Kensington Natural Bakery

Bakery: Kensington Natural Bakery
Address: 460 Bloor St W, Toronto ON
Website: http://kensingtonnaturalbakery.ca/
Style: European, North American
Price: $

I've been walking past this bakery for years and never went in. I once poked my head in the window and found that it looked quite empty and didn't have much there in the way of baked goods, so I did some online research and found opinions quite mixed, with some very vocal negative reviews, so I still walked past and didn't go in. A couple of weeks ago, I was in Greektown (on the Danforth) and popped into the Big Carrot health food supermarket to check it out. Passing through the bakery section (a couple of shelves of baked goods from various reputable bakeries), I was downright amazed to find a poppy seed bun. Had to blink a few times. ;D Yup, it was a German-style poppy seed twist bun, in a health food supermarket from a natural bakery. And it turned out to be from these guys. At first I wasn't sure if this was indeed the place, but it turns out it was. After all that time, I've been walking past poppy seed buns... unforgivable!

In addition to these goodies, they have various other French dough baked goods such as danishes and croissants, made with butter and other simple ingredients. They likewise have brownies, squares, and cookies, with a great many vegan (no dairy) options. The selection is little more limited at the Big Carrot, but the bakery itself has quite a few choices. What else is notable is that everything is super, super affordable! Buttery baked goods at $1.60, tax included -- what an absolute steal! Cookies are $1.25 as are the still soft day-old breads.

So, I got the poppy seed bun ($1.60; $1.99 at the Big Carrot). Honestly I was a little wary because it was a little more complex with a maple syrup glaze and sesame seeds; I prefer my poppy seed buns simple and classic, but it took just one bite to win me over. Fantastic buttery dough that's soft and chewy with this pooling of golden buttery dough on the bottom... *melts* Delicious maple syrup glaze and just enough poppy seed for the kind of bun it was, though I could have liked a little more. This was so good; it's like the perfect combination of flaky, buttery French dough and German poppy seed bun innovation. :D

In fact, I was so impressed, I walked by the bakery again this afternoon... and went out with three of them. :)

Rating: ***1/2

Red Sail Boat Bakery

Bakery: Red Sail Boat Bakery
Address: 2838 Victoria Park Ave, Toronto ON
Website: n/a
Style: Chinese
Price: $ 

During a rather impromptu trip to Scarborough/E Toronto, I decided to take an alternate route and spotted this bakery while driving past looking for something for lunch (which somehow ended up being in Jtown ^-^;;;). My bakery radar must have been working very well that day, since this is slightly hidden under the overhanging roof of this old plaza. Nevertheless, RSB is a small Chinese bakery with two racks of the usual meat and cream buns as well as drinks and a small menu of hot food. The buns and egg tarts are certainly the focal points, since they didn't have any of the more traditional pastries; rather, the baked goods have a distinctly homey look to them which is contrasted with the commercial look of a great many Chinese bakeries, especially those in Chinatown. These seem to come in smaller batches and come already packed in little baggies so that they're nice and fresh. Also contrasting with the typical roster of baked goods and filling, they had a few original offerings such as powdered-sugar dusted mango buns and wintermelon wife pastries, which I've seen sold pre-packed and imported from HK at my local Chinese supermarket, but never in a bakery. As with all Chinese bakeries: expect great prices and clear labelling.

So, I ended up with two items (it would have been more, but well, I was making my way to Viking Bakery that day ^-^): the first was an almond cookie ($1), because I knew that, no matter what, one of my usual co-samplers (my brother) was a fan of them. Knowing this, I had to give this one a try. Why, you may ask? Because it actually looked like an almond cookie! It was brown (not artificially coloured yellow)! It had slivers of almonds on top! These guys really tried to make this look appetizing and well, real. :/ And they did succeed: crunchy dough with a dollop of slivered almonds stuck on by a bit of sticky caramelized sugar, these were tasty as cookies. Perhaps the almond wasn't that obvious, but I can't recall the last time it actually was (besides the recommended almond cookies from Macau -- these are sold in supermarkets, but watch out since only one brand (I forgot the name) is good) A fairly good cookie overall.

Next was the red bean pastry ($1), which I've yet to see anywhere else, especially in this flat form resembling dorayaki (Japanese red bean pancakes). This consisted of thin, slightly flaky dough stuffed with a red bean filling and topped with a couple sesame seeds on egg wash. This was fairly tasty. I can't say it was anything really through-the-roof (I discovered today that everyone seems to rave about the egg tarts so perhaps that would have been a wise pick; oh well), but both items were pretty good. Not the best, but better than the average, character-less (except in their sign, of course ;D Ha ha ha, get it? Characters.. Chinese characters... uh, yeah, don't mind me....) Chinese bakery.

Rating: ***

Celena's Bakery

Bakery: Celena's Bakery
Address: 2036 Danforth Avenue, Toronto ON
Website: http://www.celenasbakery.com/
Style: British, Canadian
Price: $-$$ 

Well, it didn't take me very long to return to Viking Bakery (^^) and given that it wasn't freezing and icy like it was last time, I thought I'd explore the street a little more this time and lo and behold! I came upon a second bakery! I love when that happens. :) Anyways, Celena's is about two blocks away and has quite a bit of breads and baked goods housed behind the glass, from baked-from-scratch pies to muffins and a couple varieties of squares. Expect classic Canadian bakery fare (well, judging by the giant Britain flag behind the menu, perhaps that's only partly correct?) with a few interesting additions like the apple cinnamon doughnut muffin, which was, among other things, calling my name as well. Yes, doughnut muffin. One item. :P

Instead, I went for their date squares ($2.49, no tax), which looked quite tasty. A large slab of chewy dough on the bottom, date paste with chunks of fruit in the middle and a delicious, equally chewy granola on top with large pieces of crumble. Mmm... this is one reason why I'm so fond of date squares! The proportions were just right: not too sweet and not too much date to make it overpowering. The texture of the dough was perfect and I'd certainly pop in again the next time I'm in the neighbourhood!

Rating: ***

Banh Mi Factory

Bakery?: The Original Banh Mi Factory
Address: 888 Dundas St E, Mississauga ON (Inside Chinatown)
Website: n/a
Style: Vietnamese
Price: $ 

Well, this may look like a bit of a surprising choice, especially seeing as 99% of customers doubtless come here for the banh mi (Vietnamese subs) and perhaps their practically solid bubble teas, but the Original Banh Mi Factory (with a few more locations in Toronto itself) seems to be the hub for all kinds of Vietnamese food, from their sandwiches to pho to homemade pickles and veggies to trays lining the takeout counter with various authentic desserts. Some come from other bakeries, but several items also seem to be made by them such as slices of cassava cake.

Intrigued by these deep fried dough balls ($2) next to the cash while waiting for a sub, I added them to my purchase after I was assured by the lady at cash that these were desserts (they better have been ^.^) -- they turned out to be deep-fried dough filled with what I assumed to be cassava filling (reminiscent of mashed sweet potato) coated with a thick sugar and sesame topping and flavoured simply with a hint of peanut, these were something different and quite tasty, especially the crispy dough and soft filling.

Although Banh Mi Factory proved not to be my favourite source for Vietnamese subs, nor for their baked goods (the bakery on the same plaza has some yummy stuff as does Bamboo Bubble Tea), but it's cheap, tasty and makes a good stop if you're shopping in Mississauga Chinatown.

Rating: **1/2

North Shore Pie Co. [RIP]

Bakery: North Shore Pie Co.
Address: 43 Roncesvalles Ave, Toronto ON
Website: http://northshorepies.com
Style: New Zealand
Price: $$ 

[EDIT: So Wisey's quickly changed names or hands and became North Shore Pie Co? At any rate, it's the exactly same locale, with the exact same goodies available for purchase. I'm a little confused, but here it is...]

I'm back after a slight delay. I've been feeling a little uninspired lately and dreaming of something somewhat grander (ha ha the Great Canadian Cake Tour does need expanding; perhaps a cross-country tour would do it? ;D), but I can't seem to stay away for too long. Not only that, but I have something exciting for today! ^-^

I'm in the Roncesvalles area about once a month so I pretty much know the street and all that's going on as if I actually lived somewhere nearby. For instance, there's a cake place opening up on Queen. It's not open yet, but peeking through the window, it looks gorgeous! On the lookout for that one, I didn't expect to turn the corner and encounter not only a brand new bakeshop, but one with New Zealand-style (writing this post made me realize that there is no adjective version.... fascinating) pies and baked goods. New Zealand!?! My jaw must have dropped to the sidewalk -- you know how much I love discovering baked goods from different and lesser known countries and New Zealand is like... the southern hemisphere's equivalent of Iceland and *that* is thrilling! :)

At first glance, it seems to be a meat pie place and little else. Poking your head into the door, you're greeted by rows of golden pies occasionally topped with mashed potatoes. Their varieties are listed on a sheet next to the cash and there are quite a bit of them -- I believe they also have some sweet pies as well, but clearly, the meat is where it's at; however, off to the side of the small establishment, there's a couple unique sweet treats. Names and prices are scribbled clearly on the glass, although for kiwi-newbies such as myself, it doesn't help all that much. ;) When I was there, there were a couple cookies, and three or four squares, including Afghan Cakes (resembling carrot cakes... I think :P) and Lamingtons (available in raspberry or chocolate), the latter of which I had to take.

So the Lamington ($2.90) it was. The sign read "raspberry/ chocolate", so I assumed it was chocolate on the inside; I only realized afterwards that there were actually two varieties: one wrapped in a raspberry coating and the other in the more traditional chocolate. These are more or less little sponge cakes fully coated (on all four sides) in a raspberry coating and then smothered in shredded coconut. Simple, but remarkably tasty. Great texture and especially for those who are fans of coconut. I, for one, came out satisfied. ^^;

Wisey's is such a convenient treat for me and it's one of these things that you'll have trouble finding anywhere else; add to that Down Under friendly service and that assortment of pies and you can count on me returning.

Rating: ***