Columbus Bakery

Bakery: Columbus Bakery
Address: 2111 Jane St, Toronto ON (another location at 2931 Dufferin) 
Website: n/a
Style: Colombian 
Price: $ 

On the same plaza as St. Pio, there's a teeny-tiny Colombian "bakery" which I had to try, simply because I'd like to have some sort of comparison to the only other Colombian place I've tried, that being Todo Rico. As with most/all South American 'bakeries' (well, this is my take on it), they're actually more of restaurant first, selling hot foods like empanadas, chicharron and various meat platters. Second place comes the baked goods, with breads stuffed with cheese and pastries and cookies with guava, cheese or caramel. I don't know about their original location on Dufferin, but it seems like there's a reason why all the Colombian (alright, perhaps it's more appropriate to say "Spanish-speaking" since I'm not that good to tell :P) people are coming for the sausages and empanadas. :/

Yup, this rounded up the CT3 and it wasn't such a great trip. Feeling a little cheated at Ma Maison, it still left the other bakeries somewhere in the dust, very far behind. Actually, I had to wait one week to write up this post, because I didn't want to look at the picture. x_x So, what happened? I ordered two of their "desserts" instead of the baked goods: mistake. For one, given you pay $1.00-$1.50 (which is CHEAP; yes, in capital letters!) for pretty much anything sweet at my local Colombian bakery, I was expecting the same knock-your-socks-off value here, especially given the neighbourhood. No prices are listed and you're a little startled to be paying $2.50 (!?!) for what costs $1.00 elsewhere. Even Kensington Market, which is not so dirt-cheap, sells it cheaper at Pancho's Mexican bakery. I mean, $2.50 isn't lots of money, but for a) what you get, and b) the quality/freshness of it, it was so not worth it!

First up was a creme caramel or some sort of custard ($2.50) which is sold in squares or as a whole tin. The caramel supposed to be on top was pretty runny and by the time it arrived home, most of it had made it down into the Styrofoam.. and the photo itself makes it look radioactive orange -- I have no idea why. It was white with a bit of brown on top. -.- Still, too eggy and not enough taste from the caramel, this was deemed "alright". 

The next item was supposed to be a favourite of mine: bread pudding. (torta de pan; $2.00) Looking at it, it didn't look too bad. It had more of this crumble on top instead of just the soft pudding, but oh man! I see this and it makes me shudder. This was *so* old. You know when you take a piece of bread, slice the crust and stick it in the fridge for a few days, it develops this stale crust around it and then the bread itself starts taking on the flavour of everything else in the fridge? Yup. The crust around this was thick and just not good. Cutting it off, it still had this stale taste to it and was strangely greasy, giving me this impression that they deep-fried it along with the empanadas or in some old oil. Maybe they did, but I don't think that's what bread pudding is supposed to be. Just no... my mom announced later in the weeks that she had bought me my bread pudding at Todo Rico and I was ready to puke at the words "bread pudding", but they restored my faith in the good stuff. :)

Like I said, I don't know about the original location, but there's no reason for me to return to this area (I actually only found the plaza itself while looking for the 401 exit) and I can't say I'll miss going to Columbus for a return trip. Maybe I'd like to revisit St Pio and give them a second chance (I really would, since their buns were good, but this place.. no thanks) :/

Rating: *1/2