Julien's Patisserie

Bakery: Julien's Patisserie, Bakery & Cafe
Address: 5517 Young St, Halifax NS 
Website: http://julienshydrostone.ca/ 
Style: French, Canadian
Price: $$ 

Yes! I have some more Atlantic bakeries up for review again, after a little more than a week in Halifax and St. John's (NL) and Julien's is the first one up. I actually had this place on my list last year, but never made it. This year, I stayed pretty much a block away and, having arrived very late from Iceland the previous night without dinner, I had no food on me and needed breakfast. My hosts told me that I had two local options: Starbucks or "the French patisserie" and you KNOW which one I opted for! ^-^

The wonders of French dough... ex. #408

Julien's is an absolutely bustling cafe with people constantly popping in for some bread or to sit down and eat pastries and while I have to say I envisioned Hydrostone Market as more of a market, Julien's is still a charming bakery with countless options that aren't necessarily limited to the viennoiseries in the front case and tarts and quiches towards the back; they also had cookies, some sort of squares, and both European and more home-style (ahem, boring...) white and whole wheat breads. The tarts looked good, but were around $4.00, and for the very budget-conscious me (who blew all her money abroad ;_;), I chose the baked goods instead, which are labelled but not priced. Or was it the tea that wasn't priced? At any rate, I paid $5.50 total (with taxes) for a big mug of tea and a baked good.

The raspberry one being unavailable, I made an impromptu decision and went instead with the abricotine, the apricot pastry. This was really good -- I'm not the biggest fan of the apricot ones, since some places are a little too generous with the glaze and the cream bed, resulting in soggy dough. I like to appreciate French dough as well as the filling and Julien's got it right: two apricot halves, no gloopy glaze, delicious flaky dough and just the right amount of cream tucked into the middle. Mmm... if I didn't have any more bakeries to do in Halifax, I'd come here for breakfast every day. ;) Of course, the Cake Tour must always go on~!

Rating: ***1/2