La Boulangerie Moderne (de Montréal)

Bakery: La Boulangerie Moderne (aka La Boulangerie de Montréal) 
Address: 150 rue Ste. Catherine O., Montréal QC 
Website: http://www.mbco.ca/
Style: French, North American
Price: $$ 

Well, now, this seems to be a place of two names. O.o At first I thought I'd forgotten the name, but there are results for La Boulangerie Moderne in the location I'm thinking about, so perhaps it's a recent re-branding? Nevertheless, given this "bakery's" location in the food court of the Complexe Desjardins, you could hardly attribute to this being first and foremost a bakery. More than that, it's a slightly chicer option for sandwiches and light lunches in the mall. Stepping inside and checking out their counter space is a little unnecessary, since everything in terms of baked goods are pretty much clustered at the corner facing the corridor. They have a few breads and even fewer baked goods, most of which aren't anything elaborate (on my visit, the selection of muffins was probably the most notable offering), although they have a few danish-style treats. I mentioned "pretty much clustered in the corner" above and, thinking back, I'd rephrase that to piled up in the corner. With variety already not that impressive, piling everything in one nondescript bunch isn't the greatest of presentation options, in my opinion. Not only was nothing priced or labelled, but it wasn't that easy to figure out just what they had or what it was. It's a little awkward and inconvenient.

Nonetheless, I took the cinnamon bun (around $2.75), not only because I knew for certain what it was, but it definitely looked like the best thing there. Actually, it was probably as Danish a danish I've ever seen not made by a Danish bakery. O_O And this came as a pleasant surprise. Multi-layered, buttery dough that had a nice crispy flakiness with a softer insider. Nice amount of cinnamon filling, though perhaps a little too much pooled in the middle, and just a little glaze on top. Not bad, not bad at all. I have to say I wasn't expecting that!

Given the selection (or lack thereof) and not very streamlined buying experience, I'm not sure this would be my go-to bakery destination. You don't exactly have that many options in the direct vicinity, however, so it's a good place to stop on the way to somewhere. I just wish there were more "bakery" to it.

Rating: ***