Actually, I had decided not to write reviews about any places that belong to franchise…read moreorganizations. What's the use of writing a review about yet another Starbucks? What would we think could be different about two burgers sold in two McDonald's that are only separated by a KFC and another Starbucks?
But then again - after having been to Le Pain Quotidien at Kanyon several times now, I think a little comment is needed.
Yes, you get a really yummy breakfast, there's absolutely nothing to complain about. The coffee is great, and even though the Starbucks is on street level and much easier to get to, I sometimes make my way up the escalators to get my cup of latte at Le Pain.
And I love to buy my bread there, of course. Again, not really very surprising. They gladly sell it to me, they scrape all of their English language knowledge together, and I in turn try my best at a few words of Turkish. All really nice, really helpful.
But what really made me write was my last visit there. I pointed at a dark bread that I wanted, nice one, with raisins, really yummy, and says a lot about me, because I really don't like sweet bread. This is different. Not sweet, yet with raisins. Hard to explain.
Anyway, I point at this bread, and she points at it directly, asking me if I it's the one I meant, I nod, and she kind of frowns a little bit, says something in Turkish, slightly shaking her head. Then she raises her finger, she has an idea, and starts to look into a cabinet below the counter.
Meanwhile, her colleague has joined us, explaining that she had pointed out that the bread I had requested wasn't really fresh anymore, and that she would look for something very fresh. Soon enough, she reappeared, showing me a bread that must have just escaped from the oven that morning.
She smiles, hands me the bread, I gladly approve, pay, say a big thanks, and take the bread home.
I'd say that's worth a review, wouldn't you? :-)