European Bakery & Deli

Bakery: European Bakery & Deli

Address: 515 17 Ave SW #160, Calgary AB

Website: https://www.eurobakerydeli.com/

Style: Balkan

Price: $$ 

 

I have to confess I'm always a bit wary of Eastern European businesses that consider themselves a bakery and deli, because chances are they're not really a bakery. Sometimes they don't even actually bake anything at all and in the case of Balkan bakery-delis, they make their own burek, but little or nothing else. Taking all that into consideration, I was pleasantly surprised that European Bakery & Deli (originally from Kosovo) does actually sell baked goods and bread in addition to their homemade burek. There's not a lot of selection, that's true, but there's more than I expected, such as strudels, danishes and more Canadian products such as cinnamon buns and cakes. 

By far the most interesting and tasty baked good was the apple strudel with its flaky outer dough, though I'm actually not sure if I really liked that bottom layer or not. It definitely makes the pastry less soggy, but at the same time detracts from the taste of simply flaky dough and apples.

Similarly, I found their cinnamon bun and most certainly their apple danish too doughy. It was a stiff, airy dough and this kind never seems to retain its fresh-baked texture for long. Out of the three baked goods I ended up getting, the latter certainly didn't live up to expectations: too little fruit and too much dry dough. I guess you have to stick to the flaky dough. 

Rating: **1/2