Seara Bakery and Pastry

Bakery: Seara Bakery and Pastry
Address: 605 Rogers Rd, Toronto ON (Two other locations) 
Website: http://www.searabakery.com/
Style: Portuguese
Price: $ 

Last weekend was particularly frigid (not that this week was any better, but I digress) so instead of my usual trip to Toronto, I decided to drive more than walk and, just like that, I ended up on Rogers Rd, in the north part of The Junction -- as with a great many Portuguese bakeries, they also have multiple locations, one on Keele and the other in Woodbridge/Vaughan. The area, more specifically, is home to quite a few Portuguese businesses and you can bet that whenever you have a certain number of Portuguese businesses, you'll have Portuguese bakeries. And as far I could tell, there were three of them (there could be more, but construction made me want to just get out of there)! One, a fairly extensive bakery chain, has already been reviewed and well, here are the other two. Nice. *-*

The first is Seara, discreetly tucked into a rather unexciting plaza; had I not done my research beforehand, I would have never said there was a bakery there (and a churrasqueira next door) Nevertheless, there's a certain repertoire that one comes to expect from Portuguese bakeries: coconut custard baked goods, a couple of cake slices, and, of course, those famous custard tarts. Seara is no exception: one display case is devoted to about half a dozen cake and fancier pastries and another case that houses several varieties of custard baked goods and fried dough. As always nothing is labelled or priced, so it's pure intuition, although this bakery is also no exception to the relatively good deal rule: all individual items seem under $2.00.

Item #1 was the Portuguese doughnut (around $1.25). I once got a Portuguese cookbook and the author said that these flat fried doughnuts rolled in cinnamon and sugar are, like custard tarts, a staple of every Portuguese bakery (whether that's true, I don't dare judge) -- it's kind of funny that it's so hard to find them in Mississauga! O.o Um, always a sucker for fried dough, I couldn't resist and grabbed this monstrous piece of dough, fried until golden brown with a delicate hint of lemon and then rolled generously in cinnamon and sugar. Chewy dough, lots of cinnamon -- this was fantastic and did in fact beat out the uh, second Portuguese doughnut of the day (hey! I couldn't resist! :P).

Item #2 was... I should really figure out what all these are called; this is probably my favourite actual baked good ($1.90): a relatively flat dough folded over a layer of coconut and dusted with sugar. Mmm.. it might not beat those doughnuts, but I do like this! This one in particular was a little dry, slightly too hard, especially along the ends, so it's not my favourite spot for them, but nonetheless, good stuff.

In short: Seara was my favourite Portuguese bakery in Little Portugal (Rogers Rd offshoot)! ^^;

Rating: ***