Our Crepe [RIP]

Bakery: Our Crepe 
Address: 377 Burnhamthorpe Rd E, Mississauga ON 
Website: http://www.ourcrepe.ca/ 
Style: Polish, European... Crepes 
Price: $$-$$$ 

No, this isn't necessarily a "bakery", but well, not only am I getting a wee bit desperate (though I do have a few places still needing a review) and hey! they make their own sweets... maybe not cakes and baked goods, but it's dessert and it's yummy. And it sure beats Tim Hortons -- because, yes, when you search bakeries on Google, your map search is heavily skewed by Tim Hortons locations. Bear with me. I have two bakery reviews pending. :)

Craving some sort of cafe to just sit down and endure the miserable weather (this was following the first giant snowstorm of the season and being stranded at home for two days) inside, we somehow got the car over to Our Crepe. Yes, it was a bit of a drive, but really, there aren't that many cafes where you can go for the food (versus for the wifi and coffee a la Starbucks -_-) and I've been wanting to try this place. Our Crepe is the Canadian (the only North American, for that matter) and second international location of the Nasz Naleśnik franchise from Poland (which I can't say I've heard of and neither has any of my family, but then again none of us hail from Warsaw ^^;;). They carry a large variety of crepes, both sweet and savoury (and well priced got drinks to accompany them) and are open from late breakfast/brunch to dinner. Perhaps it's more busy during mealtimes or it was the horrendous weather, but coming at tea time (3:00), it was well, empty. 

So, we, quite naturally, took a crepe to try (horrible pictures courtesy of the phone). One must try the specialty, of course. Their sweet selections include crepes stuffed with fruit, ricotta cheese, or the traditionally French variety with Nutella. Pretty much all are the same price ($7.49), although I have to say that some are more worth the price than others. Looking through the selections, absolutely nothing gives this place away as being Polish and even the varieties aren't in-your-face Polish either (though crepes are really such a pan-European thing with a lot of countries having their own version). We were, in fact, a little confused. Nonetheless, as the brother was treating all three of us, he picked out the flavour, one of the more unusual offerings: walnuts, almonds, honey, and whipped cream. ($7.49) This was... rich. I suppose the ingredients enough would tell you that. :P The fillings, I have to say, weren't the most generous -- I myself wouldn't even include the whipped cream as a topping; not that you needed more whipped cream, but nonetheless... It was quite good though; slightly thicker than French version and equally decadent. 

The second item was the new waffle -- ha ha, actually this was the reason we came. ^.^ My mom had read somewhere (most likely in her Polish newspapers) that Our Crepe now had gofry (a.k.a. waffles, Polish style; $4.99), so we just couldn't help trying one out. The last time I had real gofry (since I won't count the ones my mom made, as they just didn't cut it), they were... amazing! *-* Who can forget the heaping whipped cream, spread all over the top. Here, you can have it any way you want it (fruit, Nutella, etc.), but I wanted the whipped cream. Sadly, it wasn't the same as the one I had had. Spreading it out onto all the squares was a little difficult and the outside edge ended up having no whipped cream. It's no fun without whipped cream, though the dough itself was delicious (everyone agreed): crunchier on the outside, and soft, dense, and chewy on the inside. Mmmm... good stuff! 

Sure, Our Crepe doesn't beat a bakery, certainly not the good ones, at any rate (though it beats the not so good ones), but it's a tasty option in big-chain-dominated Mississauga.

Rating: ***

Au Kouign-Amann [International Correspondent]

Bakery: Pâtisserie Au Kouign-Amann
Address: 322 Avenue du Mont-Royal E, Montreal QC
Website: n/a
Style: French
Price: $$ 

A few weeks ago, I was thinking about what bakeries I would give a five-star rating and realized that not a lot of what I've tried has that 'wow factor'. The Danish Pastry House definitely has wow factor, and so does that French bakery with those doughnuts [editor's note: he's talking about Le Thobors and I will second that ^.^] In Montreal, there's Wawel -- that was really great too, though I haven't had in so long that I kind of forget it and I think that's really it. I haven't really travelled around and tried something else, but I can't say anything ever stands out for me here. But Kouign-Amann definitely has wow factor. Because it's more fresh in my mind than some sort of the other bakeries, this is even one of the first places I think of. Every time I think back to it, I can't believe how good it was.

I went with my brother and I can't believe that he actually didn't think of taking the thing the place is named after. That's the Kouign-Amann ($1.95). It's like this big layered pie of flaky dough just dripping in butter and you order it by slices.

I don't remember what else they have, but I'm pretty sure there wasn't a lot of variety. I really don't know what else they had now, because all I bought was the Kouign-Amann. And next time, I'd probably come back for it again. This deserves a perfect rating and is one of the best baked goods I've eaten.

[EDIT] I only had to add (this being Mimi) that I agree wholeheartedly with everything written here and couldn't have written it differently myself. Au Kouign Amann is one of THE best bakeries I've gone to and is now a must-visit every time I'm in Montreal and every time I get it, this delectable butter and sugar pie blows my mind. I simply cannot believe how good this thing is. Always the same, always fresh. This is absolutely heavenly. There is a reason why these guys are constantly baking these throughout the day: they sell out fast and I know why! 

Rating: ****

Latin Taste

Bakery: Latin Taste
Address: 200 Baldwin St, Toronto ON
Website: n/a
Style: Mexican, South American
Price: $

On a somewhat recent trip to Kensington Market, one brother returned with a box of Mexican pastries, to my complete surprise, since I thought I was aware of all the bakeries (and businesses, in fact) in the market. Not remembering what it was called, he told me where it was located, and even this didn't do much. In fact, it took a trip back myself to get the name and address of this nonexistent business.

However, the goods themselves existed, ha ha ha, so here's the review. Like many, if not all, South American or Mexican "bakeries", this is a mix of traditional pastries and usually the more popular hot, savoury food, namely empanadas (which the brother likewise tried as his lunch and really enjoyed, so there's another recommendation for you). Like almost all Latino 'bakeries', this place is cheap, with everything costing at around $1.25, and you're sure to get your fill, especially of dulce de leche, with which all pastries are stuffed rather too generously; that is, unless you absolutely love the stuff. In that case, this might be the best place to fulfill that crazing. ;)

So he ended up getting quite a few things, many of which were pretty much variations on the puff pastry dough and creamy, caramel-like filling, one resembling more of a fan (more dough, less filling) and the other looking like a... pig in a blanket ^^; with the dough being slightly denser and covered in choco-vanilla glaze on the latter. A more decadent version was the sandwich cookie, with dulce de leche in the middle (and meringue? what is that??), two puff pastry cookies, and chocolate shavings and icing sugar on top.

Slightly different was the other cookie (an alfajor) which the brother thought to be filled with guava (a little like the Colombian version), so I claimed this exclusively for myself. Well, underneath that coconut was... you guessed it, more dulce de leche, this time sandwiched between two downright delicious shortbread cookies, not too hard.

Ha ha I have to say I wasn't too thrilled before trying it, since I got this impression it would just be this butterscotch-y concoction (something I don't like), but after the first bite, it starts getting to you and I thought that well, this wasn't bad at all. The brother responsible for the purchases was likewise pleased with his discovery; he thought it one of the best Latin/South American baked goods he's tried. And oh, don't forget your churro either... which doesn't come filled with that omnipresent dulce de leche cream (and is quite possibly the least photogenic baked good in existence)! :P

Rating: ***

@ Le Massif de Charlevoix [International Correspondent]

Bakery?: Le Massif de Charlevoix
Address: Quebec City-La Malbaie 
Style: Canadian, Quebecois, French 
Price: $$$

As a major part of my summer journey to the Charlevoix region, I took the train from Quebec City to La Malbaie. This trip not only entailed a breathtaking glimpse of the surrounding nature, including many sightseeing stops along the way, but included a delicious, unending sampling of food, highlighting local talent and ingredients such as Charlevoix veal and fresh produce, which was included in the price of the $275 ticket (the journey is to La Malbaie and then back).

Following each meal, there was also opportunity to taste some delectable, bite-size desserts with coffee or tea (along with a digestif afterwards), including -- though certainly not limited to -- locally picked berries in cream or dark chocolate macarons, always with unique and colourful arrangements. Everything I had the chance to try was always very, very good and of the highest quality; in fact, I constantly had the impression that I was dining at a five-star restaurant. I would definitely recommend Le Massif de Charlevoix, the train (as there is likewise the ski resort), not only for the scenery, but for the food as well as the dessert. This was indeed worthy of a four-star experience.

Rating: ****

Vars Deli

Bakery: Vars Deli 
Address: 380 Kerr St, Oakville ON 
Website: n/a
Style: Polish 
Price: $-$$ 

So my mom swears that she never noticed this small Polish deli on Kerr st (in the Kerr Village shopping strip), but I have a feeling that it's been there a lot longer than she thinks -- though she did let me know that the Venezuelan place across the street is gone and a (another??) high-end patisserie is slotted to open in its place. The signs in the windows advertising pierogies and cabbage rolls just look like I've seen this place before, although I'm hardly ever here.

Nonetheless, this is an old-school small Polish deli selling homemade ready food and savoury items as well as -- surprisingly enough -- homemade baked goods! Sure, they don't have a lot of selection and there isn't a lot of anything, so it looks like everything is baked and sold daily (it certainly tasted like that too), but it is SO refreshing to have a place not have their pączki delivered to the store from the commercial bakeries, like so many small delis, and then sold cold and stale. And while they don't have any cakes or pastries, they do have the traditional yeast baked goods, namely sweet cheese buns and... poppy seed goods. Yup, they know how to get me excited! :D

Despite having poppy seed buns, my mom got me the poppy seed loaf ($2.50, sold as half a loaf) which looked unique and filled with poppy seeds. And it was! I'd call it a mix between sweet challah bread and a traditional poppy seed roll (makowiec) The dough was very light and airy while the poppy seed mass was delicious; team that up with the bit of crumble and icing on top -- delicious! And it does need to be said: having it nice and fresh really helped.

My mom also bought pączki ($0.99/each) for everyone, because she said they looked different and small-batch. A little more expensive than your typical place, they were nevertheless really good and certainly tasted a little different than your typical ones, especially the denser dough, though I have to say I'll always prefer the glaze over powdered sugar. .__.;; All are stuffed with strawberry filling (it doesn't say so).

This place was actually a little bit of a surprise -- I certainly didn't expect to find homemade baked goods at such a small place... and I certainly didn't anticipate both things sampled being so good! :P

Rating: ***

Sweet Boutique

Bakery: Sweet Boutique 
Address: 471 Jevlan Dr, Woodbridge ON 
Website: http://www.sweetboutique.ca/
Style: Italian 
Price: $$ 

Sweet Boutique is the third and final bakery I got to sample when the brother went to Woodbridge last week and brought back a few boxes of treats. These guys are certainly the fanciest -- judging by their over-the-top, red and gold packaging (apparently the worker couldn't handle it and the manager was called in) they could even add 'the pasticceria with bling' as a subtitle -- and the ones worthiest of the title of a real deal pasticceria, with plenty of pastries and cakes to choose from. To no doubt further enhance this uh, fanciness, the pastries (at $1.75 each) were all quite tiny. Actually, they were literally bite-size and it was a little difficult to really savour them. Splitting them so that everyone can try a little of everything (for the sake of the Cake Tour and a fairer opinion, this is often the case) was impossible. However, the mini pastries *do* allow you to try multiple varieties without feeling too guilty. ;)

Presented on a golden platter (included with purchase :D), the brother picked out four different pastries: an eclair (not sure what to call it), a rum baba, a zeppola, and an eensy weensy cannolino. And it turns out that a lot of the online reviews are right with this one (making a list for the brother of bakery locations, this place regularly came up as the best in Woodbridge): Sweet Boutique makes some good pastries. It's a bit of a shame that they came a little too long after the Great Zeppola Challenge.. maybe next year. Nevertheless, there were rave reviews from everywhere here as well. Despite the size, the zeppola had a healthy dose of amarena cherries and cream, the cannoli were likewise excellent as was the eclair (filled not with white cream, but with chocolate). And that rum baba! Whoa, that was indeed a notable treat. ^.^ The tray underneath it was wet with excess liquor! It was literally soaking.

Yes, Sweet Boutique is definitely worth a visit and came out as champion in the three-bakery trial (though Emily's came up a very, very close second).

Rating: ***1/2

Emily's Bakery

Bakery: Emily's Bakery
Address: 9591 Weston Rd, Woodbridge ON 
Website: n/a 
Style: Italian
Price: $ 

Having for some months become hopelessly addicted to the Delicious Emily's computer game franchise, the first thing that pops into my head when I think of Emily's Bakery is the omnipresent theme song from the game. Not that you needed to know that. :D

Anyways, Emily's Bakery was the second stop on the brother's relatively small tour of Italian bakeries in Woodbridge (there are a lot more to go, that's for sure) and, simply from customers flocking to it, the most popular/crowded of the three he went to. Despite the name, it's more aptly a deli with imported products, cold cuts counter and, I believe, the usual, famous hot table, but there are nonetheless plenty of pastries at great prices -- I'm sure if all are priced the same, but dividing the sub total (with taxes), I got $1.67 for decently sized, quality pastries. That's well priced! And they were good too!

This time, we got three types of pastry for sampling: the all too famous cannoli with cheese filling which were thought to be really good by everyone. Actually, those who did try it all claim the same thing: probably the best cannoli they've had. Great filling, great shell.

Second on the list was... I have no idea what to call it: the walnut ball. A walnut cake rolled into a ball and coated with thick glaze and a little bit of walnut on top. This one was, as can be expected, pretty nutty and reminiscent of carrot cake or almost a spice cake, if you like. If you don't expect anything else besides this, it was another good find.

Finally, there was the uh, snail. Whether it's supposed to be a snail or not, it does look like one. See it? With the shell in the back. Yes, yes? Ahem, so even if you don't, this was really tasty. Mmmm... The pastry shell was very generously stuffed with the same, tasty cheese cream as the cannoli with a little swirl of chocolate cream on top that tasted like pureed Baci chocolates. Really good. *-*

So what's the overall opinion? There must be a reason why this place was full! Affordable, great-tasting pastries is what you can expect from Emily's -- definitely recommended.

Rating: ***1/2

Baked Goods by Maria

At Home with: Maria
Location: North Sweden

This is a fairly long time coming, mainly because once I finished with my World Tours, I completely forgot about it. .__. And because it won't look so nice as my tummy remembers it given that I was too cowardly to be caught with a camera, taking a picture of any of the yummy goodies I sampled...

Nevertheless, this past summer, I did another volunteering spiel, this time in North Sweden, very near the Finnish border, and this time, there were a lot of delicious memories to take along with me. ^-^ Towards the end of my stay, there had begun a conversation regarding my hostess' cooking and how they -- my hosts -- could open up some sort of lunchtime cafe or something along those lines because it was so good. Not to wholly disagree with this idea, they should just open a cafe serving coffee and cakes, and I'm referring to mostly the latter. To say I ate well would almost be an understatement! I was, to be quite honest with you, a little spoiled with dessert served daily in the form of delicious lingonberry cake squares or warm pancakes with jam and cream. Yum! *-*

Not to mention the fact that everything was gluten-free. I've spotted a few bakeries here serving a few nut- or gluten-free items and, to be quite honest with you, I do feel sorry for those that have special diets, simply because the things offered don't look at all good and are mostly targeted towards young kids with chocolate chip cookies and brownies. I don't see why there can't exist a little creativity out there. Seriously, Maria could start a baking revolution!! ;D

On top of everything else, there was the crème de la crème of everything and anything offered me during my whole trip of two months and three countries: the cloudberry torte. Holy-moly! O_O Get this: layers of alternating sponge cake and cream mass, including whipped cream, freshly picked cloudberries, and vanilla ice cream. Whoa, it was heavenly! As pathetic as it sounds, it was one of the highlights of north Sweden. Lol!

So, in the end, I'd just like to say: thank you for the dessert (and that famous torte!), Maria! :)

The BIG Cannoli

Bakery: The BIG Cannoli
Address: #11 28 Roytec Rd, Woodbridge ON
Website: http://bigcannoli.ca/
Style: Italian 
Price: $$ 

"BIG-ger" doesn't necessarily mean better. It's a saying that holds true in many situations and it was, in fact, the first thought that came into my head when I tried the first of three Woodbridge bakeries (all Italian, naturalmente) that my brother brought back for us after some sort of professional event. Certainly, the pastries were bigger, a lot bigger than not only the samples I received from two other bakeries, but the biggest Italian pastries I've seen. They were on the verge of being more than big; they were huge! However, in the battle of the bakeries, size doesn't matter all that much and it was the case here.

The BIG Cannoli is situated in the industrial corner of Woodbridge, a couple hundred metres from the generally more popular and more renowned Sweet Boutique (future post). Coming there on a (not that early) Saturday morning, the brother found the pastry shop and cafe looking more abandoned than anything else with -- get this -- not a single cannolo in sight! Seeing that he can be a little bit of an idiot, I was very skeptical, but after asking him about a dozen times, I got the same response: there were no cannoli! So, despite the six variations featured on one of their banner photo, the great cannolo challenge with all three bakeries competing did not take place as the most natural place to try cannoli didn't have any. Yes, it was pretty disappointing.

Instead, the brother got two of three pastries that *were* there: one eclair and a "rum" baba ($2.50/each) These were, as mentioned above, pretty big, especially in comparison to your standard Italian pastries. The baba, in particular, was gigantic, although I wasn't too pleased with it. For one, it was simply too big: too much custard, too much (not too moist) sponge cake and well, not enough alcohol. Actually, if there was any (I doubt it; I'm excellent at detecting such things ;D), it was so little that it couldn't be noticed. Instead, the cake was soaked in a sort of sugar water, so biting into the cake got you a gush of sweet. It certainly wasn't the experience I was anticipating.

Luckily, the equally large eclair was better than the baba, with good dough and pretty tasty, very generously loaded cream filling. One brother remarked that he particularly liked the chocolate topping. Although there was nothing overly amazing about it, it was fairly good and redeemed the place a little bit.

Overall, I'm still a little surprised that The Cannoli's specialty was nowhere to be found (and I really don't think that they're that good that people line up at the door and snatch them all up at 8:00am or something O.o); however, as the few non-cannolo items weren't particularly delicious, I'd say stick to a few of the other Italian bakeries in the immediate area. Not a BIG disappointment, but a moderately sized one.

Rating: **

Punch Bowl Country Market [International Correspondent]

Bakery: Punch Bowl Country Market and Bakery 
Address: 136 Ridge Rd, Stoney Creek ON
Website: http://punchbowl.ca/
Style: North American 
Price: $-$$

Once, my brother went to Stoney Creek and brought back a few squares from what he called a farmer's market. He says that all they had were different types of squares and some pies, traditional, home-style stuff, though I'm looking through the website after finally figuring out where this place is and they talk about their pies more than the squares.

We got four different squares. Some were pretty good, but I liked some more than others. This first one was some sort of chocolate square. Maybe it was cheesecake; I don't really remember what it was exactly except that it was alright tasting, but I thought it was a little too sweet.

Then there was the lemon custard square which was the worst out of everything. I didn't really like this one that much. I kept thinking of pudding cups, so I wouldn't recommend this.

The next one was a cheesecake with some sort of fruit jam inside and then on the top, there was granola, with oats and crumble. I really liked this one. This was my favourite and I liked the combination. Another good one was the date square. I'd say it was second best. The topping was like the cheesecake, with the granola and crumble. I liked this on both squares.

Even though this is more of a market than a bakery, I think it was pretty good and would recommend it.

Rating: ***

Le Viennois [International Correspondent]

 Bakery: Le Viennois 
Address: 359 des Saguenéens, Chicoutimi QC 
Website: http://www.leviennois.ca/
Style: French
Price: $$ 

Along the craggy banks of the Saguenay lies the city of Chicoutimi. [editor's note: yes, the latest correspondent takes his job way too seriously... or not seriously enough -__-] I was there this past summer on a train tour of the scenic Charlevoix region and stayed briefly in Chicoutimi, where we had lunch. Nearby is Le Viennois, resembling a typical office building coffee shop. Disappointed after a string of closed patisseries along the way, I was pleasantly surprised by the immense, mouth-watering selection that Le Viennois offered, from fresh baked goods to tortes and pastries. The prices are standard for a patisserie.

While here, I selected two individual pastry slices. The first was a classic mille-feuille; that is, what is known in English as a napoleon. It was very good; however, the chocolate and almond cake (which I believe was named after the establishment) was much better. I enjoyed the chocolate slice very much and could taste it was made with skill and only quality ingredients.

Looking back, Le Viennois is a very good, authentic patisserie and probably (since I have yet to visit others, although the places I visit are usually the better ones, because I have good taste) the best in Chicoutimi.

Rating: ***1/2

Melrose Bakery [International Correspondent] [RIP]

 

 Bakery: Melrose Bakery 
Address: 707 Hamilton Rd, London ON 
Website: http://www.melrosebakery.ca/
Style: North American, Wedding Cakes 
Price: $-$$ 

Every time we're in London, we eat at the same Portuguese place and across the street from there is Melrose Bakery. I noticed it before, but never went inside, because it looks like a place that only has cakes, especially wedding cakes. This must be their specialty and what everyone comes here for. From the outside, that's all you see and their website doesn't mention anything else except the cakes, but they actually have a few "Canadian classics" to choose from.

When we were there, we bought danishes. I don't remember how much they cost, but they were pretty cheap. We bought six, so we paid something like $6 or $7, but I thought it was a good price for what you get. I think they were pretty good for danishes. I normally don't like them unless they're really Danish, but I liked the dough they used. It was different from the usual danishes and so was the fruit, because they used real fruit and not the usual fruit filling they use (that sweet syrupy stuff). I even liked the glaze on top, though I don't know why we had to just get six danishes. I wanted something different to try too.

Anyways, even though we didn't pick out a lot, I still liked what we took and would recommend this bakery. I'd definitely return on the next trip to London.

Rating: ***1/2

Seventh Sister Bakery [RIP]

Bakery: Seventh Sister Bakery 
Address: 53 Roncesvalles Ave, Toronto ON 
Website: n/a 
Style: North American, Canadian 
Price: $ 

This place is little enough to miss and, indeed, I've actually done so a couple of times before I realized there was a bakery here that I had yet to try. ;) Seventh Sister is an adorably petite bakery and cafe with all baked goods presented (with labels, explanations and prices on each of them) in the window on small plates. There's not a lot of anything, in terms of number, and I assume that once the plate has been cleaned out for the day, that's it, but the selection of bite-size cookies, squares and danishes is pretty impressive, in that they put in the effort to actually be creative (like the Star Wars inspired baked goods and potato chip muffins) and feature goodies that you won't find anything else. And the inside is just so... cute and kitschy (the guestbook was an especially nice touch ^^) that it totally inspired me -- this is how my tea shop would be (don't mind me.. I have my delusions)! It was great.

Nonetheless, I picked out (the descriptions of ingredients and texture on each item really helps you out -- I have to give them bonus points for that) two treats this time around: the Nova Scotia oatcake (which I know I won't get anywhere else; $2.00), a big brick of chewy oats spiced with a whole bunch of cinnamon. If you love cinnamon, as I do, this is a good thing to try. :) I'd only say that it crumbled a little too easily and, ha ha ha, it tasted really... healthy (not necessarily a bad thing, I suppose), but other than that, it was tasty....

Although it couldn't beat item #2: Cherry Chewbaccas ($1.00/each or 3/$2.75) which were described as being made with oats, coconut, and maraschino cherries, but had this complexity that made it hard to figure out just what they contained. Except that they did *not* contain "chewy wookies" -- seriously, people like me do exist out there! :D So, yes, cherries, oats and coconuts, possibly something else, cram-packed into a square and topped with a generous layer of butter cream icing. These were good. Too good... no, they were only too small. I now realize (as three people tried these) that the reason these have a three-item deal is because you buy all three for yourself. Mmmm...

A great find! Actually, I can't remember the last time I was so excited about a review, but that's what wookies do to you. :P

Rating: ***1/2

The Baykery [International Correspondent]

Bakery: The Baykery
Address: 21 Bay St., Barry's Bay ON 
Website: n/a
Style: Canadian, North American 
Price: $-$$

[editor's note: this place definitely gets points for wit and originality with that name! ;D Bay St in Barry's Bay -- how fitting and oh so punny]

This summer, we went to Barry's Bay and noticed Baykery, so we decided to stop and check what they had. I'd call the bakery's selection pretty good and including a lot of traditional favourites like cookies, pies, tarts. That sort of thing. We actually ended up taking a few things and I liked them a lot, but some were better than others. I think they were well priced, though I don't remember how much anything cost; I'd say pretty cheap.

First, I picked out a pecan tart, because I like them. I don't remember there being anything special about these ones except that they were good. Maybe the tart shell fell apart too easily or was too soft, but I can't think of anything bad.

The next thing was an apple fritter, which was my favourite out of everything and probably the best apple fritter I had that wasn't Mennonite. This was really good. I liked the dough and all the apples in it. I'd recommend the bakery (the "Baykery") just because of the apple fritters.

The third thing was kind of disappointing, because I thought it was filled with fruit, like some sort of date square, something like that. Actually, it turned out to be a peanut butter and jam square, so I didn't really like the idea of it. It was chewy, so I liked that, but wouldn't take it again.

Finally, as the fourth item, I picked out a Chelsea bun, which is basically like a cinnamon bun with raisins in it. I thought it was okay. I had nothing against it, but the apple fritter was really the best out of everything. I would definitely recommend it.

Rating: ***1/2

Urmia Market

Bakery: Urmia Market 
Address: 5321 Yonge St, North York ON 
Website: n/a 
Style: Persian, Middle Eastern
Price: $-$$ 

The second stop on my K-town North Cake Tour, Urmia Market is a Persian supermarket/deli with hot food, meat and grocery items. They also have their own bakery section (ha ha the reason why they're up here! ^.^) with freshly baked breads (there's actually a sign on the door that it comes hot from the oven at 9:00 each morning), like really well-priced Barbary bread ($1.50) and, of course, sweeter varieties as well ($2.99): milk, sweet, and walnut Gata breads. In addition to this, they have a small pastry counter with walnut cookies, some sort of cake, traditional baklava and other cookies and sweets that I have yet to see anywhere else, and which are presumably Persian specialties. At $22.00/kg for everything in the sweets case, they're at your standard baklava price, though certainly lower in the usual range, and a few pieces will set you back more than $5, doubtless. Um, I'll probably be back for those on a return trip. :P

This time, because I am a sucker for yeast baked goods and also because I had bought a milk Gata as my first experience with Persian baking and liked it, I went for one of the sweet breads. Having had the milk variety before, I went with the walnut this time around. This a round, fairly dense sweet bread topped with sesame seeds and filled with a bit of that milky-buttery mass, the same as was in the milk Gata, as well as big chunks of walnut. I would have liked a bit more filling -- in the very middle, this was really tasty and the two fillings went so well together, but once you got to the edge, it was pretty much plain dough. That was really my only negative criticism. Simple, but yummy in taste... I'm wondering if the pastries will be just as tasty. Time will tell (well, and weather and driving conditions :/)!

Rating: ***

H Mart

Bakery: H Mart 
Address: 5317 Yonge St, North York ON (and several other locations)
Website: www.hmartca.com
Style: Korean
Price: $ 

Last week, I visited Koreatown North for the first time. Well, this isn't entirely true, as I had driven past this stretch of Yonge between the 401 and Steeles (and it really continues onward into Thornhill and Richmond Hill), but it was the first time I had actually parked and walked a few blocks where the highest concentration of Korean businesses were located... only to find that there just aren't any bakeries. *pouts* Okay, so that wasn't the sole purpose of my trip there, but I still came away with two semi-bakeries. :) The first of the two was H Mart, North York (H Mart Finch is located a few blocks away) which is a Korean supermarket with several locations throughout the city, mostly in the Yonge St vicinity. These two, being smaller, are more reminiscent of convenience stores and seem to get their nonetheless impressive selection of ready-made food from the larger branches. The baked goods, in particular, come from the big H Mart in Richmond Hill (which I've gone to multiple times, but never tried seeing as, well, I'm more interested in the other bakeries on the plaza ;)), but it was still an opportunity.

All locations carry quite a number of typically Korean sweet buns (the majority of which are filled with pastry cream ^^), cakes, and larger loaf cake-like creations, filled with red bean or walnut. The buns are especially cheap, all of which are $1.50 or under; therefore, very well priced. I'm not sure about the big store, but the North York location had no signs or labels, so I uh, picked out this one ($1.30) because... I could see there was cream on the inside.... which is very shameless of me, but Korean cream buns are very yummy. ^.^

Sadly, I opened it up and could instantly smell peanuts. Personally, I'm not sure what the almonds were doing there, since almonds and peanuts just don't match. But that might just be because I don't like peanuts. Yes, I don't like peanuts so this peanut smell was pretty unpleasant. Turns out that it was peanut pastry cream and lots of it. A cross between whipped cream and peanut butter, and I wasn't exactly loving it, but that's partly my found for giving in to my creamy urges. XD Nevertheless, I tried a piece and gave the rest to one brother.

Overall, it wasn't the greatest, even disregarding the peanuts. The dough wasn't as fluffy as I had come to expect from Korean bakeries, slightly denser and not so moist, but at least it was loaded with cream... and hey! I was a little frustrated that this isn't my first time coming to a Korean bakery and not having anything explained or having things wrongly labelled! :/ Taking everything into consideration, it was alright, but not the best I've had.

Rating: **1/2

Sobeys

 Bakery: Sobeys
Address: 511 Maple Grove Dr, Oakville ON (tons of other locations, just with no poppy seed XD)
Website: www.sobeys.com
Style: North American 
Price: $

I'm not one to do such giant supermarket chains, mainly because these supermarket chains also happen to have the worst bakery sections you can encounter. Sobeys isn't great itself, but then again, it's not Loblaws, so it is one step ahead of its game.  Nevertheless, it's not everyday that you randomly pop into a Sobeys and find them selling poppy seed buns; therefore, a post was absolutely necessary! O_O

And yes, I did say poppy seed buns. POPPY SEED BUNS at SOBEYS!?! If someone had told me this, I would have laughed at them and played along, just for fun, but never would I have believed it. Chocolate danishes, perhaps. But poppy seed buns: never. That being said, I've been to Sobeys locations in this part of the GTA, from downtown Toronto to Mississauga, and know that you won't find poppy seed buns at any old supermarket, although I have no idea what makes this location on Cornwall Rd so special. It just boggles the mind.

Sobeys seems to be taking the cue from Metro and introducing a series of all-butter, individually sold baked goods. At a standard Sobeys, this usually includes croissants, a pain au chocolat-looking creation, and occasionally the odd fruit danish. In addition to this, they also sell a few lacklustre cakes and the usual, pre-packaged muffins, cookies, and flaky strudels. Nothing too exciting and your best bet is most likely the butter goods. Because you can never have too much better. (Okay, yes, you can, but given how hard is to find bakeries that still bake with butter, the occasion should be celebrated ^^)

At the Oakville-Cornwall location, there were two bottom trays of the croissant rack that had no labels. One was a blueberry roll or bun; at any rate, something with blueberries that didn't feel the usual pie gloop. On the very last row, there were these spirals and at first glance, I thought I was seeing things. Was that a poppy seed bun? After much stooping and examining, I did indeed discover that they were poppy seed buns. Stunned beyond belief, I had to take one ($1.49). That being said, they weren't the greatest I've had. Actually, they had been sitting out in the open for too long since the dough, especially the outside layers, were tough and chewy like a strip of meat. Not the experience I had been hoping for. Once in the middle, it was pretty good: the poppy seeds were surprisingly generous and I liked the unique combination of crumble and this light glaze. The most notable was of course that "100% butter" dough which was, in fact, extremely buttery. Despite my previous conviction, I'd almost say too buttery. The dough was very rich and I think in a croissant that would be great since there's no other flavour clash, but it was so strong that you couldn't really appreciate those poppy seeds. And poppy seeds need to be appreciated. :3

Sobeys on its own would probably get *1/2 -- it's not the greatest supermarket bakery by a long shot with no real options or exciting treats, but including this stunning find...

Rating: **1/2 

Aux Delices [International Correspondent]

Bakery: Aux Delices 
Address: 32 Byward Market Square, Ottawa ON 
Website: www.auxdelicesbakery.com
Style: North American 
Price: $$ 

We tried to find some bakeries to visit while we were in Ottawa, but in the time we were there, this was the only one we saw. Actually, we spotted a Middle Eastern bakery once, but it was too late and it was already closed, so this was it. Even if I didn't really want to look for bakeries, I was pretty disappointed with Ottawa's food, unless we just didn't know where to go for the good stuff. I tried to do my research though.

Anyways, Aux Delices is a bakery in Byward Market, one of the famous attractions in Ottawa and sells mostly cakes and flans, that sort of thing. They had a window with everything laid out, but I thought it pretty boring. I guess I was thinking there would be something more exciting because of the location. I remember that there was a lot of chocolate. We had a hard time picking something to try, so that's why I just ended up getting one slice of cake. I don't know what it was (I also don't remember how much it cost, but it didn't seem too expensive. Average), but it was a sort of maple chocolate cake. The taste was alright, but everyone thought that it was way too sweet.

Yeah, I guess I'd say that this was nothing special and couldn't compare with the kouing aman I had in Montreal. [Editor's note: look out for that review soon! ^.^] That was the best thing from my trip.

Rating: **