Nam Dae Moon opened their second location not long ago and it was well covered on social media. I initially assumed that the little treats they produced would be completely full of dairy products and eggs and not vegan-appropriate. That is why you should ask questions and not make assumptions! It turns out that they do have vegan items and they officially publish an allergen chart (which every food purveyor should have) which I can not find online anywhere (and I didn't take a picture of it) but instore it helped us make some selections.
This newest outlet of NDM is just a couple of blocks from Royal Oak Station at Royal Oak and Imperial in Burnaby. They serve savoury items out of this kitchen (it is Lorou Fan Tasty which could be a totally separate business as near as I can tell) as well but there is noting for a hungry vegan on that menu (maybe steamed rice).
I won't comment on the environmentally unfriendly packaging except to say it is very attractive and practical for transporting the goods (you are unlikely to eat a lot of this at a sitting as it is very rich) and you could certainly reuse the paper bag. It's certainly no worse than Apple packaging so I guess we are not too concerned about that generally.
I'll be honest and admit that I can't remember and didn't write down what most of the things we ordered were but this is the Soybean Glutinous Rice Cake and turned out to be our favourite. The crumble on top tastes a lot like peanuts and added to the sticky rice cake made for a surprisingly pleasant experience. This is not an something that you can rush. When searching for a little information about these, I kept coming across warnings to not eat too quickly and choke! So consider that my PSA.
Red Glutinous Rice Cake treat was next and this one featured sweet potato but beyond this one I definitely am resorting to guess work. As you can probably guess this one was moist and less dense than the soybean cake. Incorporating the layers seems to lighten up the taste and chew.
I am pretty sure that this is Chestnut and Date Glutinous Rice Cake. The thing is, it would be easy and sensible for me to make a few notes on my phone. This was tasty also and in fact everything was decent. I don't think it really matters what you order. The experience is more in the sticky sweet chewiness and less in the actual flavours.
I'm going to say that this is Purple Sweet Potato Mochi. I went as far as texting this picture to an employee at NDM but they couldn't identify it either. They sent me photos of the menus that are already all over Google so that didn't help. I say, if they don't know what it is, it is not surprising that I don't know. Again, very tasty. I recall that we enjoyed everything. Don't worry that we wolfed it all down in one sitting. It is actually still enjoyable even after a couple of days and they can give you instructions on steaming the cake later!
This is a pleasant little cafe and the staff were also very personable and helpful. I would stay that glutinous rice cakes are not really an acquired taste as they are not hard to enjoy at the first bite. They are however , unique as far as sweets are concerned and may not be everybody's cup of tea. I admit that I will not in the future go far out of my way but for sure Nam Dae Moon is good at what they do for those who are fans.
Food 3 1/2 out of 5
Vegan Options 3 out of 5
Comfort 4 out of 5
Service 4 1/2 out of 5
Value 3 1/2 out of 5
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