Peter's European Bakery and Deli

Bakery: Peter's European Bakery and Deli
Address: 3517 Lake Shore Blvd W, Toronto ON
Website: n/a
Style: Polish
Price: $-$$

It's not very often that I can report such good pieces of news (it's actually usually the opposite and I'm reporting the closure of a bakery previously reviewed here), but here it is: there's a brand new bakery in town and it's a Polish one! This bakery/deli opened towards the beginning of September (yes, I'm still a little behind with my posts) and unlike the vast majority of Polish "bakery and delis" in the GTA, these guys not only advertise that they have home-baked goodies, but I found they also tried to make the bright store with racks of baked goods in the window and signage in English a lot more open to those who don't happen to know Polish. This makes it one of the least intimidating Polish delis I've visited (my family is Polish, but, believe me, I still understand it can be a very daunting experience), so don't be scared to give it a try -- and the baked goods are yummy too. :P

Actually, spotting the two shelving units of treats in the window, they instantly felt familiar: so this was where Wisła deli got their yummy poppy seed baked goods from -- and, in fact, what makes Wisła deli so darn yummy! *-* I had a feeling that the latter didn't bake it themselves and I had always wondered who their suppliers were, since the baking was so unlike the usual, commercial bakery culprits. Expect fresh buns with generous fillings, Polish classics like cheesecakes and yeast-doughies (why not just copyright that here and now? :P), as well as a few more pan-European offerings like cookies and danishes, although at the same time, the selection wasn't as large as you might expect from an actual bakery versus the usual Polish deli. However, they had poppy seed and plenty of it when it did appear, so I mustn't complain. :P

So, I took away two items for my preliminary trip: the first was the poppy seed bun ($1.19). This and the larger poppy seed strudel ($4.99) aren't in any way strangers to me. I love both and will say that these are the best Polish poppy seed buns in the GTA. Yummy dough with tons of poppy seed mass inside (which is neither a sprinkling of whole poppy seeds nor the usual Polish poppy seed mass that I'm not too fond of) -- actually I'd even go so far and say that there's almost too much poppy seed mass at times; I could definitely do without the downright copious amounts of raisins, though .*doesn't like raisins*

The second item was a slab of cheesecake (pre-sliced in pound-cake sized rectangles and sold by weight; I paid $8.45 for my piece). There was just one variety that day so not sure if they change it up or it's always the same, but mine was the standard plain cheesecake (but with chocolate dough) with chocolate and walnut on tops. It was nice and fresh, not crumbling like some I've tried, as well as being rich and fluffy. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was the best cheesecake I've had, but it was a good one. :)

In the handful of actual Polish "bakeries" in the GTA, it's great to welcome Peter's to that list. They don't have that much and the store has more of that deli vibe than a bakery, but tasty, well-priced baked goods (especially of the poppy seed variety *-*) are what makes it worth a visit.

Rating: ***1/2