Ratio Coffee & Pastry

Bakery: Ratio Coffee & Pastry 
Address: 3101 29th St, Vernon BC
Website: https://ratiocoffee.ca/
Style: Canadian, North American 
Price: $$$ 

Located inside Vernon's old train station is the bright, spacious Ratio Coffee, a coffee shop selling its own pastries and baked goods. Given their small counter area and limited selection, different baked goods are available depending on what day of the week it is: Wednesday is cake day, Friday belongs to the mighty doughnut. Of course, there are a few, very few items that seem to be sold in addition to the daily special. When I was there, there were a few macarons and some cookies.

Coming there on a Saturday -- sticky bun day -- I was, however, a little confused to find a whole display case of day-old doughnuts and none of the aforementioned sticky buns. Did they sell out? Where were they? These doughnuts were being sold at half-off and I was very unsure. After all, I'm the first to tell you to never buy day-old doughnuts. It just won't be the same. But they looked so pretty and it was either that or not getting anything -- I certainly wasn't in the mood for macarons and I found the lack of prices disconcerting, especially when I knew they'd be up there.

 After countless moments of deliberation, I caved. Yes, I went for the doughnut. The "spring bouquet" doughnut, to be exact ($1.95; "50% off" $3.95). Definitely points for presentation with a lovely bouquet of fruit erupting from the centre, though the cherry went a little haywire and tried to make an escape, and sitting on a bed of tangy lemon icing. The dough was light and airy, pretty good, though as always, I would have liked for there to be something unique with the dough as well. Naturally, it must have been a lot better fresh, but it wasn't bad. I just think that it wasn't *that* good for it to be worth the full price. $4 for a doughnut is a little much, in my opinion....

Rating: ***

Cranewood Bakery

Bakery: Cranewood Bakery 
Address: 113 Main St, Sackville NB
Website: http://www.cranewoodonmain.com/
Style: Canadian
Price: $$$

This little gem of an organic bakery is located inside an old manor; in some ways, you feel like you're entering a museum or someone's private home. People were even picnicking on the front lawn! So while it may be a little unusual, it was definitely a unique, fun experience. Inside, the selection wasn't that unique or extensive. Maybe I was even hoping for it to be a little more... old-fashioned (other than the pies). I recall brownies, pies, and muffins, and despite it being a very nice place to sit and have something sweet with your coffee and tea, the focus is on breads and lunch items. *scowl*  Perhaps due to the focus on those lunch items, the line can get very slow... at least, I was waiting a long time for my treat.

In the end, I opted for probably the most intriguing, exciting item available: the Watergate cake. This was a slice of pistachio cake with a thick layer of fluffy icing sprinkled with chunks of pistachio and sponge cake bottom. The dough had good texture and the flavour of the pistachio was delicate, not over the top. Just right. A nice dessert that's as memorable as the lovely bakery it came from. :)

Rating: ***

Okanagan Bakehouse

Bakery: Okanagan Bakehouse
Address: 1800 Kalamalka Rd, Vernon BC
Website: facebook 
Style: German, European 
Price: $$  

A day trip to Vernon turned into getting quite a few bakeries in town. Rather, I think this pretty much will cover it. I'm always so proud of myself when this happens.

Anyways, the first of the day was Okanagan Bakehouse, a German-style bakery specializing in organic sourdough and other types of bread. In fact, their bread can be found throughout the area; at least I've seen them in various Farm Market stores in Kelowna. No baked goods though. That requires a dedicated trip to the store itself. As is the case with most "bread bakeries", the selection of sweets is limited. Actually, I found it quite limited and with the exception of a few whole cakes in the display, I was having a difficult time deciding on what I wanted. Not to mention nothing is either labelled or priced, which is always a little frustrating to see.

However, just when I was getting to ready, I stepped up to the counter and spotted two poppy seed buns. A bit hard to see they were indeed poppy seed buns under all that crumble, but who doesn't love crumble? At any rate, I love crumble and this poppy seed bun ($2.95) was downright slathered in it. Underneath, plenty of poppy seed mass rolled round in a soft and fluffy, cinnamon bun-like dough; on top, a drizzle of icing. Delicious -- and my favourite bakery in Vernon!!

Rating: ***1/2

Tony's Bistro & Patisserie

Bakery: Tony's Bistro & Patisserie 
Address: 137 McLaughlin Rd, Moncton NB 
Website: http://www.tonysbistro.ca/
Style: French, European
Price: $$-$$$ 

The last time I was in Moncton, this place was recommended to me by my Airbnb hosts and I can't understand why I didn't manage to go. It was one of those late arrival and early departure kind of trips, but surely I could not have left before 8a.m. (hah, no chance!) to have missed it opening. What was wrong with me!? Thankfully, it was the first place I remembered this time around and Tony's has finally been done; it's a good thing it has!

Tony's is partly a patisserie, partly a light restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. In previous cases, the term "bistro" attached to any of my reviewed bakeries has ended up not being that great, but Tony's is  an exception to almost every rule. Even the statement on their website, "one of the finest bakery and pastry showcases in Atlantic Canada", would usually send off warning signs. Those are big words and big words need proof. And the proof is in the (French) pudding! :D

There was a bit of deliberation in store: try the cake slice for around $6 or keep it simple and take the chausson aux pommes ($2.75). Naturally, everyone knows that a good way to gauge a French bakery is by how buttery and flaky their dough is and Tony's was phenomenal. I can't remember the last time I had such a delicious chausson! Look at that golden top and middle bursting with apples. It's not blackened or totally empty inside like I've had in other places. It was... perfect. One of the very few 4-star bakeries in the Maritimes.

Rating: ****

Illichmann's

Bakery: Illichmann's 
Address: 1937 Gordon Dr, Kelowna BC
Website: http://illichmanns.com/
Style: German, European
Price: $$ 

Illichmann's is probably one of the my favourite places to shop for food in Kelowna. The store is split into two parts, with one part being a German/European deli with imported products, good cheese, and homemade sausages and cold cuts (the best in town), and the other dedicated to hot food and lunch specials along with a bakery. That being said, most bakery products do come from another local institution and pending bakery review: Specialty Bakery. Having come first, I did assume everything came from Specialty Bakery, but having seen the latter's lacklustre selection, I know that many baked goods are made by them or made exclusively for them.

So, in addition to the shelves of bread behind the counter, Illichmann's features a corner of individual baked goods ranging from sweet cheese danishes, doughnuts, to cookies and then has larger coffee cakes here and there, available in a couple of varieties. Not too shabby.

On my first trip, I took two items. The apple fritter ($1.65), along with the Kelownut, are from Specialty and actually turned into the redeeming factor... big slab of fried dough interspersed with chunks of apples (could have more) and covered in a thin layer of icing. Fresh, with a slight crunch on the outside and a soft, somewhat chewy inside. Pretty good!

I did excited about the poppy seed danish ($1.70). It's always hard to resist, but biting into it, I found it lacking in poppy seeds. They seem to have been carefully arranged on top, since it was just plain, rather generic, slightly flaky dough. It didn't really have any flavour and there weren't enough poppy seeds to help it out. Same thing happened with the big poppy seed ring ($8.99). I ate this over the course of a few days and by day two, I was sick of it. Again, it looks so generous on the poppy seed mass, but cutting into it, it was just plain sweet yeast dough, a bit dense and not that tasty. I mean, you can eat plain sweet bread if it's good, but I really struggled. I can't even understand why!

In the end, I stick to the deli (and my butter cheese!). 

Rating: **

Titus Bakery

Bakery: Titus Bakery 
Address: 15 Prince Edward St, Saint John NB 
Website: n/a 
Style: Canadian
Price: $-$$ 

In my travels throughout Canada, I've discovered that there are cities you can consider bakery cities and others that are clearly not. In general, I've found to my relative surprise that the Maritimes fall into this latter category and it's easier to actually find a good bakery in a small town than in the larger cities. Saint John, I think, definitely fits this rule. Of course it didn't help coming in on Sunday evening and leaving Monday morning, but even with extensive bakery research -- which I now always do before even setting foot in a destination -- I couldn't find that many options, much less that many good options.

And so there was Titus, a teeny tiny bakery sandwiched between two bigger buildings; the effect is adorable. Yes, it was one of the options that was open. It also happened to be one of the more highly-rated bakeries in the city. Essentially, Titus is a homestyle bakery with bread and simple treats and baked goods. This is certainly not a bad thing, but this time, I had a hard time picking something out and in the end went for the cinnamon bun ($1-something).

This was fresh, soft and doughy with a drier cinnamon mass and a dollop of icing right in the middle. It was good to rip apart, but I would have liked it to have a little more flavour, more... punch. But I did end up with one bakery in Saint John and this is certainly worth celebrating! :)

Rating: **1/2