Boulangerie Le Toledo

Bakery: Boulangerie Le Toledo
Address: 351 Mont-Royal Ave E, Montreal QC
Website: https://www.letoledo.com/
Style: French, Canadian 
Price: $$$ 

On my latest trip to Montreal, I had a great vantage point for observing the strangely hectic goings on of Le Toledo, a newer bakery/lunch spot/cafe on Mont-Royal. It having fairly late opening hours for a weekend, especially compared to its neighbours, I popped in on a Saturday evening and found it crazy busy, although there wasn't really anything there in terms of sweet baked goods. Attributing it to the hour, I actually left and thought I'd have better luck another day. I returned on a morning weekday and still found it busy, but the selection was a little better.

In truth, I would call Le Toledo more a cafe more than a bakery. Yes, they have a fairly large assortment of healthy, rustic breads, but the items for sale - like sandwiches, soup, croissants and raisin bread - seem designed more for eating there with a drink. Not to mention they actually don't have much sweet stuff happening. They do have croissants and pains au chocolat, but that's pretty much it in terms of baked goods besides very North American bars and cookies. Two or three fancier, though quite pricey cakes round off the selection. I was just as stumped in the morning as I was that Saturday!

I finally went with the chausson aux pommes ($4, tax included). Flaky, feather-light dough that had good texture and taste, though it was exceptionally messy, with a nice, chunky baked apple inside. I liked that it wasn't completely an apple sauce like it usually is; I preferred this version, but I wish there was more of it. Pretty good, but on the whole Le Toledo is so not worth the hype.

Rating: **1/2