Imagine this, a Nanaimo Bar Trail.
A tour that is self-guided with 34 different places to try Nanaimo Bars. For those of you who don’t know what that awesome treat is, it is a three layer dessert. Traditionally, the top layer is chocolate, the middle is a custard and the bottom is a crunchy coconut and chocolate cookie.
On this trail we tried traditional ones and spin-offs (check out our facebook.com page for some great shots).
- Bocca Café: They made three different types; peanut butter, original and sea salt caramel. I don’t even like peanut butter and that one was my favorite. It was so good! Mom loved the sea salt caramel one too.
- Cherub Chocolate: In honor of Easter being so close, they made mini chocolate Nanaimo Easter eggs as well as Nanaimo truffles. Both were so good, I would definitely go back.
- Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut: They made one called Nanaimo-Mites which is a little chocolate covered Nanaimo Bar. It was pretty good, very cute and bite sized.
- The Grand Hotel: This one was a Martini so I couldn’t drink any of it but here’s what Mom and Dad have to say about it. “It was unique…strong… stirred, not shaken.”
- Java Expressions: They make mini ones with a bunch of different flavours. This time they had raspberry, lime, chocolate truffle and salted caramel. I absolutely loved the lime – I didn’t expect it to be that good at all. The raspberry one was amazing it was made with real raspberries too! I could have eaten hundreds of those two!
- Javawocky: They made a traditional Nanaimo bar. It was very good with a thick layer of the base.
- Longwood Brew Pub & Restaurant: Amazing! They made Nanaimo Bar cheesecake and it was incredible! I could’ve eaten hundreds of those! Everything smelled amazing as well.
- McLean’s Specialty Foods: They made a traditional Nanaimo bar (kind of boring compared to the other more exotic ones we’ve eaten). Theirs was made with tons of coconut and personally I’m not a big fan of coconut so it wasn’t my favorite however it was still delicious and one of the best traditional ones we’ve had.
- Minnoz Steak & Seafood: OMG! They made the best Nanaimo bar cheesecake. It was so delicious, I would go back there one hundred times just to eat that alone!
- Modern Café: This one was a Bar-tini so I couldn’t drink it (again) but here’s what Mom and Dad have to say about it. “Smooth…a little bit like a B-52.”
- Mon Petit Choux: They made a gluten-free bar which was surprisingly good… I’m not usually a fan of gluten free because I find it has a funny taste but they did a pretty good job.
- Ohana’s Café: They made traditional ones and probably one of the best ones. I loved it and drinking it with chocolate milk was like heaven on earth!
- Perkins Coffee: They made a traditional one that was very good.
- Pirate Chips: They made a fried Nanaimo Bar! Whoever invented it should get an award because that was incredible. Fried Nanaimo bar with whipped cream, chocolate and ice cream?! Amazing! Nothing more needs to be said…
- Powerhouse Living Foods Co.: They made a vegan, raw cake. At first I was a little skeptical but they wowed all of us. It was probably one of the best ones on this trail. We ended up buying two.
- Real Food: They made a Nanaimo Bar cake and it was absolutely delicious! I loved the look, the taste, the texture… mmm.
- Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory: This was one of the first ones we tried out; it was a chocolate covered bar and surprisingly good.
- Serious Coffee: They made a traditional one which was very good.
- Smokin’ George’s BBQ: Incredible! They made 2 different Nanaimo Bars; a bacon maple and a bacon dulce di lecce. They were so good and I loved how they made the bottom layer with pretzels instead of nuts.
- Tea Desire (Country Club Ctr): Amazing! I don’t even like tea and this was the best one I’ve ever had. It was a Nanaimo bar tea which looked like a Nanaimo bar! Definitely a place I would go again.
- Nanaimo Museum: Amazing museum! So much to learn about… My favourite thing was learning about the bathtub racing – it’s really interesting! We sat on a Nanaimo Bar ottoman.
We did visit the following places but the results were not so positive…
- Noodlebox Port Place: They make Nanaimo bar spring rolls but were all OUT! Everyone recommended them to us and said if you could only eat one, eat that one! We never got to taste it, so I was sad about that but that gives us another reason to go back!
- A Wee Cupcakery: Closed.
- Cinnamon Joes: Closed.
- Jakeob’s Ice Crean Parlour: Closed.
- Riso Foods Inc.: Closed.
- Two Chefs Affair: Closed
- Yellow Point Cranberries: Closed.
- ACMe Food Co.: Closed
- Livingside Forest Oceanside Campground & RV: Closed
So we couldn’t get to taste any of these. I wanted to taste them because they had a Nanaimo Bar Milkshake and a Nanaimo Bar ice-cream. KIYO Salon & Day Spa was one that we never actually went to but still looks fun for a day spa adventure if anyone would be interested.
Overall that was such an amazing experience and such an awesome idea! I loved it and would definitely eat most of those again! I’m excited to go back and try the ones that were closed because they looked amazing!
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