Address: 1525 Bristol Rd, Mississauga, ON
Website: N/A
Style: Polish, Eastern European
Price: $-$$
There seems to be no existence of this place online, which is a little strange. Actually, everything about Karpaty is a little strange, but I'll get to that later. First of all, I have to say I was pretty disappointed to see how (quickly) this location had sort of fallen off the bakery radar. A few years ago, we used to do all our Polish shopping here, even though it was quite a drive. Karpaty was one of the biggest delis in the area, and then when the bookstore and the eye clinic left, they pretty much squeezed themselves into half the space. After that, or at the same time, Euromax bought out some Karpaty (well, that's what I assumed happened, or at least a change of management??) locations, but not this one, and this one has sort of gone downhill ever since: the prices, quite reasonable and competitive before, have gone up. Some of their goods weren't so fresh either (ie. a loaf of bread which cost $3.99). We actually went here on a Friday, which is one of the busiest days for delis, and yet they had very little baked goods: a few sweet buns, no pączki (which is pretty much a staple for Polish delis), and not much of anything featured on the price list on the wall.
Nevertheless, I got what I came for: their poppy seed bun ($1.49), which I still love and, I gotta say, is the best Polish poppy seed bun I've had. It's just so tasty and different from the others: the perfect amount of poppy seed, great dough and a little bit of icing on top. I highly doubt they bake it themselves, and seeing as Kraków, for instance, buys from Double W, I'm curious where they get these delectable bun from. Anyone know? They have a lot of goods from Astoria, so maybe it's from there, but alas, I'm pretty sure they don't have a bakery store. So, has enough encountered these anywhere else?? ^-^
Overall, I wasn't very impressed with my visit to Karpaty: although the baked goods being at a pretty good price, selection and freshness were lacking, and it's not some place that I'm itching to do my regular shopping at, but they *do* get bonus points for that poppy seed bun, despite not having much of anything else. :/
Rating: **
I was ready to go into this place when I saw your review was lacklustre. Have you tried the Wisla deli and bakery that is along Bristol and McLaughlin? I just saw it while travelling to Karpaty's.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment! :) Karpaty on Bristol used to be so much better; like a majority of Polish delis, they don't bake anything themselves and the decline of people have made the quantity of baked goods go down as well as the freshness. Add to that the fact that the supplying bakery has been cutting corners for a while now (especially with those poppy seed buns :().
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, I still would probably recommend it over Wisla (on McLaughlin) which doesn't get much business and the "bakery" (not that much; sweets from commercial bakery Sweet Temptations, not sure about where the bread comes from) isn't impressive at all. Like most delis, their specialty seems to be their cold cuts, not the baked section, so I can't say I'd call them a bakery at all. There's another Wisla location at Burnhamthorpe/Dixie, on the plaza there with more baked goods, but I've noticed the customers, again, go for the meat and cold cuts.
Sadly, in terms of Polish options, there aren't that many good ones in Mississauga (I'm Polish myself, so I think I've been everywhere) It's not in the general area, but Jaswoj (Confederation Pkwy/Dundas or Burnhamthorpe/Dixie) is by far the best. I've also heard pretty good things about WW Pastry (Eglinton/Dixie), which is a commercial bakery and has a 'factory store' there.
I'm hoping my in-depth (probably too wordy) analysis was of some help to you. :D Good luck!