604: JoDeen (Burnaby)

Updated: Aug 15, 2021

Yayyyy, I came here on a Friday late afternoon and beat the hyped-up frenzies. There are a few street parking across the street, but I can imagine it being difficult to find parking spots on the weekend. When I walked into the store, I was surprised to see how spacious this cafe was. I was also surprised by the number of workers behind the open kitchen making their wheel cakes. There were at least 4 of them in the store and I was the only customer.

I ordered 3 wheel cakes with custard, taro, and red bean filling, and they were made to order. I think I waited about ten minutes in total, which isn't bad, but judging by how concise and careful they are with each wheel cake (see video below - I purposely didn't speed up the video so you can see their pace), it made me wondered how they would be able to manage any mass orders. I'm pretty sure they will be swamped on the weekend and a few upset customers would walk away.

The staff there are all Taiwanese and they are so friendly, as they normally are! They are also very thoughtful - they stamp the requested flavor onto the back of the packages so you know which is which.

As soon as I got out of the store, I took a bite into it (gotta try it fresh haha) and the texture of the wheel cake completely threw me off. It reminded me of a fortune cookie with lots of filling. Each flavor has its subtle distinct flavor with a mild sweetness to it. It's not too sweet, which is perfect for my Asian homies, but for those of you who enjoy brownies, red velvet cupcakes with extra cream cheese icing, and cinnamon buns with ice cream and more ice cream, this isn't for you. It's also slightly gritty with bits of microscopic oatmeals from the pastry.

From admiring the tasteful design of the cafe layout to observing the workers putting the wheel cakes together gingerly, then placing the items into a well thought out package, to savoring their wheel cakes, I can tell that quality is highly emphasized. They've put a lot of thought into their branding. I just don't know how they can deliver their products in a timely manner.

Indeed, my friend who stopped by their store the next day complained that she had to wait 2 hours for her wheel cake. Yikes...

I know everyone is or will be comparing this with the wheel cakes from Peanuts in the Richmond Public Market, especially with the price point. It's $3.25 to $3.75 per wheel cake at JoDeen, and it's under a dollar at Peanuts. A lot of them complain that it's expensive at JoDeen's, but considering that they have a massive store with a desirable contemporary ambiance, higher grade ingredients used, and overall more expensive overhead cost than Peanuts, I think they're reasonably priced. (I also believe that Peanuts is underpriced but I would not tell them that.)

Now is it 3 times tastier than Peanuts? The custard filling is four times tastier than Peanuts but all other fillings are just marginally tastier than Peanuts. As for the exterior, I much prefer Peanuts' chewy and glutinous texture. I also like that Peanuts have more options but JoDeen is currently in the soft opening phase. So maybe they will have more options in the future?

P.S - Sorry I didn't order the savory ones. It's not my thing. Neither are pearls with custards... but again it's a matter of personal preference.