Hof Kelsten

Bakery: Boulangerie Hof Kelsten
Address: 4524 St Laurent, Montreal QC
Website: http://hofkelsten.com/
Style: Jewish, French
Price: $$ 

Yet another bakery from the bakery-packed Plateau! For awhile now, this artisanal Jewish/French bakery has been eluding me and I was never quite sure if they had anything for those with a sweet tooth. For one, it always seemed to pop up when I searched for bakeries in the area, but I could never quite remember walking past it, even when I knew I had -- not to mention that previously I'd already gone to so many bakeries, I couldn't possibly handle any more in the same day. In some ways, with its obscure (almost nonexistent) signage and large, window-side counter detracting from the goodies inside, it's a bit of a "blink and you'll miss it" kind of place. Of course, then there was the dubious menu on their website, listing breads, sandwiches and coffee, and nothing really well, sweet.

 Now, on location, it did end up working in my favour. While it is indeed a bread-first bakery serving lunch, there are some baked goods as well. Actually, there were more than anticipated, with a greater part of the two... sushi fridges? dedicated to sweet treats. The vibe is artisanal, a sort of mishmash of French and Jewish flavours and styles. There are cookies, slices of homestyle slab cake, and the usual culprits at many Montreal bakeries: chaussons aux pommes, croissants, and chocolatines. Add to that mix a few unique offerings like babkas, strudels and danishes in interesting flavours like chocolate, nut and raisin, and cherrry. Not bad, not bad. And the same can be said of the prices as well, with individual items ranging from $2-3.

I took the chocolate danish. As mentioned earlier, this was a nice, interesting hybrid between a more doughy chocolate buffalo that I've encountered at other Jewish bakeries and the both flaky and soft dough that French bakeries do best. Not bad, indeed! ;)

Rating: ***