Bakeries – Michael Eats

A Delicious Pastry at Cho-Kwok-Lat

Published on September 25, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 79 Wellesley Street East, Toronto
Website: https://chokwoklat.com/

I went to the original location of Cho-Kwok-Lat in Markham a few years ago and found it to be thoroughly delicious. They opened a second location downtown last year, and yeah — they’re still cranking out some really stellar pastries.

Sometimes ordering at a bakery is a real struggle, because everything looks so good. That was definitely the case here. I wanted to try everything.

I eventually settled on the cherry berry pistachio pillow, which is filled with a decent amount of tasty jam and gooey pistachio cream in a croissant-like base.

I think that this style of croissant — with the dozens of tiny lines on top that crackle into crispy strips when you eat it — looks stunning, but is less satisfying to eat than the traditional, flatter presentation. Still, they do a great version of it here, with a great contrast between the crispy shell and the fluffy interior.

And the combo of the fruity base and the nutty pistachio cream works very, very well. It’s delicious.

Like when I visited the Markham location, they heated it up a bit first, which I think is such a great idea — it livens up the pastry and amps up the external crispiness, which definitely enhances things.

Tasty Pastries at Barburu

Published on July 12, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1000 Burnhamthorpe Road West, Mississauga
Website: https://www.instagram.com/barburu_bakery/

Barburu is a delightful little bakery and coffee shop in Yuan Ming Supermarket’s food court. They mostly specialize in various filled croissants, though they have a few other types of pastries as well.

I went with the pistachio croissant, and it was quite satisfying. In particular, it’s got a very generous amount of pistachio filling that has a tasty pistachio flavour.

I know it seems odd to complement pistachio filling for tasting like pistachio, but the pistachio flavour just isn’t quite there in a lot of croissants like this. This one definitely doesn’t have that problem.

There’s also a sweet, creamy pistachio spread on top of the pistachio filling, which is a nice touch.

My only real issue here is that the layer of croissant surrounding the filling is quite thin. It’s got a nice crispy exterior and the whole thing is certainly very satisfying, but I would have liked a bit more croissant and a bit less filling. The ratio is off. It’s tasty enough that I’m not going to complain too much, but it’s still a shame.

Tasty Buns at Blooming Garden Dessert House

Published on July 1, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1177 Central Parkway West, Mississauga
Website: None

Look, I’m a simple man with simple pleasures. Put a red bean bun in front of me, and I’m going to eat and enjoy that bun. I’ve had a lot of red bean buns of varying levels of quality, but I’ve never had one I’ve outright disliked.

I also enjoy desserts that are on the less sweet side of things, so when I saw that Blooming Garden Dessert House serves something that they call a “less sugar red bean pineapple bun,” I was all over that.

I know that I just said that I’d enjoy literally any red bean bun that you put in front of me, so maybe that kills my credibility a bit, but this was a particularly good one. I really, really enjoyed it.

I thought it might be barely sweet at all, but while the sugar level is definitely on the more restrained side of things, it’s plenty sweet. The sweetness level is about on par with the better red bean buns that I’ve had, so advertising this as “less sugar” is probably overkill.

Everything here is just right, from the satisfying chunkiness of the filling, to the ultra fresh and chewy bread, to the perfectly crispy topping. It’s legitimately one of the better versions of this that I’ve had in a while.

Tasty Cookies and Onigiri at Momochee’s Desserts

Published on June 26, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 263 Lakeshore Road East, Mississauga
Website: https://momochees-desserts.square.site/

Momochee’s Desserts is a delightful bakery in Port Credit that specializes in cookies, basque cheesecake and, oddly enough, onigiri.

Onigiri, for the uninitiated, is a triangular rice ball with various fillings; frequently, it comes wrapped with a sheet of nori that’s been protected from the rice by plastic, keeping it crispy.

It’s not something that you’d expect to find at a bakery, but yeah, I’m into it. I’m a big fan of the stuff, but it’s hard to find a really good one in Toronto. Usually, the seasoning is off or it’s been sitting out too long, with unpleasantly firm rice.

I went with the spicy mayo onigiri, and aside from being served too cold, it was just right. The rice was fresh and nicely seasoned, it had a good proportion of creamy tuna filling (with a surprisingly pronounced spicy kick), and the nori was perfectly crispy.

But of course, the place is mostly a bakery, so I had to get a dessert. I went with the classic chocolate chip cookie, and it’s quite tasty. Nothing about it blew my mind, but the contrast between the crispy exterior and gooey interior was satisfying, and it had a nice amount of good quality chocolate chips.

Quick Bites: Emmer, Dear Grain, Craque de Creme

Published on May 13, 2026 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Peanut Butter Miso Cookie from Emmer

Toronto Life recently called the peanut butter miso cookie from Emmer one of the best new cookies in the city, so obviously I needed to try it. And yeah, it’s fantastic, with a really addictive crispy/chewy contrast and a deep savouriness from the miso and the generous amount of salt on top. The level of sweetness here is very, very restrained, which seems like it maybe shouldn’t work, but it absolutely does.

Blueberry Scone from Dear Grain

I feel like I can’t bring up Dear Grain without grumbling about their refusal to slice most of their (very delicious!) bread (unless you buy it frozen), so: what’s the deal with that?? With that out of the way, I’ll say that their blueberry scone is absolutely fantastic. Seriously, seriously good. The exterior is nice and crispy, it’s sweet without being too sweet, it’s got a nice blueberry punch, and the texture of the scone itself is perfect. It also comes with a little cup of tasty lemon curd, and its pleasant tartness really takes things over the top. It’s so good.

Canele from Craque de Creme

Speaking of tasty pastries, the canele from Craque de Creme is thoroughly tasty, with a rich custardy flavour and a restrained sweetness that I found to be quite delightful. The overly crunchy exterior does hold it back from canele perfection, however. I love a nice crisp, caramelized exterior on a canele, but this one takes a step or two (or three, or four) too far. The rock hard exterior here kinda shredded the inside of my mouth.