Bakery:
J C Patissier
Address:
303 York Blvd, Hamilton ON
Website:
http://www.jcpatissier.ca/
Style:
North American, French
Price:
$$-$$$
Some more Hamilton bakeries coming your way! ^^ The first one up is J C Patissier, a French-inspired patisserie run by a husband and wife team of pastry chefs from various culinary backgrounds. This is, despite the name of the establishment, not overtly and exclusively "French" nor did I find much of a cultural fusion as the website detailed (on the contrary, I would have liked to see more "fusing" going on); there is a small selection of tarts and cakes, but like the blueberry cheesecake purchased, I wouldn't associate with any particular style, perhaps even a nondescript, pan-American style seen at most bakeries.
Nonetheless, the more European of the two items purchased, the apple tart, was definitely my favourite and the best of the two. A thick, shortbread crust with a filling of sliced apples and a sort of spongier mass. This wasn't the best I've ever had, but it was a good tart shell with a tasty filling.
I can't say the same thing for the cheesecake, but this might also be my bias against cheesecake that isn't Eastern European (or Japanese); rather, maybe I should just say "New York Style", which I'm afraid I simply can't stand. Other samplers didn't think it that bad, but I confess I just have this thing (hence telling everyone not to bring me cheesecake if they wish to bring me something from a new bakery) against very thick cheesecakes that taste like little more than a brick of Philadelphia. As objective as I try to be, I just... can't... like the stick-to-your-fork-and-upper-palette cheesiness of a New York style cheesecake. I also thought the little Christmas decoration, specifically the hard red and green sprinkles on top of the little dollop, didn't match well with the rich, creamy texture of the cheesecake. The thing is, it didn't feel as dense as it ended up being, so I was a little disappointed; I was hoping it would be something more unique.
In the end, I was a little disappointed with this bakery. I would have, however, picked something else for myself had I gone in person.
Rating: **1/2
Have been going here for some time, I find your review lacking at best. Have ordered birthday cakes a few times and they were AMZANING, and then have eaten here a few times both lunch and dessert, once again, lacking much. I too agree with you about cheesecake, not a fan period, however, from all the goodies sold here, you choose just two. Have you seen the cakes and other desserts on their Google site, there is a Thomas train made into a 3D real train, not a picture, did you see the Wedding Cakes? And then going into a not too French Patisserie did you even try a Macaron, no you did not. Or about the coffee, freshly ground or their mocha, which is made with chocolate and not cocoa powder. Our daughter was there at Xmas time and we made a wonderful Christmas gingerbread house with a group of other children, it was amazing! After reading this review and then eating at JC Pâtissier, I wonder about the many other reviews, at best this is a poor excuse for a review, if there was a review site for reviews; this would be at the bottom.
ReplyDeleteHi Pastryrocks,
DeleteThank you for visiting my little website. As the name indicates, this is my personal site and, as such, features purely personal reviews based on my experiences. My goal is to visit and review as many bakeries as possible; this site has been a labour of love more than anything else and, after 8 years and nearly 900 reviews, no one is supporting this site but myself and, obviously, I can't buy every product in every single bakery I visit. I also can't love every single bakery I go to and perhaps someone may not like the bakeries I find absolutely amazing; however, I don't let that get to me -- it'll be more stuff for me when I do go!
I have been doing this for a long time now and over the years, I like to think I've improved my style and become more objective with my reviews. At least, I try my best to offer an objective opinion of what the bakery has and then subjectively describe what I ate. Perhaps the bakery itself has improved as well in the 2 years following this review? This particular rating, however, is far from bad and I did make the stipulation that I would have probably enjoyed it more had someone else not treated me to their own picks. "Pretty good" is what I'd put my personal experience at and, judging from what I had, I'm not ashamed to say that.
People are more than entitled to their own opinion based on their own experiences and people are more than entitled to disagree with those opinions without it turning into a poor reflection of someone's credibility or personal taste. If you had a great experience at this bakery, I'm very happy about that. I always love hearing that people love and support their local bakeries just as I'm happy to read and contribute to the world of reviews and opinions... and many of those do appear as top picks as voted by other people. ;)
Keep on rocking those pastries and keeping bakery love alive!