Nestor's Bakery

Bakery: Nestor's Bakery

Address: 912 20th St W, Saskatoon SK

Website: https://nestorsbakerysaskatoon.square.site/

Style: Canadian, Doughnuts

Price: $$ 

 

Nestor's is a charming neighbourhood bakery that appears to be all about the doughnuts. And that is a good thing. I mean, sure, they do sell pie and bread, but the moment you enter your mind is clouded by all those racks of doughnuts and you kind of forget about everything else. Doughnut holes? Churros? It was quite the dilemma, especially given the fact that it was announced that everything on that busy afternoon was 50% off. No wonder everyone was there! 

I was actually telling myself before entering Nestor's that I needed to lay off the doughnuts, at least for a while. Mimi's Cake Tour does love doughnuts, but sometimes you start feeling a bit guilty. Kind of a like a New Year's resolution. And like resolutions, this one didn't last. I grabbed 6 doughnut holes and an apple fritter (I paid $2.50 for everything). No regrets. 

Well, maybe only that the doughnut holes especially were very dense and doughy and I wasn't really expecting them to be cake doughnuts; I'm not the biggest fan of cake doughnuts. Even though the apple fritter wasn't necessarily a cake doughnut, it still had that compact, heavy texture. The glaze was also a bit overbearing. Still good, but had both been a little more fluffy, it would have made a world of difference! 

Rating: ***

San-Ho Bakery [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: San-ho Bakery (三和食品店)

Address: No. 445, Zhongshan Road, West District, Chiayi 

Website: n/a

Style: Chinese

Price: $$ 

 

My second stop in Chiayi was San-ho, a busy bakery with a delightful retro vibe. I mean, check out that sign! You'll encounter slightly rundown bakeries that have been there many a year all over Taiwan, but you just can't find these "well-preserved" old-school shops in the bigger cities. In keeping with the overall atmosphere, they have plenty of traditional cakes along with the usual Westernized bread varieties. 

I really wasn't planning on it, but their sugar ring doughnut ($25) was calling out to me. It may not look that pretty, but honestly, it's not easy to find these in Chinese bakeries anywhere (anymore) and I do love them so. ^^; I'm not sure if this one really qualifies as a ring doughnut, though. The hole appears to have grown in somewhere along the way... it was a little flat, with not enough fluffy dough on the inside, but it was a good one. Classic, simple and good - that's what you expect from an established bakery like this. My pick for best in Chiayi. 

Rating: ***

Focaccia Bakery [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Focaccia Bakery (芙卡夏麵包坊)

Address: No. 281, Minsheng North Road, West District, Chiayi

Website: n/a 

Style: Chinese 

Price: $-$$

I arrived in Chiayi quite hungry and this bakery was pretty much around the corner from where I was staying, so I made a bakery run and ate it immediately upon returning. Despite its name, there is no focaccia for sale, nor is there anything really European, let alone Italian, that you sometimes encounter in Asian bakeries. On the other hand, they had a fairly standard selection of classic sweet and savoury buns, with a few gift box selections. Their specialty appears to be various flavours of cream rolls. I didn't come very late, but either they don't have a lot to begin with or they sell out early, this particular bakery had so little in store with a couple empty trays with labels and other sections with just one or two items left. 

The dainty milk cream bun ($22) looked tasty and interesting with its strip-shaped crumble on top, which added a nice texture to the otherwise soft, fluffy bun. The dough was pretty good, but the milk cream on the inside was strangely grainy. I don't know if it was the sugar or they milk powder, but the chalky consistency was a bit off-putting. Not so bad, but not my top pick in Chiayi.
 

Rating: **1/2

Nana & Papa's Bakery

Bakery: Nana & Papa's Bakery

Address: 897 Island Hwy W #104, Parksville, BC 

Website: https://nana-papas-bakery.business.site

Style: Canadian

Price: $

 

This is either a newer bakery or I somehow missed the previous time I was here; I believe it to be the former. Nonetheless, Nana & Papa's is located almost in between Qualicum Beach and Parksville-proper, in a highway-side plaza that you wouldn't presume would have a bakery. But it's there. And for a new bakery, it was so nice to see that it was as classic Canadian as it gets. With its selection of cinnamon buns, scones and other old-school treats at ridiculously amazing prices (though it would be great if those amazing prices were displayed beforehand), it feels like this bakery has been around forever.  

In my opinion, one of the more unique products available was their coconut Bavarian cream bun. Did I get that name right? Or at least the description of what it was... The cinnamon-style bun was fresh and fluffy, but I was hoping for more rich, Portuguese flavours with the coconut and custard pairing. Instead I found it a bit lacking in taste. Next time, I would probably try something else.

Rating: **1/2

明新食品 [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: 明新食品 (Mingxin Food)

Address: No. 569, Qingping Rd, Anping District, Tainan

Website: http://www.minsin.com.tw/

Style: Chinese

Price: $$ 

Despite its aspirations as something more than a simple bakery (after all, I don't often encounter bakeries using "grocery" as a label), Mingxin is a classic multi-location bakery with shelves of sweet and savoury baked goods lining two walls and a large space dedicated to gift boxes like pineapple cake. Their specialty, however, appears to be steamed buns with meat. They sell them individually or by the box. They come hot and the whole area smells like meat bao, which somewhat deters from the bakery experience. At least the sweet baked goods. 

But why am I talking about meat bao? I'd seen "beehive" buns in many bakeries before this moment, but I'd never tried them. They're usually slightly more expensive than the average bun and the whole "beehive" description didn't tell me much, but it was here that I gave them a try. They were well-priced ($38) and quite large. Beyond the almost cookie-like shell, crusty on the outside and a little chewy on the inside, the inside was filled with raisins (possibly the bees... though I could have done without them) and a sort of rich almond? paste. Quite rich, to tell the truth. It was different from the standard fluffy white bread, however, and the taste and texture was quite a pleasant surprise. Certainly not bad for a meat bao place! ;)

Rating: ***

Baker and Table

Bakery: Baker and Table

Address: 6414 Fraser St, Vancouver BC

Website: http://www.bakerandtablecafe.com/

Style: Japanese

Price: $$ 

 

 I can't believe that I was putting off this visit for so long, simply because this charming little Japanese spot wasn't really a bakery, but a cafe. Because let's be honest: cafes usually don't have the variety bakeries do and, a lot of the time, they're simply not up to par. Baker and Table, on the other hand, had a surprising selection - not huge, but definitely more than I expected - of dainty cake slices and absolutely adorable melon bread in a variety of characters. Unfortunately, the latter is a bit pricey for a bun (and almost all the flavours have mochi inside x_x), so I found it better value to just grab a slice of cake. And their cake really is good. 

 

I took two slices on my initial trip: the eggless kabocha cheesecake and yuzu cheesecake (both $6 each), which got me the comment from the lady behind the counter "you must really love cheesecake". If you could sum me up in one line, that one could work just fine. Because yes, I do. XD I was really curious to try the kabocha, especially since I do like pumpkin cakes and find they're not very common (when doing the mini cheesecake challenge in Japan, squash ended up winning as well). I was a little wary of the eggless part and, indeed, the texture of the cheese mass was a little too dense and lacking that Japanese fluffiness I love, though it eventually got to me and I was able to enjoy the rich, delicately spiced flavour of the squash. Unfortunately, it also tasted a little stale, especially along one side?

 

The yuzu cheesecake, on the other hand, was amazing! Fresh and creamy, it literally melted in your mouth and the yuzu flavour perfectly complemented the slight sourness of the cheese. Not too sweet, not too overpowering, this really impressed. Up to this point, I've tried yuzu cheesecake at three spots in Vancouver and Baker and Table takes first place, hands down. It's no wonder that that same lady's farewell remark was "everything is better with cheese" - if it's Japanese cheesecake, you bet! 

Rating: ***1/2

咖啡麵包 [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: 咖啡麵包 (Coffee Bread)

Address: No. 778, Anping Road, Anping District, Tainan

Website: n/a

Style: Chinese 

Price: $$

Who needs a store name when you have a winning product? And that being the only thing you sell. This tiny shop (usually these one-product vendors have a street stall, so it's surprising this place actually has a storefront) sells coffee bread and nothing but coffee bread. $30 each for 4/$100. Just go up to the counter, say how many you want and you get them nice and hot. Bonus points for the smiling mascot!

I got mine and was initially hit with a smell similar to that of burnt toast; it was a bit concerning, but there was nothing burnt about the bun itself. Maybe a piece of charred dough had made it into the bag? Moving past the smell, I was pleasantly surprised by just how fresh this was. So fresh that the slightest impact made it smush, resulting in not the prettiest bun out there. Unlike your typical bakery, however, you could really enjoy the texture of that super fresh, fluffy dough underneath the thin cookie-like crust. It was fragrant and delicious - and beats a majority of full-scale bakeries.

Rating: ***1/2

Union Square Donuts [International Correspondent]

Bakery: Union Square Donuts

Address: 409 Harvard St, Brookline, MA

Website: http://www.unionsquaredonuts.com

Style: Doughnuts

Price: $$ 

 

I did two doughnut shops when I was in Boston. The first, and the one I actually researched, was Union Square Donuts, which has a couple locations around Boston. This one is located by Kupel's Bakery. It's pretty much your typical gourmet doughnut shop. There are around 7-8 different flavours and they're either ring doughnuts with glaze or have some sort of filling. 

The thing I really liked with Union Square was the fact their doughnuts are fried to a crisp golden brown. Usually, these gourmet places have that Tim Hortons vibe, they're so soft and mushy - or they're cake doughnuts and I don't like cake doughnuts. These were more like fritters or Polish doughnuts and those are the best type. I took a cranberry ring doughnut and the Vietnamese coffee. Interesting flavours, but the glaze was a little thick and pasty on both. You could still taste the fried doughnut, though, so I liked it. This was my pick for best doughnut shop in the area, at least from the two I tried. 

Rating: ***

Pu Jei [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: Pu Jei

Address: No. 200, Chenggong Rd, North District, Tainan

Website: http://www.pujeigift.com/ 

Style: Chinese

Price: $$ 

If there's one bakery in Tainan with hype, it's Pu Jei. I had a very hard time wrapping my head around the insanity that surrounded this bakery; I simply didn't see anything unique or remarkable about it. Alright, maybe I can say it's above average in terms of the variety and quality of the baked goods. They also have a wide range of gift sets, but many bakeries do. So what is with the crazed hordes of people, running around and loading their trays to the brim with baked goods? The atmosphere was downright apocalyptic. And right in the middle of the crowd, there was the worker arranging items along the middle aisle and getting angry whenever someone wanted to grab something near her. Check-out was equally erratic, with my purchase tossed to the other end of the counter and my money accepted without even acknowledging I existed. Maybe because I didn't load my tray to the brim with baked goods? Suffice to say, there is literally a handful of bakeries on the Cake Tour that even mention awful service, let alone get penalized for it. I want good food, I don't care about service, but Pu Jei honestly deserves a half-star off. It was *that* off-putting. 

Not really getting the chance to fully examine what they had to offer, I took the first thing that looked good and different from the usual bakery fare. That was the milk bread french toast or something like that ($30). I've had similar items before like this, a slice of bread fried and then rolled with sugar, so I was expecting a nice crunch on the outside, a little bit of that oil penetrating into the dough and a soft inside. A little sweet, a little greasy - it's like a doughnut, but in the form of a slice of bread. This did not really deliver those kinds of results. Despite its golden exterior, the toasting added nothing to it and the texture was too similar to that of a normal slice of bread. This should have been way more rich, though the taste wasn't bad. 

Rating: **

Rosie's Country Cafe and Bakery

Bakery: Rosie's Country Cafe and Bakery

Address: 73 Main St S, Minnedosa, MB 

Website: n/a

Style: Canadian

Price: $-$$

 

Also known as Minnedosa Bakery judging by the sign outside. These businesses really need to step up and decide what they'd like to be called; maybe the country cafe is newer than the bakery? Especially since it was more cafe than full-out bakery. The selection of mostly sweet baked goods was far from shabby, however. Think a couple varieties of doughnuts, squares, cookies - classic, unpretentious Canadian baked goods. 

I have a good eye for doughnuts and one of the sure-fire signs that a doughnut is going to be good is a fresh uniform glaze. I spotted it on these jam busters ($1.25/each) and knew I had to give them a try. And these certainly did not disappoint. I bit into this jelly doughnut and that fresh glaze crackled delicately upon impact. Beyond the glaze, the dough was thin and airy, most of it consisting of that golden brown, fried outer crust and the inside was generously filled with jam. This was almost like a fusion between a classic yeast doughnut and a cream puff - wow. My intuition was on the ball this time around.

Rating: ***1/2

安堤生烘焙 [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: 安堤生烘焙

Address: No. 46-15, Nanmen Road, West Central District, Tainan

Website: n/a

Style: Chinese

Price: $$ 

Located near the south gate and surrounding park, this small, cavernous bakery has a limited selection of sweet and savoury baked goods that range from the most basic classics found in any budget bakery to a more rustic selection of bread and French-inspired pastries located on the central table. Despite all the signs outside advertising castella in Japanese, that was one item I did not see. At the time, they seemed to have a strawberries and cream theme going on with breads and pastries of various sizes, most of which looked quite tasty and would have probably been my top pick. However, it being stifling, I'd already made the mistake of getting lured into buying a creamy pastry and seeing it totally melt, so I wasn't willing to see the same thing happen again. 

Instead, I went with the tried-and-true pineapple bun ($30). Always a safe bet on a hot, humid day. I really like the extra crusty pineapple buns with that great crunch on the outside and this one, with its chunky, almost cookie-like shell looked really promising. In that sense, I was a little disappointed; it simply did not have the texture I was anticipating. Not only was the shell not crunchy enough, the bun underneath was too doughy. Not bad, but judging by the more artisan look of a lot of their products, I was hoping for better. 

Rating: **1/2

Tofitian Coffee House

Bakery: Tofitian Coffee House

Address: 1180 Pacific Rim Hwy, Tofino BC 

Website: http://tofitian.com/

Style: Canadian

Price: $$ 

 

This is the one place that is easy to forget about and I know I did the last time I was in Tofino. I saw it on the way in and on the way out it just seemed to slipped my mind. Oh well, I got it this time, for better or for worse. Tofitian Cafe isn't entirely a bakery, but they do come up when you search for bakeries and they have a small selection of home-baked goodies that is limited to three types of croissants, some cookies and other uh, stuff that didn't quite whet my appetite. Without a doubt, the three flaky pastries - croissants, almond croissants and chocolate croissants - are *the* thing to get, in my opinion. 

More specifically, I took the chocolate croissant ($4.25). This one hefty pastry with a nice crusty exterior and layers of flaky dough; to their credit, they also added more chocolate than I was expecting with a chocolate croissant. The one half dusted in powdered sugar wasn't necessary, but it was a nice touch. Worthy of a French bakery, in fact, but the experience during getting that pastry... man, how ridiculously annoying and unpleasant!

Rating: **1/2

小森美丸 [Mimi's World Tour]

 Bakery: 小森美丸 現烤甜甜圈 (Komori Mimaru Freshly Baked Doughnuts)

Address: No. 259, Section 3, Guohua St, West Central District, Tainan 

Website: facebook 

Style: Doughnuts

Price: $$ 

Let's follow up one 4-star review with another~! This Japanese-inspired doughnut stand and cafe was the only 4-star Cake Tour during my trip to Taiwan. That's right, out of nearly 100 stops, it was this doughnut stand that captured my heart and taste buds. Sold out of a little display case right outside the cafe, these baked doughnuts are supposed to come in seven fixed varieties and you do get a discount when you buy more (which I was thinking of doing the following day). When I came, however, there was literally one doughnut left and I had little choice in the matter. 

Luckily, I did decide to take that final milk doughnut ($30/each, 4/$100). Baked doughnuts are certainly not my favourite type and, outwardly, there was nothing remarkable about this particular doughnut. It was a little blackened in areas, it wasn't necessarily even pretty, so I wasn't expecting much. However, the taste and incredible texture, that crunch on the outside and dense and chewy inside took me completely by surprise. It was a little greasy, a little sweet. It was AMAZING! 

Rating: ****

Golestan Bakery

Bakery: Golestan Bakery

Address: 1755 Robson St, Vancouver BC 

Website: n/a

Style: Persian

Price: $$$ 

 

There are some bakeries where the name alone just brings that sparkle to your eyes and everything else in life simply vanishes upon the memory of whatever delectable treat you had. Yes, it doesn't happen often. Actually, it hardly ever happens, which can be evidenced by how few 4-star bakeries there are on my little blog. In this case, however, one word is needed to transport me back to bliss: zolbia. Zolbia from Golestan, to be exact. Whoa, and here we go... *-*

When it comes to Middle Eastern and Indian pastries, I'm such a sucker for what I universally call jalebi, though of course they have different names depending on the country and language. I just love these golden yellow/orange spirals of syrup-soaked fried dough and in my opinion Persian zolbia are the best in terms of style. So when I spotted the zolbia at Golestan - a bakery originally from North Vancouver with a newer location on Robson - among their wide array of traditional pastries and cookies (all sold by weight) in addition to a few more universal treats like chocolate cake, I knew I had to try them. These zolbia ($5.15 for three) didn't look like anything particularly remarkable, but that first bite was incredible and it only got better from there. They had the perfect texture: super chewy with a mild crisp on the outside, just the right amount of sugar syrup inside and out. They were so good, to the point where I couldn't stop until I'd eaten everything. Wow, these changed my mind about how I see these simple pastries. The best ones I've ever had!

Rating: ****

Kupel's Bakery [International Correspondent]

Bakery: Kupel's Bakery

Address: 421 Harvard St, Brookline, MA

Website: http://www.orderkupels.com/

Style: Jewish, American

Price: $$ 

[These reviews have been sitting complete on my blog for many a month and I've been waiting and nagging to get all the photos from these posts up. At last, it was a struggle, but I got them! Both the reviews and photos from last year's New England trip - wow, I thought I'd never see these posted in their entirety....] 

I don't really know what we were doing in Brookline, a suburb of Boston (I guess you could call it that), except for driving past and spotting what looked like a bagel bakery. There are two types of bagel bakeries: the ones that sell just bagels and the ones that actually sell classic baked goods. I'm not really a bagel connoisseur, so luckily Kupel's was my kind of bakery. 

My favourite pick at any Jewish bakery are the chocolate buffalo pastries, but I don't really remember whether they didn't have them at all or they just didn't look as authentic and meaty as the poppy seed stuff. I got those triangle cookies that start with an H... I always see these and it just hit me when I tried the ones from Kupel's that they are just cookies stuffed with poppy seed. A little dry, in my opinion. 

What was good was the poppy seed danish. This was literally exploding with poppy seed! They really didn't have to put that much in - I wonder if you'd fail a drug test after eating this thing.... probably.

Rating: ***

甘本堂 [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: 甘本堂蛋糕烘焙坊 (Ganbentang Cake Bakery)

Address: No. 35 Minsheng Road, Section 1, West Central District, Tainan

Website: facebook

Style: Chinese

Price: $$  

This was actually my first bakery stop in Tainan. I came here straight from the train station, suitcase and all. Well, the bakery is quite tony, so the suitcase had to wait outside, but it was definitely an unplanned stop; however, it was hard to walk past a window laden with sweet baked goods and cookies. After all, unlike the vast majority of bakeries I encountered in Taiwan (and simply Chinese bakeries in general), the focus here wasn't on the meat and cheese buns - it was on the sweet stuff. I guess that's what "cake bakery" means?? Nonetheless, most of the items at this bakery were of the sweet kind: buns, packs of biscuits, silly cakes, all heavy on cream, custard and pastel colours. Perhaps a little too heavy, at times.... 

Trying to keep it a little more on the light side, especially given it was a breakfast item, I grabbed the cocoa bun ($30). At least, I think it was a cocoa bun. That's what I could pick up from the description; however, I had a hard time making that connection in terms of taste. With so many thin, cocoa-coloured layers throughout, it should have been more obvious. Still, the dough was good in both texture and flavour. Never really think peanuts are good as a garnish, but overall, I was satisfied with this treat and bakery as a whole.

Rating: ***

Wadena Bakery & Coffee Nook

 

Bakery: Wadena Bakery & Coffee Nook

Address: 70 Main St N, Wadena, SK

Website: http://www.wadenabakery.com/

Style: Canadian 

Price: $ 

From the outside, Wadena Bakery looks like your typical prairie town bakery; actually, it doesn't look any different from the inside as well, but what totally astounded me was the amount of people flocking here. What exactly is the population of Wadena? Does every single person in town and in a 100 km radius make it a mission of popping into this bakery on Saturday morning? Not that I'm complaining, mind you! It warms my heart to have a bakery receive such ardent support. One more thing: there was a sign posted in the window to vote for them in some sort of Canadian Bakery Awards - um, hello? how am I not part of the panel of guest judges? It's so disconcerting to know nothing I do or say matters. *sighs* 

Anyways, Wadena Bakery is without a doubt a doughnut bakery. In my opinion, those are some of the best kind, but seeing as I'd already bought doughnuts the day before, I thought it better to take a break. In this sense, it was difficult to pick out something else, especially when everyone in front of me just kept loading up on those doughnuts. Was it ever tempting to go back on my resolve!

 

One non-doughnut item that seemed to enjoy some popularity was the cinnamon knot ($1.10). Ridiculously well-priced, these flower-shaped, muffin-sized baked goods take the top of a cinnamon bun (which is easily the best part) and offers you almost 360 degree coverage. They're sweet, they're gooey - but they tasted more like sticky buns than cinnamon buns. Whether the glaze was overpowering or there wasn't enough cinnamon, I'm not sure; all I knew was that I would have liked more cinnamon flavour. I probably should have stuck to those doughnuts after all... 

Rating: **1/2