St. Urbain Bagel Bakery

Bakery: St. Urbain Bagel Bakery 
Address: 7077 Bathurst St, North York ON 
Website: n/a
Style: Jewish 
Price: $$ 

Very often, these "bagel places" have limited options for those who are there for something more sweet. I popped in to try the bagels, not expecting too much for the Cake Tour, and came away ecstatic. That being said, St Urbain does not have very much selection. On a Saturday afternoon, the store was more or less empty, with a few racks of "danishes" (poppy seed, chocolate or what looked like prune) and a couple pound cakes as well as absolutely enticing, giant apple cakes (which, given the bakery's success, I need to try next time). There was a deal going on with the danishes (buy 4, get 2 free) which I should have taken advantage of, had I known; nevertheless, limited labelling and no prices on anything besides flat bagels.

Mooooore, give me more!! *______*

No matter the price, though, I could not resist the poppy seed bun. ;) It turned out to be (or must have been) around $2-something if I subtract it from the cost of a six-pack of regular bagels. Not bad, and that's certainly the case given how amazing it was. Just a few days earlier, I had been thinking that, whether it was me or quality is constantly going down, I had not been "wowed" by a bakery -- especially a new bakery -- for some time. There have been fairly good bakeries along the way, but it's been a while since anything has blown my mind. Until St. Urbain's poppy seed bun. Oh man, there is still hope! *-* One bite and I could not believe how delicious this was! Everything was perfect: generous poppy seed mass folded together with the thinnest layers of dough. The sugar/honey pooled at the bottom, creating a chewy crust and then a crunchier one on top with a layer of hardened sugar and glaze; add the soft, poppy seed-rich inside and you get three different taste sensations and all transport you to cloud nine. This was so insanely good that my mouth is watering as we speak. Wow. Perfection.

All I'm hoping for now is that the next time I'm in the neighbourhood (which isn't often, unfortunately), that buy 4, get 2 free deal is still happening, because it's going to be 6 mind-blowing poppy seed buns for me... and maybe I'll throw that apple cake in there as well. :)

Rating: ****