A latte great options when it comes to coffee shop food, columnist says

Vancouver is home to countless coffee shops, but they're not all created equal especially when it comes to their food offerings.

However, On the Coast food columnist Gail Johnson has your back when it comes to biscottiand told On The Coast host Stephen Quinn about some of her favourites.

"Food at the coffee shop is the kind of thing you might not pay much attention to until you end up with something really lousy to go with your Americano," she said. "The worst example has got to be Starbucks It's awful! The stuff is either sickly sweet or grossly dry. It actually makes me angry. And I also get angry when I go to other places and order a muffin and it has a single blueberry or cranberry in itor when it's completely flavourless."

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But thankfully, there are more choices than Starbucks in the city.

"One that really stands out is Bows and Arrows Coffee Roasters, a new spot on Fraser Street at 26th Avenue. It's the company's second location.It started in Victoria," she said. "Their pastry chef, Trevor Pruegger, used to work at Thomas Haas. He makes really lovely items like citrus morning buns, flakygalettes and big buttermilk biscuits. He also makes all of the bread in-house."

Matchstick is another place that bakes itsown bread at itsChinatown location: "Their bread is really the linchpin of the caf's entire menu, which includes things like eggs on toast with ratatouille and salsa verde," Johnson said.

Finally,Milano Coffee Roasters has good food offerings too, she says, but itturns to local artisans to do itsbaking.

Vendors like Livia Sweets and Eightfold Eats provide rose petal shortbread, salty caramel brownies, lemon squares and quinoa-almond butter cookies.

With files from CBC Radio One's On The Coast