Fox's Bakery and Deli

Bakery: Fox's Bakery & Deli
Address: 96 Victoria St, Barrie ON
Website: http://www.foxsbarrie.ca/
Style: North American
Price: $ 

A semi-recent trip to Barrie gave me one more bakery for the trying! :)

Usually, the term "bakery and deli" seems to have some European influence to it, and thus it came as a bit of a surprise to find Fox's stocked with goodies rarely seen in these parts such as Nanaimo bars (which are actually not as easy to find here?? I remember having Nanaimo bars everywhere as a kid... but then again, I *am* from Calgary, so it must be a west(er) coast thing ;P). Add into that mix mini danishes, brownies, butter tarts, pies, and cookies and you're getting as Canadian as it can get.

At the same time, the items that were bought didn't have that small bakery feel to them. I really had a hard time believing that they were baked by them as the website states, since they just seem so... commercial in feel but I can't seem to pinpoint why I say so. Perhaps they're also a wholesale baker? Or it's simply the pretty darn huge building in the industrial sector? Not sure. Nonetheless, prices are pretty cheap, with individual items costing anywhere from the cents to under $2.

For sampling, I got three mini danishes ($0.70/each) in a variety of fillings. One was apple, another strawberry and I forgot what the third was. All had a little swirl of what tasted like cream cheese icing on top. The danishes were very soft and, mostly likely given their size, had just a minute dollop of filling. I would have liked to taste something other than the dough, since as they were, the three danishes didn't taste that different from each other.

The next item was what looked like some sort of chocolate cake; in reality, it was a brownie topped with a pretty thick layer of chocolate and vanilla icing. ($1-something) Everyone of us (well, one besides me XD) agreed that it was a little overwhelming. Then again, I can't say I'm a brownie fan, nor am I chocolate fan. However, sampler #2 was a chocolate-lover and he said it was more sugary than chocolatey.

For that real richness, there's always the Nanaimo bar. ($1-something) ;) I was strangely fond of these things when I was younger and recall constantly being denied them by my mom, who said they were the most unhealthy thing in the bakery, ha ha! This was a fairly standard bar that didn't really stand out in any way. It would have been better had the chocolate not melted (stupid hot weather -_-), but that can't be helped, and if perhaps the bottom layer wasn't so thick and, especially, so... compact. Out of the three items, this was still my favourite... though I can't quite say this is my favourite stop for baked goods in Barrie.

Rating: **