Charcuterie & Pâtisserie Chopin

Bakery: Charcuterie & Pâtisserie Chopin
Address: 4200 Décarie, Montreal QC 
Website: n/a 
Style: Polish
Price: $$

So, despite the sign, Chopin can't really be considered a patisserie. If anything, it's an old-school Polish deli located steps away from the Villa Maria metro, the kind that you can't seem to find anywhere in the GTA, and for that, I still enjoyed my visit here. For one, while they don't have a lot, what they do advertise (cold cuts and pastries) is homemade. Meat and sausages are smoked on the premises and what few baked goods (pączki and sweet cheese buns) and cakes they had were had this homemade look to them. They were unique and for that, I was excited. Not to mention the fact that, excluding the Wawel empire, these guys also seem to be the only other Polish place for the goodies. They are cheaper than Wawel, but still not super low-cost, with cakes costing between $16-20/kilo. These cakes included four varieties: apple cake, cherry and rhubarb, cheesecake, and cheesecake with apple. Of these four, I selected without a doubt the most unique one: the cherry and rhubarb one (a generous slab cost $7).

Gah, this was another horrible picture for a delicious cake! Honestly, I can't believe how much I missed great-tasting, fresh Polish fruit cakes. *-* So good! And this was really something I can't say I've tried anywhere else: a delicious crumbly dough base with homemade sour cherry jam slathered all over the bottom and then filled with whole cherries and chunks of rhubarb. This was topped with orange jelly. The photo really isn't much, but this was insanely good! There wasn't that distinctly woody feeling because of the rhubarb; on the contrary, it was like sweet and sour with every yummy morsel. I don't know about their smoked stuff, but Chopin knows what they're doing! What a find!

Rating: ***1/2