have on which days ect, ect, ect. I'm thankful that you'll stay away now, cause that leaves more for me!

[Keyboard Scribe]

That's a harsh review.
I was in there on Saturday, to pick up a baguette and a sweet treat and both were good. There was a huge line up and it's such a small place. No wonder they were out of cups, and baked goods. The key is get there early, cause the stuff is good and it goes quick. It's part of the growing pains for a small business with knowing what to expect, knowing how much to make, how much staff to have on which days ect, ect, ect. I'm thankful that you'll stay away now, cause that leaves more for me!

New businesses always have growing pains, as pointed out by Mr. Duke. Imagine what life would be like if we were all only given one chance to make a good first impression. Our foodie scene is so limited in The Big N we need to support those who are trying hard to bring us alternatives. I've now tried all their breads, which was what my original post was in reference to. BREAD, not carrot cake. Many of my friends have also gone in upon my recommendation. The breads get good reviews all around. Croissants too! Columbia does make a very fine light and dark rye, but for my money (and I did not have to work overly hard to earn the $3.50 for the baguette), I am going to support a new endeavour that shows great promise. Once they get in their grist mill and start grinding their own heritage grains, it will only improve that which is already very yummy indeed!

[grommet]

OP - "All the croissant types are bliss with chocolate topping the list.". We didn't find this. The ends of the croissants were HARD, as in inedible. Not what I would consider "bliss".

The only comment that I made about the bread was,"In fairness, I didn't buy any of the "artisan breads" but I'm not willing to shell out my hard earned cash to be disappointed again." Yes, I do work my butt off for a living so I do consider $3.50 an extravagant purchase, especially when I make bread at home (not in a breadmaker).Not everyone on this planet regards $ in the same light.

I was in there on Saturday, to pick up a baguette and a sweet treat and both were good. There was a huge line up and it's such a small place. No wonder they were out of cups, and baked goods. The key is get there early, cause the stuff is good and it goes quick. It's part of the growing pains for a small business with knowing what to expect, knowing how much to make, how much staff to have on which days ect, ect, ect. I'm thankful that you'll stay away now, cause that leaves more for me!

That's right, it was a "review", not in the paid advertisement sense, of course. Here is a reliable definition of the word "review" from Dictionary.com. [B]Review:a critical article or report, as in a periodical, on a book, play, recital, or the like; critique; evaluation.

Did you try the croissants? I don't recall saying that they were out of baked goods.

Perhaps, you're a exceedingly more patient person than I but I don't appreciate waiting 10 minutes for a cup for my coffee, while two people are at the cash serving others who came in much later than we did.

I have had experience in the "service industry" both as a server and as a manager so, I'm not speaking without some knowledge. It's great that you had an experience of a different sort, so that the people reading these posts are given both sides.

[mrraulduke]

OP - "All the croissant types are bliss with chocolate topping the list.". We didn't find this. The ends of the croissants were HARD, as in inedible. Not what I would consider "bliss".

The only comment that I made about the bread was,"In fairness, I didn't buy any of the "artisan breads" but I'm not willing to shell out my hard earned cash to be disappointed again." Yes, I do work my butt off for a living so I do consider $3.50 an extravagant purchase, especially when I make bread at home (not in a breadmaker).Not everyone on this planet regards $ in the same light.






That's right, it was a "review", not in the paid advertisement sense, of course. Here is a reliable definition of the word "review" from Dictionary.com. [B]Review:a critical article or report, as in a periodical, on a book, play, recital, or the like; critique; evaluation.

Did you try the croissants? I don't recall saying that they were out of baked goods.

Perhaps, you're a exceedingly more patient person than I but I don't appreciate waiting 10 minutes for a cup for my coffee, while two people are at the cash serving others who came in much later than we did.

I have had experience in the "service industry" both as a server and as a manager so, I'm not speaking without some knowledge. It's great that you had an experience of a different sort, so that the people reading these posts are given both sides.

I have had extensive experience in the service industry as well, so i know how things work in a smaller place. If said people were being served before you, walk up to the counter and politely ask for your order. 10 minutes isn't a long time to wait in the long run, i've waited longer in line at Tim Hortons

Also,the bread is way better then anything i make at home, and i can make some damn good bread. and at 3.50 - 5 dollars a loaf, it's a cheap luxury.

[grommet]

[QUOTE=mrraulduke;25077]If said people were being served before you, walk up to the counter and politely ask for your order. 10 minutes isn't a long time to wait in the long run, i've waited longer in line at Tim Hortons./QUOTE]

What happened was.....we came in, when there was no one else in line. We ordered and paid. We were served our croissants. We sat down. Several people came in. After some customers were served, one of the servers came over and told us that there were no clean cups and that we'd have to wait for them to be washed. No problem, we said. More customers were served. The dishwasher was doing something other than washing dishes. I got up and politely asked again for a knife, which was given to me right away. After another few customers were served, they finally washed the cups and brought them over. When I went over to get the coffee, there was only enough for one cup. I poured one for my husband and sat down to wait for another container to be brought out which was a little while later.

[mrraulduke]

Well, it sucks you had a bad experience. It's just a small place with a small staff, it's part of the charm, IMHO...it's why i go to small places rather then chains. It's a young place, like i said before, and it seems to get rushes of customers at once, so it's part of the growing pains. Once they get used to the way customers frequent, they'll nail down their baking schedules / quantities / amount of dishes they own.