Wild Flour Bakery Banff

There are few things that excite me more than visiting cute little towns and eating at the local's favourite haunts. So when you see somewhere advertised as “Banff’s Best Breakfast!” and “Banff’s Local Artistan Bakery” – you can pretty much see me running to join the line-up.

So we got up early – not our choice – the ratbag is an early riser who can’t be trusted to play alone, and trudged through the snow to what was promised to be an amazing breakfast.

I have to say I was put off from the minute we walked through the front door.

The scowling waitress was obviously not happy to be at work and glared at us while we struggled to decide what to order. 

The reason for our struggles? What we had thought would be an artisan bakery heaving under drool-worthy baked goods and big, gourmet, “fill up the Snowboarder” style breakfasts was more of a Yuppie, Vegetarian café… and the pastry cabinet had yet to be filled...

Big disappointment right off the bat.

Hubby used to be a butcher – so “vegetarian” is not in his vocabulary. But we pushed on, hoping this would be the meal that would convert us to a healthier way of eating…

We probably should have run with our instincts and gone elsewhere – regardless of the “Best Breakfast” stamp. 

The service didn’t get any better, and to be honest – the food couldn’t save them.

Hubby ordered the only protein on the menu – Herb Frittata and Bacon Toasted Sandwich. And I played it safe with the Flaxseed Waffles and Berry Compote.

Hubby – poor starving, up all night with a teething baby Hubby, couldn’t even bring himself to finish his sandwich. It was pretty bland. There were herbs – you could see them, but bizarrely, you couldn’t taste them. And the frittata had the weird look and texture of Japanese omelette… On dry, unbuttered, ordinary toast and what looked like, store-bought ham, it was an epic fail. Hubby picked the ham out, fed some egg to Poppy and left the rest.

My waffles were fine. Not great, just edible.

I’m not entirely sure why they were flaxseed – or what that mystery seed was supposed to add, but I think it missed the mark. The waffles came with two knobs of rock hard butter, a side of berry compote (which was delicious) and a jug of maple syrup I had to pay extra for. A scoop of ice cream, yoghurt or cream could have saved these. But without it, they were dry and boring.

Coffee was fine, but unremarkable, and more than anything it was the sour mood of the (only) waitress that really topped off our disappointing morning. I can’t say we will ever go back – I have seen on Facebook that they have just updated their menu but I think their whole style of food is just not for us. 

To give them the benefit of the doubt – we even took a couple of croissants to go, but they were not fantastic either. The texture and layers were there – but either they used a weird kind of butter, or not butter at all… they had a slightly bitter aftertaste… and it really summed up our visit right there.

Wild Flour Bakery
211 Bear St
Banff