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

Sleepy Owl Bread

Bakery: Sleepy Owl Bread

Address: 751 Wall St, Winnipeg MB 

Website: http://www.sleepyowlbread.ca/

Style: Canadian, European

Price: $$ 

 

Despite its location in a more industrial area,  Sleepy Owl is anything but sleepy. This small, yet busy bakery may be predominantly bread-oriented, but they still have an adequate selection of European-inspired pastries such as croissants, pains au chocolat and danishes with a varieties of appetizing fruit fillings. In recent times, I've noticed a total nosedive in terms of customer service, so Sleepy Owl also gets bonus points for their friendly and welcoming staff - thanks for making me feel like you actually want me there! 

Nevertheless, I picked out their prairie berry danish ($4.00). The filling definitely sounded the most interesting, though I'm not exactly sure what constitutes prairie berry. I think those were saskatoon berries in there, but other than that, it was hard to pinpoint - nonetheless, it was tasty! Pure cooked fruit with a good amount of sweetness. Honestly, all danish fillings should be this good. My big issue was the dough and, in a danish, dough is key. It was layered and flaky, but super, almost surprisingly so chewy. Sometimes you encounter these extra chewy, nearly impossible to bite off breads such as ciabatta, but the texture wasn't as welcome in a danish. 

Rating: **1/2

Current River Bakery

Bakery: Current River Bakery

Address: 301 Grenville Av, Thunder Bay ON

Website: http://www.currentriverbakery.com/ 

Style: Finnish, Canadian

Price: $$-$$$ 

As a lover of Finnish baked goods, this bakery has been on my must-visit list since my last cross-country drive a few years ago. At that time, I had two Finnish bakeries I had missed; now, only one remains. Current River was strangely barren, almost dismal in its emptiness, despite the fact I actually came in the morning. There was no one around, the shelves had a few packaged items and the selection of fresh baked goods such as classic Finnish baked goods and doughnuts was just as sparse. It was, to be quite honest, depressing and everything pointed to a steady lack of customers - WHY do people not support bakeries?! It makes me so mad! 

I had to give the korvapuusti (labelled here as cardamom buns) a try. Usually these are considered cinnamon buns, so I was a little surprised that there was no cinnamon in them at all. The aroma of that cardamom was incredible though. I love cardamom. The dough, however, was a bit on the dry/dense side. I would have preferred it a little more moist and easier to just rip apart and eat it up. Not too sweet, freshly baked and fragrant - had I ever missed my Finnish buns! Not pictured were their jam pigs - Finnish jelly doughnuts - which likewise had this dense, drier style dough and didn't have that greasy, jam-filled goodness encountered in other Finnish bakeries, so it personally wasn't my favourite. Nonetheless: keep bakeries in business! 

Rating: ***

Ouest Artisan Patisserie

Bakery: Ouest Artisan Patisserie

Address: 220 Campbell St #1454, Tofino BC

Website: facebook

Style:  French

Price: $$$-$$$$  

I was actually quite satisfied, if not downright impressed with the number of bakeries a small town like Tofino had to offer - and that was before discovering there were some new arrivals on the scene. The first new arrival is Ouest, a tiny patisserie operating out of a shipping container in an area of town you might not initially think of checking. In keeping with the tiny space, the selection is far from big and mostly consists of croissants, colourful macarons and a handful of chic pastries. 

Definitely the most unique and appetizing items up for sale, I decided to go with two of the pastries: the chocolate black currant mousse and the uh, deconstructed millefeuille/Paris brest?? ($7.50) With labels few and far between, I'm not quite sure what either of them were officially called.  I liked the combination of rich chocolate and flavourful fruit-packed mousse, though I think it would have been good enough with just that nutty dough base and mousse; the chocolate decorations on top were a bit overpowering. The creamy one, on the other hand, was certainly easier to look at than eat. ;) The bridge of caramel immediately fell apart, as did the little crunchy balls on top. The bottom, having nothing to keep it together, crumbled a little too easily, resulting in a bit of a mess. All good once it's in your mouth, but what a struggle it was to get it there! Overall: tasted good, not amazing - not worth the price.

 

Rating: ***

G-farm In-store Bakery [Mimi's World Tour]

Bakery: G-farm In-store Bakery (吉田村麵包)

Address: No. 257, Section 3, Jinhua Road, West Central District, Tainan

Website: n/a

Style: Chinese

Price: $-$$  

I only really went to this bakery in the first place, because it was conveniently located right across the street from my apartment and its large windows displaying cakes and a large array of baked goods both sweet and savoury couldn't help but lure me in. I wasn't even planning on visiting another bakery that day and I definitely wasn't planning for that bakery to involve some sort of doughnut. Oh well. .___.; But come on, I went inside and was just stunned at how many doughnut varieties they had. Did you want strawberry glazed, ring or twist - they had it all, even at night. How could I have resisted? 

At just under $20, the simple sugar ring doughnut may have been the cheapest doughnut there, but it really had been a while since I'd encountered one of these. Classic, perhaps even underestimated doughnut with a moist, fluffy inside, a nice sprinkling of sugar and a lovely - though not very crunchy (I always like the outside on sugar doughnuts to not be so soft) - golden brown exterior. A promising start to my Tainan Cake Tour! 

Rating: ***