Bakery Nakamura

Bakery: Bakery Nakamura
Address: 3160 Steeles Ave E, Markham ON  (inside J-Town)
Website: http://bakerynakamura.com/
Style: Japanese, European
Price: $$-$$$

You can't believe how long I've been wanting to come to this place and review it. A few years ago, I regularly travelled across the GTA to come to Pacific Mall and occasionally stopped into J-town, though I don't remember if I ever got anything from the bakery, even if I always, always wanted to. In the summer, I was planning the somewhat-trip just to J-Town, but things came up and it never happened. So, finally, my mom promised me and my brother a joint birthday lunch at Hunan Garden (*___*) and I just *had* to finally get my butt over to Bakery Nakamura!!

Nakamura is was, if not the only, one of the only Japanese bakeries in the GTA and this alone warrants a visit. Expect to pay more for your goodies at this place -- especially in comparison to nearby Asian bakeries -- that prides itself (and a lot at that) on its pure, additive-free and filtered water baked goods, but in the end, I think that even the simplest thing won't disappoint you and you'll realize it's worth it... though I was a little too poor this time around to go all out and get some cakes. :( The bakery is split up into two sections: the glass case featuring their totally gorgeous and delicious-looking cakes and pastries, the majority of which are French-inspired: buttery croissants and danishes, flaky tarts, and pretty cakes, both European-style and with more Japanese flavours like green tea and a very tasty-looking cheesecake. Cakes are around $30 and a slice is more or less $4.. and we were in the area to pick up a cake elsewhere, so it just didn't happen.

... Man, I would love to find a gift certificate to J-Town on the floor somewhere -- I'd spend it all in the bakery... though that might be hard with all the yummy hot food in the area. (PS. I wouldn't mind receiving one either; the holiday season is just around the corner... message me, I'll give you my contact info ;DDDDDD [please don't take what I say seriously; I'm a little silly like that])

Ahem, back to the review now! It's pretty hard to tear yourself away, but there is a baked goods area with only baked daily goodies: plain bread, savoury filled buns, and sweet buns stuffed with red bean, melon, or chocolate. Seeing as these are all around $2, they're nice and affordable. Even for me. :P So I ended up with two items this time around...

The brother was with me at the time and he seemed a little disappointed that there wasn't more signature, or rather traditional Japanese baked goods (he's not a big sweet bun fan), but the majority being... European-inspired. At first, he seemed a little reluctant to get anything at all and settled on the doughnut ($2.00): a big ball of deep-fried dough filled with red bean. He wasn't as pumped for the sampling as I was, but wow, you should have seen his face when he bit into this thing! XD What were his first words? "Five out of five!" (I don't think he knows I rank things out of four, but well, okay) The rest of the doughnut was eaten amidst mmm's and oooh's and, being told afterwards that he didn't seem that excited at the time of purchase, he replied, "But I never thought Japanese baking could be that good!"

Alright. Not being a fan of red bean myself, I had a hard time choosing between the turtle and the bear (both $2.25 each)... I'm not sure why. This little guy is irresistible! The amazing thing is that the other bears actually had smiley faces; this was the only sad one. Amazing!!!!! He's so in contention for the cutest piece of dough award (I thought T&T had nabbed it with the Happy Pigs, but not sure now..) with that gigantic, not very bear-like nose, the mismatched chocolate chip eyes and that sad, "don't eat me" expression on his face. You almost feel bad biting into that lovable little face. ;__; But, well, it had to be done! Super soft dough and filled with homemade, quality chocolate in between a mousse and a cream. I don't normally like chocolate, but this was yummy!!!!!!

Next time, though, I need to go back for the cakes and see if they live up to the amazingness! Though, if my kitschy website is enough indication of my general cheesiness, you already know that I don't think I'll ever be able to pass up animal buns! :P

Rating: ***1/2