Pâtisserie Callia [RIP]

Bakery: Pâtisserie Callia
Address: 78, rue de la Gauchetière O, Montreal QC
Website: n/a
Style: Chinese
Price: $

Haven't posted a new post in a week or so, so here comes a new one. Once again, it's from Montreal  Callia is one of a few patisserie/restaurants in Montreal Chinatown. It's definitely one of the more humble ones, and doesn't seem to be such a big hit with the "foreign" crowd (they seem to go to Patisserie Harmonie on the corner, which I'm not that fond of). Of course, that has its advantage: Callia has great prices (a vast majority of baked goods are in the $1 range) and they also happen to have some of the best Chinese meat buns. The BBQ pork and flaky beef buns are especially recommended, and they also have a ton of options not found in other nearby bakeries: bacon and onion, curry meats, meat stuffed in flaky, pastry-like dough to name a few. It's also a restaurant serving congee, milkshakes and "Chinese-cafe"-style fare. 

But.. I'm not here to review meat buns. LOL Aside from the savoury, Callia also has a few sweet options, though not an overwhelming lot: red bean buns, almond cookies, Chinese doughnuts, and the advertised egg tarts. For some strange reason, I have an easier time picking something at other bakeries and I've settled sometimes on just the plain dough cupcakes or sponge cake, which are both good: soft, spongy and not sweet with a few slivered almonds on top.

For the sake of the Cake Tour, I picked out something different my last time and went for the green tea bun (pictured). Sadly, I didn't like it. Well, the taste was alright: white dough somewhat folded in with a green tea flavoured mass and glazed with egg on top, but the texture was a little unpleasant. The green tea mass was quite mushy and after carrying it back, it turned almost wet and made the surrounding dough somewhat soggy. I don't know... it wasn't for me. :/ ;

[EDIT] On a return trip to Callia and grabbing some more traditional items this time around (this original post, it must be said, is quite an old one), everyone was  impressed. These guys do seem to have one of the best red bean sesame balls out of all bakeries tested... along with some other items like red bean sponge cakes and these... yellow balls. Not sure what they were, but they were tasty and a hit for all. Sadly, my 'updates' are usually here to report on the deterioration of a bakery, but this time around, it's almost the opposite: a return visit did second my original opinion of it being the best Chinese bakery in Montreal. 

Overall, Callia is a pretty good Chinese bakery and one of, if not the, best in Montreal, if anything purely for their "doughnuts" (three doughnut balls on a bamboo skewer and dusted in sugar = bliss). A stupid choice from me kind of dampened by opinion of this place, but I'll definitely return, though I'm not sure when's the next time I'll actually be in Montreal. And well, I won't be taking the green tea bun on a hot day. ;)

Rating: ***