Hot Oven Bakery

Bakery: Hot Oven Bakery
Address: 2226 Bloor St W, Toronto ON (2 other locations)
Website: http://hotovenbakery.com/index.html
Style: North American, Pan-European 
Price: $-$$

The Hot Oven is a semi-chain of bakeries in West Toronto with (now) three locations: one at Royal York, the other at Runnymede and a brand new one on Roncesvalles. Going into the Royal York one, nothing really appealed to me and I recall the highlights including something like brownies and cookies. At least, I wasn't so eager to pop into one a second time, since such things really don't interest me all that much. Still, the place on Bloor at Runnymede turned into my final stop on a bakery-filled trip this Saturday. I don't know if I had come at the wrong time of day or their selection varies from location to location, but there was plenty here, from, yes, brownies and cookies to yummy-looking apple strudel to danishes, butter tarts, macarons and baklava. It seems like they have almost everything and every style you're craving -- it's a real Canadian hodge-podge. ;DD Well-priced, clearly labelled in terms of what/how much it is, you feel like you can make an educated decision (even if it might take you a while to narrow it down)

Having already loaded up on pastries from Pâtisserie 27 (seen in the back XD) and deliciously aromatic baked goods from Anna's, we decided to go a little healthier here and finally settled on the raspberry loaf cake (whole grain and low fat -- $5.50), simply because it's so hard to get anything with raspberries! Other varieties included blueberry, banana, date and nut, and Belgian chocolate. This was actually more of a giant muffin, especially considering the texture and the crumble on top, but still tasty with chunks of raspberries and some seeds (flax?) to give it a curiously nice crunch every now and then. This is perfect for those who want a good, lighter snack but want something that's not sweet and a little healthier.

The verdict: not bad and with plenty to choose from, I can come back a few times and still get something new each time. ;) A pleasant surprise!

Rating: ***