Doce Minho Pastry & Bakery

Bakery: Doce Minho Pastry and Bakery 
Address: 2189 Dufferin St, Toronto ON
Website: https://doceminhobakery.com/
Style: Portuguese
Price: $

It was a miserable day and I was sick, so I thought there was nothing better than to drive around and visit some bakeries I'm still missing. Doce Minho was my first stop. This neighbourhood Portuguese bakery and cafe seems to be a popular destination for those wanting to sit down for a coffee or to grab some of the many cake slices they sell.

For me, however, I actually prefer Portuguese baked goods over their cakes or famed custard tarts: give me a hearty coconut or custard bun, maybe a malasada... or two any day. In that aspect, Doce Minho doesn't exactly satisfy my needs, with many Portuguese bakery staples I've come to expect not there. It being a Saturday, maybe they simply sold out in the morning and never baked more? Regardless of the reason, I was unusually lost as to what to get. Big, flat custard pastries in the back looked appealing from a distance, but when inquiring about what it was and how much it cost, I noted that what I had assumed to be some sort of jam was actually blackened dough and the price, at $14.00, didn't exactly make sense given that they offer the same thing (so the worker informed me) as individual slices for $2.00 and the large size isn't 7 times (or more) bigger.

 I grabbed a twist bread with cinnamon and sugar ($2.00); this is one particular baked good I end up grabbing regularly so in comparison I found this version very doughy and dense, a bit like a giant cake doughnut. Stiff, lacking in either moistness or airiness.  I've had better elsewhere.

In the end, I did pick that individual slice of the custard pastry ($2.00). I really like this pastry style and, truth be told, it looked much better than the bigger version, though the right side was quite black under the coconut and you could taste it. A bit of custard piped down the middle with a flaky dough all along the bottom and up along the sides, which were then dusted with shredded coconut. My preferred pick of the two, though I think it probably should have been baked a level or two lower from the top.

Rating: **