Melina's Phyllo Bar

Bakery: Melina's Phyllo Bar
Address: 5733 Park Ave, Montreal QC
Website: facebook
Style: Greek 
Price: $$$

No, it's not a bakery - it's a phyllo bar! Melina's is a small, hole-in-the-wall snack bar and cafe with seating for just a few people that specializes in flaky, layered dough in any shape or form. And everyone knows some of the best stuff to come from Greece involves phyllo dough; naturally, though they have savoury items such as spanakopita and tiropita, I'm specifically referring to the sweet side of things: most famously baklava along with kataifi and honey syrup-soaked pies. Some even come warmed up and cut up into bite-sized pieces for your convenience (because it's not easy breaking off phyllo, after all).

It being a cold, rainy and thoroughly miserable day, I went with the only sweet served warm: the bougatsa ($4.30). Bougatsa is a sort of flaky pie stuffed with custard. Melina's version was rich and comforting with thick, decadent custard and layers of crunchy and chewy dough. Not too much custard (which is sometimes the case), not too much dough: just right.

Rating: ***