Location: 359 Rue Bernard Ouest, Montreal, Quebec
Website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cheskies/133884676726138

Every time I’ve had a babka or a babka-like dessert, it’s been okay at best (or much, much worse — the chocolate buffalo from Bagel Nash comes to mind).  So I didn’t have particularly high hopes for the chocolate babka at Boulangerie Cheskie, but after seeing it on a few lists of the best bakeries in Montreal, I figured I’d give it a shot.

I guess I’m going to have to start figuring out where the best babka in Toronto can be procured, because who knew a babka could be this good??

It’s outstanding.  I wish I had taken a picture of its glorious, glorious innards, because you really don’t get a sense of how incredible this thing is just by looking at the outside.  It’s chewy, fresh, and amazingly fudgy– Eater referred to it as “the love child of a brownie and brioche roll,” and yeah, that’s about right.  It’s gooey and chocolatey and addictive.

I guess I’m glad that this bakery is several hundred kilometres away, because I could eat about a million of these.  As soon as I finished it I was extremely tempted to head back inside and buy another one, but there was other food to eat, so I restrained myself.