Plaisir Sucré

Bakery: Plaisir Sucré
Address: 2668 Arbutus St, Vancouver BC
Website: facebook
Style: French
Price: $$ 

Another tour in the Kitsilano area led me to this authentic French patisserie on Arbutus. Plaisir Sucré may not be the largest or fanciest bakery in the neighbourhood, but the wonderful display of tasty, reasonably-priced baked goods and pastries is not to be missed -- to be quite honest with you, I can't understand why there weren't line-ups to the door like other bakeries I had gone to nearby. O.O In terms of selection, there was enough for me to have trouble deciding what to get; with tarts under $4 and buttery viennoiseries at around $3, I just couldn't resist finally getting something a little more special, but even then that left me with countless choices: do I get the raspberry tart, my perennial favourite? Or try something else? Everything looked so good!

Given the fact that my touring on foot had only just begun, I also wanted to pick something that wouldn't fall apart upon transport, and so, in the end, I went for the almond tart ($3.65), which was a delicious shortbread shell filled with a moist and spongy almond mass and a few slivered almonds sprinkled on top. The glazed top kind of had the look and feel like it had been pressed with saran wrap and the larger version seemed more exciting with some sort of fruit added to the almond mass, but it was nonetheless a delicious treat and a welcome break from the same old buns and danishes. :)

Rating: ***

Terra Breads

Bakery: Terra Breads
Address: 2380 W 4th Ave, Vancouver BC (+3 locations)
Website: http://www.terrabreads.com/
Style: Canadian 
Price: $$-$$$ 

Terra Breads has four locations throughout southern Vancouver and, as the name indicates, they specialize in more rustic breads along with homemade granola and several varieties of focaccia. Their selection of sweets is a little less gourmet artisan and features mostly classic cookies, muffins, and scones with a few "surprises" in the form of fruit tarts, croissants, and biscotti -- nothing too crazy or extensive. Actually, I stumbled upon this bakery in Granville Island and thought that maybe their other locations would be a little less... pricey. So, on a miserably rainy day when going outside was not in any way fun, I decided to keep my day's Cake Touring close to where I was staying, so I could at any time run a few blocks to my room and dry off. That meant W 4th and that meant the very busy Terra Breads. ;)

Somewhat to my disappointment, the prices were unchanged, as was the selection: the identical array of tarts and cookies, but I was intent on grabbing something. It was this or nothing but getting wet -- and there had to be a silver lining to that giant rain cloud! XD

The most unique and appetizing product at a reasonable price was the cinnamon brioche with pecans ($3.50), a muffin-shaped buttery bun with a flakier top coated in salted caramel icing and big chunks of pecans. I microwaved it a little to soften the dough, melt the sauce, and bring out amazing aromas -- the whole kitchen smelled like freshly baked buns! This rich, tasty treat, however, reached its peak with the photographed top. Peeling away those sticky, nut-laden layers, I was left with a plain, pretty uneventful sweet bun that still tasted good, but had lost its excitement. A little more cinnamon and sugar rolled in with the dough would have done wonders....

Rating: **1/2

Patisserie Lebeau

Bakery: Patisserie Lebeau 
Address: 1728 W 2nd Ave, Vancouver BC
Website: http://grababetterwaffle.com/
Style: Belgian, Waffles
Price: $$

In a pocket of small shops strangely sandwiched in between luxury car dealerships and industrial businesses, there is Patisserie Lebeau, a Belgian bakery specializing in -- you guessed it -- authentic Belgian waffles. With an impressive selection of both ready and made-to-order waffles, both sweet and savoury, I can definitely say that I've never seen anyone with so many types of waffles. I didn't even think it possible. O.O Costing $3.00 and upwards, there's chocolate dipped, jam stuffed, topped with powdered sugar or fresh fruit.... Of course, there is also an ample selection of classic French pastries like croissants, danishes, brioche; there before Christmas, they also had German stollen.

Despite the above, I did not get a waffle. .___.; I have to say I've never really had a great Belgian waffle and so it didn't appeal to me, though while eating my treat on the spot, I did eventually regret my choice due to how many people popped in for waffles; perhaps, after all, it would have been smarter (maybe even more enjoyable?) to have grabbed a waffle. Oh well...

Advertising that this was a new addition to their repertoire, I went instead for the pistachio danish ($3.65 + tax). This was a nice big pastry with flaky dough rolled with not that much pistachio, though there was more than was on top, and then brushed with glaze on top. Maybe it wasn't as buttery and flaky as I like it, the glaze being the most flavourful, but this was a nice, tasty treat on an insanely rainy day. :)

Rating: ***

The Boss Bakery

Bakery: The Boss Bakery & Restaurant
Address: 532 Main St, Vancouver BC
Website: n/a
Style: Chinese
Price: $ 

My second stop in Vancouver's Chinatown, I found The Boss, like New Town, more restaurant than bakery, with most customers going directly to the booths in the back. The bakery portion was all either inside or on top of two display cases; there was very little selection and, with the exception of a few mousse cakes, products were limited to sweet and savoury buns. No cookies, no pastries; no black bean or red bean anything. I had a hard time deciding on what to take, simply because there was so little to choose from; essentially, the only reason I didn't just give up on the trip was because I was the only one at the bakery counter and felt bad walking out on the friendly worker. :/

So, though I don't usually get this, I thought the most promising sweet bun was the coconut bun ($1.35; the price tag said $1.00, which doesn't correspond to added taxes or anything O.o) This was a tasty bun with soft, moist dough with tons of shredded coconut rolled in, which is hard to find, so you had flavourful coconut with every bite; nevertheless, the dough was fresh and had nice texture, so it would have been alright had there been dry areas. A simple, pleasant treat that managed to redeem Chinatown bakeries (a little). ;)

Rating: **1/2

New Town Bakery

Bakery: New Town Bakery & Restaurant
Address: 148 E Pender St, Vancouver BC (+2 locations)
Website: http://newtownbakery.ca/
Style: Chinese, Filipino 
Price: $$$ 

Somewhat in the area, I thought of popping into a few Chinese bakeries while in Vancouver's Chinatown to increase my bakery count without spending a lot of money. ^^; Chinese bakeries may not be the greatest, but they are good for cheap eats. New Town, like some bakeries, is a bakery at the front and a restaurant serving "fast food" in the back of the space. The first thing that struck me was the full-serve counter with numbers, crowds fighting for those numbers, and signs warning of pickpockets -- certainly not the best atmosphere. :/ The selection is larger than usual, though this is mostly limited to savoury goods; after all, their specialty is meat-stuffed steam buns. There was also an increased variety of coconut and pineapple buns, along with different types of fried dough, both sweet and savoury, but little in terms of more traditional, "non-bun" baked goods.

Having already bought a coconut bun elsewhere, I thought I'd try one of their "fritters"; these are generally well executed. From bakeries to supermarkets to restaurants, they're usually nice and crisp on the outside, fluffy and soft on the inside. I've tried "ox tongue" and "oil strip" varieties elsewhere, so I was intrigued by their "Chinese cinnamon fritters" or "sweet cinnamon fritter" (something along those lines) -- the tray was almost empty, so they seemed to be a popular choice.

At $1.75 + tax (plus tax... what? when was the last time that happened!?), they ended up being pricier than I expected and were definitely not worth it (I also didn't appreciate the nasty look and annoyed attitude I got for buying one item...). In short: worst bakery of my BC Cake Tour, and quite possibly the worst Chinese bakery I've ever tried. :( This fritter was dense and stale; the outside was too brown and badly fried, with all the old oil, which tasted of salt and pepper pork chops, soaked up by the dough instead of creating a nice crisp outside. And where was the cinnamon? O.O This was super salty, and just plain... gross. I don't know how I managed to eat this! Cheap treat failure. ;_____;

Rating: *

Cartem's Donuterie

Bakery: Cartem's Donuterie
Address: 534 West Pender St, Vancouver BC
Website: http://www.cartems.com/
Style: Doughnuts
Price: $$ 

Cartem's is without a doubt Vancouver's gourmet doughnut destination, with a few locations throughout the city. I went to their downtown store to take a break from the pouring rain and to get my doughnut fix; after all, I was still reeling from the doughnut I had had in Tofino a few days earlier. *-* And the name is definitely an accurate one: Cartem's sells doughnuts and nothing but (except for coffee and drinks to go along with them). With regular flavours like vanilla, apple fritter, and chocolate along with monthly specials -- there's almost too much selection!

 The doughnuts come in three categories and three price points: doughnut rings, stuffed doughnuts, and apple fritters. The rings were $3.25, taxes included, and the cheapest of the three. I don't remember the others. I myself was stuck between the apple fritter and mulled wine, but seeing as it was the first of the month and the latter was a December special - I went for it. ^^ Look at this lovely little doughnut with a delicious spiced wine glaze with plenty of coverage and three little "berries" (in candy form) on top. Simple, elegant, and tasty. :) In some ways I was a little disappointed that the flavour variation was limited to the glaze and the doughnut underneath was a regular vanilla cake doughnut; I believe it to be the case with all doughnuts with the exception of those stuffed with cream. I mean, how amazing would it have been for the already delicious vanilla doughnut to have a bit of spice in it similar to the glaze. Team that up with that amazing wine glaze... that would have been heavenly! It would have blown my mind... but either way, a great place for doughnuts. ;)

Rating: ***1/2

Beaucoup Bakery & Cafe

Bakery: Beaucoup Bakery & Cafe
Address: 2150 Fir St, Vancouver BC 
Website: http://www.beaucoupbakery.com/
Style: French
Price: $$ 

Beaucoup Bakery, in a more industrial area just south of W 4th Ave, is a minimalist French-style bakery that seems to be a pretty popular destination for baked goods (then again, I do recall a great many bakeries in Vancouver were pretty busy, regardless of time of day/week); popular in that,when I was there, the minimalist approach applied to the baked goods as well. Everything was gone! Popular items (given how many asked for them) like croissants, pains au chocolat, and chaussons aux pommes were nothing more than a label affixed to an empty basket; upon leaving, a fresh batch of croissants were brought from the back. Going through the list of goodies on their website, I could go through every sweet item that was there: kouign amann, a couple pain aux raisins, the gluten-free brownie, peanut butter sandwich cookies, and the last one of something the lady in front of me bought. Yup, that was it. O.O

I was so lucky to get a hold of the cardamom kouign amann ($3.25; the regular is $3.00) -- maybe no one has discovered the amazingness of this baked good yet? While French and French-inspired bakeries generally have the same selection of products, it's always hard to find the delectable kouign amann, and so if I see it, I get it!  The regular version was also available, but I had to try their unique take with cardamom, one of the most delicious spices used in baking, albeit not very French, and one which always recalls Finnish baked goods for me. ^^

Every kouign amann I encounter is different. This one was rolled, cinnamon bun style. Unravelling it layer by layer, I found the cardamom where the cinnamon would be: lots of coarsely ground, super flavourful cardamom with each bite. Flaky on the top and soft on the inside, this was perhaps not as buttery as expected and previously experienced, but it was good. Very good. *-* My only complaint: it was too small. I could just keep eating and eating this wonderful creation!

Rating: ***1/2

Maple Leaf Bakery

Bakery: Maple Leaf Bakery
Address: 1216 Davie St, Vancouver BC
Website: n/a 
Style: Canadian 
Price: $$

Maple Leaf Bakery is a no-frills bakery that looks like it's been here a while, with a hodgepodge of baked goods that span a wide range of styles that go from butter tarts and jelly doughnuts, to German baked goods, to British meat pies. They quite possibly might be the only non-Australian bakery to have Lamingtons! In some ways, Maple Leaf is a little like a dollar store: you never know what you can find in all that mess. ;) Well, except that in my case, it didn't cost a dollar or so....

Given its convenient downtown location, I was planning on making the trip to Maple Leaf regardless, but my excitement increased once I spotted the tray of poppy seed and walnut buns in the window. You so know what I was going for! :D Inside, I found the majority of items labelled and priced: cake slices and squares were around $2-3 and baked goods were all reasonably, if not pretty well, priced -- the couple in front of me paid less than $2 for a bag of buns.

Taking all that into account, I was stunned to have my poppy seed bun ring in at $5.25! Did the worker think I wanted more than one or something else? Nope. It was just the poppy seed bun. O.O But... but... that's so not worth it compared to everything else in-store! Granted, it ended up being bigger than I imagined, and I had to split it up into 2 1/2 portion; no one could possibly eat this in one sitting, and so I think it would have been better to reduce the size, and make it cheaper. Anyways, taste-wise, this was a pretty good poppy seed "bun" with tons of poppy seed just bursting from it. Especially at the ends, it was *just* poppy seed mass with no dough. The top was pretty unremarkable and the dough was a bit one-dimensional, but the poppy seed was tasty and flavourful. Good, but I probably wouldn't take it again for that price and would go for something else.

Rating: ***

Mountain View Bakery

Bakery: Mountain View Bakery & Delicatessen 
Address: 4561 Gertrude St, Port Alberni BC 
Website: facebook 
Style: Dutch, Canadian 
Price: $

The last bakery on Vancouver Island (for this trip, at any rate) is also Mimi's Cake Tour's 600th bakery -- that's right! The big 6-0-0. Great things are a-coming~! :)

Anyways, I took the bus from Tofino to Nanaimo, and this includes a 'lunch' break in Port Alberni, and it just so happens that right behind the bus depot, there's Mountain View Bakery, which manages to disprove The Donut Shop's claim that they have the best doughnuts on Vancouver Island -- that is, if you count apple fritters. ;) When I was there, it was pretty busy, with most people going for the lunch dishes on the left-hand side of the space. On the right, you have a couple of display cases loaded with sweets and cheese buns, from various types of squares and cake slices, to a few Dutch and German staples. Everything is labelled and so well priced -- it might just be one of the most affordable and bang-for-your-buck bakeries on the island!

Yes, I had the apple fritter ($1.60), and an amazing apple fritter it was. Yum! This was spot-on: tons of chunky apple pieces, fantastic soft dough with a hint of cinnamon, and amazing coverage with the glaze. This is exactly how an apple fritter should be! Even though this was supposed to be saved for later, I just ate this straight from the bag before getting on the bus... and it was so good! *-*

I also took the cinnamon bun ($2.00), which was a big and tall brick of dough with a thick drizzle of icing on top. This didn't impress like the apple fritter did: there wasn't enough cinnamon given the bun's size. Fresh and airy, it was good in taste and texture, but I had a hard time being able to tell it was an actual cinnamon bun -- it would have been better if there was less dough and more flavour. Given the greatness of the apple fritter, I was a little disappointed. :(

Rating: ***

Knapp's Donuts

Bakery: Knapp's Donuts 
Address: 500 N. Main St, Rochester MI 
Website: http://www.knappsdonuts.com/
Style: Doughnuts
Price: $ 

I was asked, prior to one baked goods supplier's trip to Detroit, if I had reviewed that "great doughnut shop" in Rochester in previous years. And I immediately thought: wait, what great doughnut shop? O.O Just to make sure, I went through my few bakeries from Michigan and did a search in case I had improperly tagged it. Nope. Nothing. This, then, became the goal. ^^;

Knapp's is your classic doughnut shop with several varieties of old-school doughnut flavours in both old-fashioned and yeast kinds: chocolate, maple, gigantic apple fritters, sprinkles... you get the picture. They also sell Polish-style "paczki" for Fat Tuesday (there's a t-shirt to prove it), which would have been interesting to try. Not this time, however.

Instead, a box of half dozen was bought. This included a glazed twist, apple fritter, maple glaze, sugar, and chocolate -- they even threw in a couple of doughnut holes, which was very nice of them! Good customer service appreciated. :) I'm always a sucker for glazed doughnuts, and without a doubt the glazed doughnuts stole the spotlight here as well: a really nice glaze on fresh doughnuts that was just right. The apple fritter and the maple one (on top of the pile) were the best. My least favourite was the chocolate one; good chocolate top, but the doughnut itself was too dense and doughy; not the texture I had been expecting for this type.

Good, fresh doughnuts, but as to them being on best of lists, it'll take a few more trips and bakeries to determine that. I have to do things fair and square, after all. ;)

Rating: ***

Rhino Coffee House

Bakery: Rhino Coffee House
Address: 430 Campbell St, Tofino BC
Website: https://www.rhinocoffeehouse.com/
Style: Doughnuts
Price: $$ 

Well, according to Google maps, there were supposed to be two bakeries in the town of Tofino, which got me super excited at the prospect of having a special Tofino tag on the Cake Tour. I went there and found the second one gone, emptied out -- it looked like it hadn't been there for a long time. Dejected, I turned the corner back onto the main street in town and saw the sign "donuts" in the window. That was Rhino Coffee House. I can't believe I actually stopped for a moment to think about it!

Rhino Coffee House roasts their own coffee, serves breakfast and light meals... and makes gourmet doughnuts. About half a dozen varieties of doughnuts, all $3.00 each, many of which incorporate some sort of alcohol. Doughnuts and booze: the people of Tofino know how to have fun. :P There were the old fashioned with beer as well as apple fritters with cream cheese and beer. Was there an Irish cream one too? Something along those lines. All I knew is that it was a difficult decision. And my decision turned out to be the right one.

The London Fog doughnut was a yeast doughnut stuffed with Earl Grey cream and topped with a white chocolate glaze on top; it looked so good that I knew it was going to be a high-ranker. The only bit of criticism I had was that it was too small (realizing this after the fact XD). One bite was enough for me to be transported to doughnut heaven: perfectly fried exterior, super fresh and soft on the inside, with a burst of swoon-worthy cream and tasty white chocolate. It was like everything I wanted and loved in one doughnut. I was in a state of ecstatic shock. *-* Hands-down, no contemplation needed: perfect score and then some!

Rating: ****

My Zaidy's Bakery

Bakery: My Zaidy's Bakery 
Address: 7241 Bathurst St, Thornhill ON 
Website: facebook 
Style: Jewish 
Price: $-$$ 

I've been in a terrible doughnut mood lately and nothing has come to satisfy this craving, so when a regular supplier of baked goods said he was going to be on Steeles in the Keele to Bathurst area, the first thing I ran to check was bakeries that had doughnuts. Even poppy seed came second place this time around. :P My research was proving inconclusive -- and made even more difficult by the fact that many bakeries in this neighbourhood have already been reviewed -- until I found people raving about the doughnuts from My Zaidy's, a kosher bakery on the edge of Thornhill. Their photos looked amazing and I thought this would be a good one to attempt.

Located along the Bathurst bakery strip, this is one of more intimidating ones for a casual stopper-by and the question regarding if they had doughnuts was met with blank amazement and a very puzzled "no". It was only afterwards with some vague research that I assumed that doughnuts are only eaten at certain times/on holidays... I think? Why did no one tell me that in advance!?! ;___; So, once again, there were no doughnuts... but I did get a poppy seed bun!

And what a poppy seed bun it was -- at $2.75, this was phenomenal value! Can you imagine that this bun wouldn't fit on a small plate and had to be bumped up onto a medium "lunch" plate? This was HUGE! One described it as poppy seed loaf. You can't handle this in one sitting; it'll make two portions, and those are generous portions at that. I have never seen such a gigantic poppy seed bun and that was a beautiful thing! *-* Tons of poppy seeds, delicious dough... yum!

At the same price, but smaller in size, there was also the chocolate buffalo. Rolled up like a cinnamon bun and smelling of chocolate liquor, this was loaded with chocolate chips and sooo good. Everyone who tried it loved it, which makes the lack of doughnuts downright painful now -- they would have been amazing! :(

Rating: ****

Chubby Chix Cakery

Bakery: Chubby Chix Cakery
Address: 5037 Lake Ave, Orchard Park NY
Website: facebook
Style: American
Price: $$ 

Yet another trip to Buffalo, yet another bakery done in the area. This time, the honour went to Chubby Chix which is first and foremost (I know, I know) a cupcake shop and custom cake place; however, they do have other treats for the casual passerby such as turnovers, cookies, and their signature chubby buns, pretty much ginormous cinnamon buns available also in rotating flavours like cherry almond. Someone read that these chubby buns were good/worth trying, and so the Cake Tour arrived on scene to find the air outside smelling of cinnamon and the bakery inside sold out of almost everything, except a few cupcakes and one last bun. And that bun was soon gone. :P

 Chubby buns are indeed a glutton's (or a cinna-phile's) version of a cinnamon bun. Make no mistake, the name is a good descriptor: these are big, but they're not humongous -- after all, they managed to fit on a small-sized plate, which can't said be for the poppy seed bun I recently tried; it had to be moved over to a medium-sized one, and even then it barely fit. The chubby buns are thick and fluffy, but the main reason why they're so indulgent isn't the bun itself, but the layer of icing slathered on top. A little too much is putting it kindly. ;) For someone who likes to taste something besides sugar, it kind of detracted from the taste of the bun -- pretty good, but a bit too decadent for my liking.

Rating: **1/2

Common Loaf Bake Shop

Bakery: Common Loaf Bake Shop 
Address: 180 First St, Tofino BC
Website: facebook 
Style: Canadian
Price: $$

Two nights in Tofino meant more baked goods to review along the Pacific coast -- oh, the joys! ;) The main baked goods destination in town is Common Loaf, a wholesome (can I please just say "hippie"?) bakery specializing in healthier lunch and sweets options along with countless products catering to those with special diets. They also baked with organic and/or locally sourced ingredients; many treats, for example, are sweetened with Vancouver Island honey. Other notable products included muffins, cookies, and Tofino bars ("better than Nanaimo"); all are priced and labelled.

 I hadn't had one lately, so I took one of my favourite baked goods: the cinnamon bun, or "cinnie" as this bakery calls them ($3.75). As mentioned above, the cinnamon buns were sweetened with local honey and were without a doubt the healthiest cinnamon buns I've seen, with a drier cinnamon "mass" rolled around dough dotted with sunflower seeds and coated with a honey glaze. It was a nice change from overly sweet and heavily frosted (see following review) buns, and you could really taste the cinnamon, though I think a little more honey or anything to moisten the cinnamon and dough would make it even better. I was saying that maybe the sunflower seeds didn't match to someone with uh, hippie tendencies and he exclaimed that the cinnamon bun looked and sounded "so good". Well then, I rest my case. ;D

Rating: ***

Zoë's Bakery and Cafe

Bakery: Zoë's Bakery and Cafe
Address: 250 Main St, Ucluelet BC
Website: http://www.zoesbakeryandcafe.com/
Style: Canadian 
Price: $$

From Victoria, I went to the Pacific Coast -- the Pacific Rim, in fact. Ucluelet and Tofino were the next stops for my Cake Tour (and for me as well ^^) and now, I am not technically, but officially Pacific to Atlantic coast! I intended to do a rather grand, possibly overly ambitious day trip in Ucluelet and walk to the lighthouse, review the sole bakery in town, and see as much of the coast as possible. This failed, mostly due to the insane torrent of rain that welcomed me upon stepping off the bus (the rain did stop completely and I didn't exactly notice right away... oh well). One plan that did *not* fail was the trip to local bakery in Ucluelet: Zoe's, which will always evoke memories of the staff dancing to Stan Rogers blasting throughout the bakery. ^^

 It was a very rainy Sunday afternoon and this apparently did not bode well for the selection in-store. Those "famous" cinnamon buns were nothing more than an empty plate, and any mention of anything else was confined to the big chalkboard on one wall. The shelves of bread and savoury goods were even empty. Their take on Nanaimo bars was intriguing (they had samples by the cash... mmm, with that berry filling and chunky nuts, they were gooood), but I came from the bus absolutely starving  and wanted something more filling and "healthy" than a chocolate square.

So I opted for the apple pie ($4.95). I was told that the last remaining piece turned out smaller than usual and that they would give me a discount; I ended up paying $2.99, which was nice of them, but also I was so hungry I probably would have preferred the bigger piece for more. .____. Anyways, I was also a little disappointed that I wasn't asked if I wanted my pie heated... I mean, you always eat pie warmed up, don't you? I do. The taste was good: perfectly cooked and very tasty apple filling loaded with oats and crumble on top, all in a yummy pie shell. The crumble on top was a bit blackened, affecting the taste a little, and I would have liked more apples in it as well, but a good pie and a good break from the rain.

Rating: **1/2

Ana Meilleure Cuisine

Bakery: Ana Meilleure Cuisine 
Address: 3839 Boulevard Saint-Laurent, Montreal QC
Website: n/a 
Style: Eastern European, Croatian 
Price: $$$ 

All good things must come to an end, and in this case, it's my 15-stop (with a few return visits thrown in there for fun ^^) bakery tour of Montreal, my most ambitious one of the city to date! Great job, Mimi! I was returning with my hands laden with bags of baked goods from another day of Cake Tours when I was walking by the window of this bakery/deli and spotted... yes, indeed, there they were: poppy seed buns (and was promptly waved at by the woman behind the counter to get inside). Seeing as it was my last day, I thought I could spare a few dollars and grab a bun. And in I went for a slightly bizarre experience that was just as head-scratching as the name of the business.

Ana's has a wonderful array of baked goods displayed in the window, ranging from poppy seed buns, chocolate buns, to flaky turnovers and other treats that you'll find at many "European" bakeries. Inside, it's a bit apparent that the bakery is only limited to the window, as the rest of the space is devoted to imported products from the Balkan countries and hot sandwiches. Upon ordering my poppy seed bun, I was greeted with the price: a pretty staggering $5 that seemed to me strangely arbitrary. I don't know why I almost feel like a return trip will get me another price, and at nearly 600 bakeries I can't say I've ever had that impression before. O.o This turned into a slightly surreal conversation during which my mind was still reeling at the price of the bun.

 Needless to say, with the insistence that the poppy seed bun should be heated prior to eating, I went away feeling a little ripped off and convinced that the necessary warming up was because the bun wasn't fresh. This, thankfully, wasn't the case: A fresh bun loaded with poppy seeds that were rolled with a semi-soft, fairly dense dough. The top was a little unexciting, but overall it was quite a good bun: not the best, very far from the worst, but not exactly worth the price.

Rating: ***

Mr. Cinnamon's

Bakery: Mr. Cinnamon's Treats & Coffee Co.
Address: 2207 Industrial Park Rd, Innisfil ON (in the 400 Market) 
Website: http://www.mrcinnamons.com/
Style: Canadian
Price: $-$$ 

Another stop at the 400 Market, Mr. Cinnamon's specializes in -- you guessed it -- cinnamon buns and, judging by the long lines, they're a popular destination for market goers. A really popular destination. O.O These petite rolls are baked throughout the day to meet the demand and come in either glazed or unglazed, the glazed version being coated with a fairly thick layer of icing; done in a bit of a hurry, some have significantly more icing than others (see photo).

So how did they fare against cinnamon bun heavyweights found elsewhere? That's a good question. :P After a long and frustrating (line jumpers -_-) wait, the initial bite was a bit disappointing; I mean, they weren't that good. Rather, they weren't amazing enough to justify the excitement surrounding them. These smaller buns allowed for more cinnamon and less dough, especially given the dough was thinly rolled; add to that a dollop of icing and this made them gooey and sticky, i.e. not my favourite type of cinnamon bun. Personally, I thought a little more dough would have helped. All in all pretty good, but not worth the hype and craziness. Fellow 400 Market bakery, Sugar Diva Sweets, was a more worthwhile stop.

Rating: **1/2

Golden Bakery & Deli [International Correspondent]

Bakery: Golden Bakery & Deli
Address: 415 9 Ave N, Golden BC
Website: http://goldenbakery.ca/
Style: Canadian 
Price: $$ 

We stopped here for lunch while driving through Golden; with the purchase of a combo, you get to choose a dessert. Unfortunately, everything was gone and there wasn't much choice, so all there really was was the cherry turnover and the Nanaimo bar.

The Nanaimo bar was good. It was pretty generous on the cream filling and the hardened chocolate on top. I liked the rocky brownie bottom, too. It tasted pretty homemade, so I liked that. Definitely my favourite item of the two.

The cherry turnover was nothing too special: good, flaky dough, not the generic kind you usually find, with cherry filling. I liked that it was somewhat different with just granulated sugar, not those big chunks of rock sugar on top.

Rating: **1/2