Stari Grad Food Boutique

Bakery: Stari Grad Food Boutique 
Address: 3862 Bloor St, Etobicoke ON (two other locations in GTA)
Website: www.starigrad.ca
Style: Balkan, Serbian
Price: $$

Stari Grad is, in the traditional Eastern European sense, more a deli than anything else, with a hodgepodge of items from all ex-Yugoslavian countries along with a few Polish items thrown in there as well, but they do have a smaller selection of individually priced cake slices and a few items either priced by weight (cookies, tulumbe, etc.) or wrapped simply in saran wra. At any rate, they have poppy seed strudels. :D If you want something more resembling baked goods than creamy confections, your choice is pretty much limited to either the poppy seed or walnut "roll" ($6.49) or the cherry strudel, made with flaky filo and sold in tins ($6.99, I believe)

But, we all know what I ended up taking. :P The poppy seed strudel was one heck of a poppy seed strudel with more poppy seed mass than the dough could handle. The proportions were a little overwhelming and at certain points towards the middle, I'd even go so far as to say there wasn't enough dough for the amount of poppy seed. However, it was nonetheless a delicious mass, wonderfully black and full of poppy seeds. Dough in itself wasn't overly remarkable, but still good. A Balkan-style poppy seed roll as it should be. Mmmm... it was a good thing. *-*

I'm really curious now to try some of their cakes or that cherry strudel. Anyways, the Dundas and Kipling area has a few "ex-Yugoslavian" delis and bakeries and this is certainly one place to keep in mind.

Rating: ***