Bake Island

Bakery: Bake Island
Address: 372 Yonge St, Toronto, ON
Website: https://www.bakeisland.com/
Style: Chinese 
Price: $$ 

This area really has exploded with baked good destinations and, more specifically, "better" Chinese bakeries in the past few years - "better" as opposed to the old-school, no-frills bakeries you'll still find in Chinatown. Bake Island is one of them. Perhaps not aiming to be as fancy or different as other spots nearby, Bake Island has snazzy graphics and the space is new... but it really is just another Chinese bakery, except for the fact that it can get pretty expensive. More traditional/classic pastries are still decent at around $1.50, but there were some buns that were almost $4 and the brightly coloured cakes are pricey. In my opinion, it's not worth it, especially when it appears like you're paying for location/convenience, not quality.

I took the "island" doughnut ($1.50). After all, I do like judging Chinese bakeries on how they tackle the simple Chinese doughnut. This one, however, was so soft that it didn't really feel like a doughnut at all, but a sugar bun. Where was that amazing golden brown deep-fried outside and moist inside?

The chocolate waltz bread ($2.80) was probably the better of the two. Though it looked more flaky than it really was, this wasn't bad. Sure, it needed more chocolate to be able to complete with other chocolate buns/bread in the city, but it had a nice level of sweetness and it was flavourful; kind of like a soft chocolate rugelach. Personally, despite the more up-to-date and innovative baked goods, this wasn't any better than a Chinatown bakery. Just more expensive.

Rating: **1/2