Pâtisserie Notre-Dame du Rosaire

Bakery: Pâtisserie Notre-Dame du Rosaire
Address: 227 rue Rachel E, Montreal QC
Website: http://www.natasdurosaire.ca/
Style: Portuguese 
Price: $ 

I've never actually walked past this bakery and poked my head in, though I've heard good things from my extensive bakery research, especially regarding the Plateau Mont-Royal, so this was the first time, though I kept putting it on my to-visit list that I went inside and gave this bakery a try. On this particular trip, I went to a couple of Portuguese bakeries in the neighbourhood and so I was surprised to find it as empty as I did. Besides trays upon trays of natas, Portuguese custard tarts, in several flavour varieties, the bakery doesn't have very much. They had a few loaves of bread and a very limited selection of sweets such as meringues and two types of cake, none of which were the staples you'd expect to find at a Portuguese bakery. Therefore, it's more than clear that if you don't like natas (unfortunately, this is where I fall; I am not the biggest fan of this national pastry), it would be best to go to another bakery in the area. If you do, this is the place for you.

Having no backup bakeries for that day, the idea of skipping one bakery and thus reducing my daily bakery count was not an option. Really, the next option of trying some of their custard tarts would have probably been the best one, but I somehow didn't make it that far in the thought process. :P No, no, that's being a little mean, since I did settle for a slice of apple cake ($1.25); I'll admit the slices looked bigger, but the price also proved to be considerably less than expected. This was a moist sponge cake dough with apple slices on top, all with a hint of cinnamon. This reminded me of a cake my mom would make (this is a compliment), though personally I would have preferred to pay a little more and get a slightly larger slice. .__. Pretty good, but not quite what I was expecting to find.

Rating: **1/2