Penguin Bakery [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Penguin Bakery 
Address: 7 Chome-1-1 Minami 11 Jonishi, Chuo Ward, Sapporo, Hokkaido
Website: https://www.penguinbakery.com/
Style: Japanese 
Price: $$ 

Penguin Bakery is a small chain of bakeries located in and around Sapporo. With its blue and white decor, adorable emperor? penguin as their logo and open counter/cafe space, Penguin Bakery is aiming for a more cheery, unpretentious look than many local bakeries. That's not to say they only have simple buns and bread; amid their islands and baked goods, they had a lovely assortment of classic Japanese buns, doughnuts along with flaky French pastries.

Their signature, without a doubt, are their super cute mini melon pan (80 yen), available with either animal faces or the Mr. Penguin from their logo on top. Naturally, I had to take the elegant penguin with his little bowtie. ^^ Unlike usual melon pan, this bun didn't have much of a topping/crust; instead, it was almost like a sugar cookie was stuck on top of a plain sweet bun. The taste and texture of the two components were completely different. In truth, I looked the penguin cookie a lot more than bun, which was too airy and bland for my liking.

I was perfectly content with this one purchase when I spotted the kouign amann (220 yen) and everyone knows: if I see a kouign amann, I have to try it. This one was the first I'd seen presented as a sort of hot dog bun: long, narrow and rather squat. The taste was pretty good, though perhaps the butter used was too salty (already encountered in Japan) and it wasn't as flaky as it looked; it was more on the soft side, like pseudo-danish dough. My one big thing against it was the caramelized sugar top which had this funny syrupy/jam-like? consistency. Had I not known what it was, I would have probably never called it a kouign amann; definitely not the best I've had. But how can you resist the cute penguin?!

Rating: ***

Smith's Bagelry

Bakery: Smith's Bagelry
Address: 191 W Broadway, Vancouver BC 
Website: http://www.smithsbagelry.com/
Style: Turkish, Greek 
Price: $$-$$$ 

I've come across quite a few unlikely finds at bagel joints: here is another one. On the outside, Smith's is as bagel joint as it gets - they even have displayed outdoors for purchase. Inside, well, with its counter of Turkish sweet and savoury treats, it appears that "Smith" isn't the name of the family running the place - and of course I mean that in the most positive sense. Unfortunately, that counter is actually filled mostly with savoury pogaca and bourek, both available in several varieties. The sweets consist mostly of classic baklava, tulumba (called "Turkish churros" in-store) and a few couple types of cake, sold in slices (that could be a little bigger ^^).

I was going to go with the baklava when I noticed the man in front of me take two slices of banana cheesecake. I myself am not a banana person, but their cheesecake - also available in plain - looked amazing! And I happen to be a cheesecake expert. So one slice of San Sebastian cheesecake ($4.49) it was. A little too blackened on top was the only minus here; this was one delicious slice of cheesecake. The texture and amount of cheese were perfect: not too thick, only slightly crumbly. To top things off it was soaked in a sugar syrup similar to what you'd find in a baklava and there was just a hint of pooling at the bottom - incredible. Local cafe Trees (future Cake Tour post) claims on each of their stores that they have the best cheesecake in Vancouver; I was skeptical before I tried and I now know it to be wrong: the best cheesecake in Vancouver is found at Smith's.

Rating: ***1/2

Boulangerie Paume [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Boulangerie Paume (ブーランジェリー ポーム)
Address: 7 Chome, Minami 3 Jonishi, Chuo Ward, Sapporo, Hokkaido
Website: http://paume-style.jp/
Style: Japanese, French 
Price: $$

This petite French-inspired bakery and cafe uses their appellation correctly; with a focus on loaves of bread and rustic buns, this is without a doubt a bread-first type of bakery. At first glance, the small space seems well-stocked in terms of baked goods, but upon closer examination, sweet and savoury are all jumbled together and there's actually not that much of the former. This mainly included flaky French croissants as well as classic pains au chocolat and aux raisins.

Out of this small selection, I thought the cinnamon roll (¥180) looked so pretty and appetizing. Appearance-wise, it did look nice with its layers of flaky dough wound round and drizzled on top with a little icing. The dough in itself was very skilfully done, but the pastry needed a bit of work on the whole. For one, the icing was too brittle and just flaked off as soon as you bit into the bun. The bottom was a bit too brown and tasted over-done, though not necessarily burnt. And where was the cinnamon? The inside was way too dry and there was almost no cinnamon flavour. In the end it tasted like plain, overly browned flaky dough - and it had so much potential, too!

Rating: **1/2

Hans Bread [Mimi's World Tour]

 Bakery: Hans Bread (한스브레드)
Address: 274-1 Gyo-dong, Wansan-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do
Website: n/a 
Style: Korean 
Price: $$-$$$

Intent now on creating the gourmet Jeonju chocopie challenge, I was initially disappointed that this tiny bakery, with barely enough room for more than one person to stand in, doesn't seem to participate in the whole chocopie craze. Good for them, I say, but there went a third contestant in my challenge.... Hans Bread seems to specialize in loaves of bread stuffed with the typical sweet bean fillings. Beyond this, selection was fairly limited and included croissants, flaky pastries, a handful of baked goods, meringues and packs of cookies. They offer lots of free samples - which gets a little annoying when you have people crowding into the already crammed space with no intention of buying anything.

I, however, had every intention of buying something... I just didn't quite know what. In the end, I decided to try their cheesecake (5,500 won); it wasn't something I had often while in Korea, so here was my chance. A bit pricey for the size of the cake, especially in comparison to standard bakery prices, but that can also be a good sign too. The taste and texture were good: the cake was nice and fluffy with a spongy softness. Personally, I felt it was almost more like a sponge cake than a cheesecake - it could have definitely benefited from more cheese in the dough!

Rating: ***

Baker Boy

Bakery: Baker Boy 
Address: 617 3 Ave W, Prince Rupert BC 
Website: n/a 
Style: Canadian 
Price: $$ 

Prince Rupert should so have more than one bakery - what is going on!? Suffice to say, there is one bakery and that bakery is Baker Boy. This large, unadorned bakery features a fairly appealing selection that includes multiple varieties of glazed and iced doughnuts along with cream-filled pastries, pies and cookies. If you're here for healthy baked good alternatives, you've come to the wrong place; Baker Boy is all about the doughnuts!

Unfortunately, I came as soon I arrived in town, about an hour before closing and all that greeted me were various labels on empty shelves. So many of the doughnuts were already gone. Thankfully, I'm not exactly a sprinkle person (fritters would have been nice though) and I was perfectly happy with my maple bar ($1.00) and crueller ($1.05).

These were classic, unpretentious doughnuts done right: fresh, perfect texture, nice and golden brown. My favourite was the crueller: it was so light and airy, the dough moist and the glaze just right. The maple bar was good, but I felt like the glaze was a little too wet/soft - I like when there's that sight crackle when you bite into it.

Rating: ***

Jang Sudan Red Bean Bread [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Jang Sudan Red Bean Bread (빵장수단팥빵)
Address: @ Busan West Bus Station, 201 Sasang-ro, Gwaebeop-dong, Busan
Website: n/a
Style: Korean 
Price: $ 

This small Busan chain of bakeries are apparently scattered throughout the city, though the only time I encountered one was as I was leaving the city, beyond the gates at the Busan West bus station. Having been more worried about making it to the bus station in time than finding one last bakery, it was a nice finale to stop at this bakery while waiting for my bus to depart. Strangely enough, while the name of the bakery indicates the focus are red bean buns, I actually didn't notice this signature item in person besides the big poster next to the bakery stall. I had more recollection of the several loaves of pound cake-like sweet bread....

I didn't have much time before my bus left, so I grabbed the one surefire classic I recognized: the soboro bun (1500 won). I've since discovered that you can get really great soboro buns, with plenty of texture and crunch on the outside, and then you have the soft ones. The soft, extra peanut-loaded buns. This belonged to the latter. Top had no texture whatsoever and actually fell off the bun once removed from the bag (hence the in-bag shot being the best one); the dough was stiff and dry and tasted far from fresh, though I ate it right when I bought it. No taste whatsoever except that pervasive chalky peanut butter - it was such a struggle to get through this one! :/

Rating: *1/2

Bostonbake [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Bostonbake (ボストンベイク)
Address: 10 Chome, Minami 1 Jonishi, Chuo Ward, Sapporo, Hokkaido
Website: n/a
Style: Japanese 
Price: $ 

I don't know what Boston in particular knows about baking or what the name is supposed to mean, for that matter, but Bostonbake is a small Sapporo bakery with a handful of locations scattered throughout the city.  What sets Bostonbake apart is its large selection - the sheer number of doughnuts or cream-filled pastries alone was jaw-dropping - and its amazing prices. With almost everything ranging from 100-200 yen and plenty of options under 100, you can afford to get more than one item; actually, I think this was the tastiest super well-priced bakery I encountered in Hokkaido - definitely bang for your buck.

One highlight for me had to be twist doughnut with glaze (55 yen!!); while there were other varieties available including powdered sugar, cinnamon and chocolate, this hand-sized doughnut had the perfect glaze that complemented the fresh, chewy dough. This was so good - one of my first baked goods on this trip and one of the best ones.

The melon pan (100 yen) was perhaps a little less exceptional, though it too was fresh and the more I ate it, the more I appreciated the slightly chewy "melon" top. I never like when my melon pan get too soft or soggy - this one had the harder outside and soft inside with good, more subtle flavours. One of the highest rated bakeries in Sapporo - for me, at any rate.

Rating: ***1/2

Forêt Noire Pâtisserie

Bakery: Forêt Noire Pâtisserie
Address: 236 W Broadway, Vancouver BC 
Website: https://www.foretnoirepatisserie.com
Style: European, Canadian 
Price: $$ 

With my fair share of patisserie experience in the city of Vancouver, I'll admit that Forêt Noire, with its large airy space, wall of elaborate, though not entirely French, pastries and overly commercialized website (the registered trademark and "locations" with just one store screams franchise wannabe) appears more ambitious that it actually is. In reality, the selection consists of an array of French baked goods as well as pretty cakes and tarts available as individual desserts or larger cakes at surprisingly reasonable prices for the area. A patisserie with several options at under $5 - unthinkable! Even I was amazed. Then, however, it got me thinking; maybe it's reasonably priced because it's not as good? This needed investigating.

Due to transport concerns, I didn't want a delicate mousse cake or anything that could fall apart easily; I was also not in the mood for any sort of flaky baked goods. The apple pie ($3.50) looked intriguing. I do like apple pie, but I find it's usually hit or miss. Especially the apple filling. I have to confess that upon initial inspection I was having my doubts; it looked a little too doughy and dry, but after cracking it open with a fork - quite literally - I was impressed by the flavourful cooked apple filling and the texture and taste of the shortbread pie shell. Not too sweet, not gloopy at all, but at the same time with actual substance to it. I liked it!

Rating: ***

Jeonju Chocopie [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Jeonju Chocopie (전주수제초코파이)
Address: 271-5 Gyo-dong, Wansan-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do
Website: http://www.jbakery.com
Style: Korean
Price: $$ 

Unlike other Jeonju bakeries that have standard bakeries with a regular selection of baked goods outside of the chocopie-infested hanok village, "Jeonju Chocopie" has so fully climbed onto the bandwagon that they make nothing but chocopie. Various flavours, yes, but this small shop has chocopies, more chocopies, and nothing but chocopies. So I figured, what better bakery to join in on the chocopie challenge? Granted, it was the second one I happened to spot, so there wasn't much deliberation.

 Up against PNB's green tea dark chocolate chocopie, there was this blueberry white chocolate one (2000 won). I wanted to try a white chocolate one and the choices were banana or blueberry - I thought blueberry would be more flavourful. Despite the tourism board designation (chocopies as intangible cultural heritage... come on!) and undeniable focus on these marshmallow sandwich cookies, this one from Jeonju Chocopie best recalled the boxed Lotte ones. They were commercial, the dough was a little too spongy and foamy, the blueberry a little too fake and flavoured, not fruity. Even the white chocolate was too perfectly applied. Definitely the loser of the challenge and, with that, I'm never having another chocopie again, no matter how "gourmet" they may be. x__x

Rating: **

Baker Extraordinaire

Bakery: Baker Extraordinaire
Address: 4630 Park Ave, Terrace BC
Website: n/a 
Style: Canadian 
Price: $

Terrace, I felt, wasn't all that small to have just one bakery. Baker Extraordinaire has the bread and it has the pie, but beyond that, it's not even as full-fledged a bakery as I had hoped, especially in terms of individual baked goods like your usual cinnamon buns and whatnot, which don't factor into the bakery's repertoire at all. The closest things to single sweets are their cookies (they do come in packs, but if you're lucky your desired flavour might be in the singles basket) and muffins, both of which are wrapped in saran wrap. Personally, I would prefer if you just asked for them behind the counter - it's not the first time I've made a note of this, but really, saran wrap doesn't make anything look appetizing, no matter how amazing it tastes on the inside. Just some food for thought. <3 nbsp="" p="">

 Their pies did look good, but with no slices available, I was sad that all I had to review was the lemon blueberry muffin ($1.95) and a ginger snap ($1.10). Now, my favourite cookie has to be ginger. I love ginger cookies that are chewy and extra spiced. This had a good aroma and it was both fragrant and flavourful; could be a little "spicier", though. I liked that it wasn't hard, and while it was soft, it fell apart too easily and didn't have the amazing chewiness I was looking for.

Though I don't usually consider muffins Cake Tour fare, this one was very good; although looking like nothing special from the outside, it was loaded with blueberries and not too sweet or cake-like. Maybe it was even better *gasps* than the ginger cookie....

Rating: **1/2

Gu Ja Yun Bakery [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Gu Ja Yun Bakery (구자윤과자점)
Address: 445-6 Suyeong-dong, Suyeong-gu, Busan
Website: n/a
Style: Korean
Price: $$

A little off the beaten path for a casual passerby, I myself am wondering how I ended up at this bakery.... Nevertheless, Gu Ja Yun has one of the more impressive selections I saw on my trip to Busan: their shelves were fully stocked not only with sweet and savoury buns, an interesting array of rustic breads and bagged cookies, but also included cake slices and more intricate pastries. One bonus was that they had a lot of samples set out among their many products - it is hard to resist grabbing something when free samples are on hand. ;)

At some point, you get tired of typical Korean buns and I wanted to change things up a little bit. I decided to try out a slice of cheesecake. It was fresh and I was pretty surprised at how soft the whole thing was. In some ways, it wasn't what I'd call a typical cheesecake: the dough was soft, just a thin, bread-like layer on the bottom. Atop this, there was a cheesy mass that was thick and malleable. The nuts were a nice touch, but I couldn't help dispel the impression of a bagel with cream cheese. Too cheesy, not sweet enough?

The second item was what I'm calling, for lack of a better name, a strawberry cheese shortcake (3,500 won) - and yes, I realized only afterwards how bad the photo for this item was. That alone is enough of a description. With the soft shortcake crust, it was pretty hard to distinguish what was inside until I cracked it open. Inside, it was a messy mass of red fruit jam and rich, slightly cheesy cream, though I wouldn't necessarily expect it to be cheesy. Pretty good in taste, but not the greatest - which could be said of the bakery as a whole.

Rating: **1/2

Good Morning Bakery

Bakery: Good Morning Bakery 
Address: 329 North Rd, Coquitlam BC
Website: n/a 
Style: Korean 
Price: $$

Located in the forever crazy Hanin Village (aka H-Mart) plaza, Good Morning is a tiny Korean bakery with a very small selection of sweet and savoury breads, made even smaller because it appeared to be fairly cleaned out. Given the fact that Korean bakeries are usually dependable in terms of being open late and still having good selection, I was disappointed with how little choice there was at around 6 (granted, this one isn't open that late - it closes at 8). Shelves that I presumed were supposed to be filled with baked goods were empty and only larger cream rolls and cakes, along with packs of cookies were what I'd call well-stocked. Must be a popular place - and that's a good sign, I think.

Good Morning has an assortment of typical Korean buns along with some surprises like a handful of French pastries. Bean- or cream-stuffed sweet buns were on the labels, but not there, so I grabbed another Korean classic (for me): the soboro bun ($2.30). It proved to be a favourite on my Korea travels, though at the same time I did realize these really come hit or miss. And this soboro bun was such a miss! :( I love when these have a chunky top with maybe a cookie-like layer or textured granola crumble, maybe some nuts... I've tried various interpretations. This one was one of the most boring: the top had no texture at all. It was soft and a bit mushy, with a one-dimensional peanut butter taste which I wasn't a fan of. Underneath, the bun was airy and dry, with no distinct taste. Probably the worst soboro bun I've had, right when I was in the mood for one.... *sighs*

Rating: *1/2

PNB Bakery [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: PNB Bakery 
Address: 180 Paldal-ro, Pungnam-dong, Wansan-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do
Website: http://pnb1951.com/
Style: Korean
Price: $$

There are quite a few unusual/unexplained regional specialties throughout Korea. One of them appears to be the Jeonju chocopie. The city of Jeonju, more specifically the hanok village in the southeast part of town, seems to be overrun by various confectioneries making their own versions of gourmet chocopies. You know, Chocopies: one of Korea's most mass-produced sweets, these soft marshmallow-stuffed, chocolate-coated sandwich cookies produced by Lotte can be found in any supermarket. So what makes Jeonju the chocopie hub? No clue. All I know is that it's the only kind of bakery to be found in the hanok village - actually, I was a little irritated that I only came across their main location afterwards and found that PNB did in fact make more than just chocopies.

To be quite honest, I don't like chocopies. There really is nothing more fake than marshmallow-stuffed anything, so I wasn't all that curious how the gourmet version fared. This green tea chocopie (2300 won) wasn't so bad, however. The dark chocolate outside with green tea cookies and filling didn't have that fake, mass-produced feeling that I was dreading. On the contrary, the chocolate was a bit too brittle and flaked off and the cookie was a bit dry/overbaked, giving it an almost amateur taste. Of the two "Jeonju chocopies" this one was the best.

Finding this PNB location later on, I also wanted to try some real baked goods; in fact, they have quite a large selection of fresh baked goods in addition to packaged treats and gift boxes. I took the melon pan (2000). I never did turn into a fan of stuffed melon pan. Especially not the thick melon-flavoured custard inside this one. There was too much of it and the top was soggy, not crunchy. Not the best, and in the end I'm not really sure which of the two items I liked more.

Rating: **1/2

Skeena Bakery

Bakery: Skeena Bakery
Address: 4477 10 Ave, New Hazelton BC
Website: http://www.skeenabakery.ca/
Style: Canadian
Price: $$-$$$ 

This just might be the northernmost bakery in BC, at least it is on my Cake Tour. For now. Skeena Bakery is a tiny bakery located at the back of a blink and you'll miss it plaza, by the laundromat. Good thing there are signs from the highway. Inside, this bakery tends to focus on wholesome baked goods; there aren't a lot of them and judging by the empty baskets, there seemed to have been more of them later on. Nothing really stood out among this small selection and I found some items a little too expensive for their size - maybe it was because they use organic flour?

Having had a far from stellar cinnamon bun the day before, I bypassed my first pick and went instead for the apple raisin bun ($2.35) - finally something unique! It was a classic sweet bun, similar perhaps in style to Scandinavian buns or Eastern European yeast babas: very airy, stiff yeast dough with literally a dash of sugar on top and some barely detectable cinnamon mixed into the folds. I was glad there weren't that many raisins in it, but where were the apples? There needed to be more, and it definitely needed more flavour overall. The only explanation is that it was indeed organic, but at the same time "it's organic" is not synonymous with "it's boring". ;)

Rating: **1/2

Daily Pan [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Daily Pan (데일리팡)
Address: 1394-190 Jung 1(il)-dong, Haeundae-gu, Busan
Website: n/a 
Style: Korean
Price: $$ 

Seeing as I saw another Daily Pan elsewhere in Busan, I'm not sure how many locations this bakery has or if it's a Busan-based operation; however, only one location (this one) appears when I search online. So, let's hope it's not too grand.

Anyways, Daily Pan is a more compact bakery near Haeundae Beach with sweet baked goods on one side and savoury on the other. There are English names on the labels. With their intricate meaty wraps and cheese-topped skewered anything, I'll admit their savoury selection actually looked more unique than their fairly standard array of sweets, though the latter did include several varieties of filled doughnuts, which might be considered their specialty. And I do like doughnuts....

At this point, I needed to take a break from those doughnuts, though, and instead went with the mini mammoth (2,000 won). I'd seen regular-sized mammoth in other bakeries and was always intrigued by them, but found them, well, too huge. The mini version was still pretty darn hefty, both in terms of size and weight. Actually, this multi-level sandwich bun weighed a ton. On top, there was the crumble with nuts and raisins. Inside, there was one jam layer, then other piece of dough, followed by a green bean paste and finally another dough bottom. There might have even been another layer.... The first few bites were pretty good. There were so many flavours and textures; it was complex and different from your typical Korean "pan". However, about halfway in, it became way too overwhelming. It started falling apart and there was a disproportionate amount of the green bean paste, resulting in a bun that got too beany. Yeah, not attempting the mammoth again, that's for sure.

Rating: **1/2

Europe Bakery and Deli

Bakery: Europe Bakery and Deli
Address: 2552 Shaughnessy St, Port Coquitlam BC
Website: n/a
Style: Canadian, European
Price: $

Intent on improving my bakery coverage in Metro Vancouver, I headed to this busy old-school bakery on PoCo's main street, mostly because it looked the most promising from online photos. I mean, a wide array of pan-European baked goods with doughnuts, danishes... and were those poppy seed treats I saw? Why, yes, of course I came for the poppy seed, but to my horror there were not only no poppy seed buns, but the bakery was totally emptied out. It looked like the end of the world was descending and yet there were still tons of people buying out whatever there was left. Suffice to say, it's a really popular place. Whether that's owing to the taste and quality of their products or just their really good prices is what I want to know.

I was kind of in a take it or leave it situation; I had to make due with the Copenhagen square ($1.55), because it was one of two sweet items left behind. There were also a few muffins which I did try - not Cake Tour material, but they were very good. Luckily for me, though, I happen to like Copenhagen squares and this one was just right: nice flaky pastry, not too crunchy, not too soft, with a good amount of custard cream sandwiched between the two layers. I also liked the drizzle of icing on top. The only minus? Those darn raisins! Would have been better if I didn't have to pick those out....

Maybe next time I'll come earlier and be able to score some of those doughnuts or poppy seed baked goods?

Rating: ***

Gentz Bakery [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Gentz Bakery (겐츠베이커리)
Address: 1496 U-dong, Haeundae-gu, Busan (inside Centum City) 
Website: n/a 
Style: Korean
Price: $-$$ 

One of the many (mostly franchise) bakeries located in Centum City/Lotte World mega shopping complex, Gentz screams commercial bakery chain, and yet there is surprisingly very little information about it. I do know that there are several locations throughout Busan, but even these have no images or customer reviews. It's the bakery that doesn't exist.

And yet here it is: a long snazzy space with one wall featuring a long row of cakes and the other facing the hallway filled with whole loaves of bread; in the middle, an equally long counter features a wide selection of buns, pastries, and fried dough.

The latter, in the form of a twist doughnut (1600 won), was my pick here. This one had the nice addition of black sesame seeds mixed into the dough. It didn't make much difference in terms of taste, but it added some visual appeal and a little crunch here and there. If you bit down on one, you got a hint of that nutty sesame flavour. Dough was nicely fried, good sugar coverage; it was fresh, but could have been a bit more fluffy and less dense in texture. Good.

Rating: ***