Sweet and Salty Bakery

Bakery: Sweet and Salty Bakery 
Address: 2555 Dixie Rd, Mississauga ON
Website: n/a
Style: Polish
Price: $$ 

Attention bakery aficionados in Mississauga: there's a new bakery in town! This Polish bakery opened very quietly what seems like a little more than a month ago and is, in fact, in quite the obscure location, making it almost impossible to find for the casual passerby. Not very prominent signage and a hard-to-drive-into plaza located behind an Esso gas station at the busy Dundas and Dixie intersection doesn't help matters much. If I weren't looking for it, I would have never noticed it... That being said, I was informed of this bakery's opening/existence thanks to my mom, who saw an ad for it in the local Polish paper.

The highlight: a good ol' poppy seed bun

Unlike all existing Polish "bakeries" in the GTA, Sweet and Salty is actually a bakery only. No cold cuts counter, no imported products on the shelves -- just baked goods, plain and simple and I really laud them for that, though at the same time I confess it probably isn't the easiest undertaking. Whether it was due to their recent opening or not, the baked goods selection isn't really that large (some delis have more, in fact) and, especially in comparison to the size of the business, the bakery comes across as big, empty and commercial. There are bakeries that sell much less and still come across as having a full stock; perhaps spreading the baked goods out instead of jamming them all on two industrial racks would help?? Anyways, while they don't come across as very Polish from the outside, the baked goods are just that: cakes sold per weight behind the counter, a couple smaller items (cheese and poppy seed buns) and all the classics such as poppy seed rolls, gingerbread cakes, and loaves of bread. Items are priced and labelled in English with a price per kilo list at the counter for the cakes, making it more approachable for the curious visitor than your usual deli. All self-serve items were well-priced and fairly typical of Polish businesses; the cheesecake I got, however, was quite expensive.

But let's get to it! ^.^ Naturally, I couldn't pass up the poppy seed bun ($1.59, I believe). This was the best thing I bought here. It was a little different than usual Polish bun: it was rolled like a cinnamon bun with a tasty poppy seed filling and icing and crumble on top. Soft and fresh -- just how I like them.

I do love my gingerbread, but overwhelming in the plum jam

The next thing I got was the gingerbread loaf cake ($5/each; there are actually two: one sold by piece and the other sold by weight). This was one of the more traditional gingerbread (I love gingerbread; if someone's got it, I bought it ;), with a nonetheless moist spiced dough separated with a layer of plum butter and topped with chocolate and slivered almonds. This was fairly good, but I feel like it was more assembled than baked; the plum butter as well as the chocolate glaze had no complexity and tasted like it was simply scooped out of a jar.

Pure, unadulterated cheesecake ;)

Lastly was just a classic "Viennese" cheesecake (forgot how much per kilo: I paid $9.50 for half a slab, around $3 more than the average deli). Like sweet cream ice cream, I love this type of cheesecake, not only for the taste, but only for the fact that it allows you to assess the quality of the cheese mass without additional nonsense like jelly. ;) This one was also pretty good: the cheesecake was fresh and moist. Everyone agreed it was nice, creamy, and stuck together very well. I can't say it was the best I've had, but it was certainly up there among the better ones. Not quite sure if it's worth the extra cost, but fairly tasty nonetheless.

Truth be told, Sweet and Salty didn't exactly knock my socks off, but it's still among the top Polish baked goods destinations in Mississauga and I do wish them the best of luck (just try make yourself a little more seen!).

Rating: ***