Bakeries – Page 5 – Michael Eats

Tasty Pastries at Ba Noi

Published on November 7, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 806 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://ba-noi.myshopify.com/

Ba Noi is a delightful bakery on Bloor that specializes in sourdough, along with a handful of tasty treats.

They’re also very, very popular. When I showed up on a Saturday afternoon, they were sold out of everything outside of chocolate chip cookies and butter tarts. That was unfortunate, but certainly, there are worse things to be forced to order at a bakery. I tried both, and they were each extremely tasty. I’ll definitely have to come back to try the sourdough.

The cookie was the highlight. It helped that it was extremely fresh (arguably too fresh, but who can say no to a warm, gooey chocolate chip cookie?), but this was a superlative cookie, with great quality chocolate and a nice depth of flavour. I find a lot of chocolate chip cookies can be one-note sweet, but that definitely wasn’t the case here.

The butter tart was interesting; it was kind of like a hybrid between a standard butter tart and a Portuguese custard tart, with a flaky crust and a filling that was less sweet and more custardy than the norm. It was absolutely delicious, though the crust was a bit soggy despite it still being warm from the oven when it was served to me (the woman behind the counter advised that it might be too fresh to sample immediately; I waited about an hour to eat it. It’s possible it steamed in the bag?).

Tasty Breakfast Sandwiches at La Boulangerie

Published on September 30, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1134 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Website: https://laboulangeriedundas.com/

The breakfast sandwich at La Boulangerie was recommended by no less than Susur Lee, so I figured it was probably worth checking out.

And clearly, La Boulangerie is a popular place, because it was absolutely swarming with people when I visited on a recent Sunday afternoon.

They have a handful of tasty-looking sandwiches on the menu, but on this particular visit, I was a man on a mission.

The breakfast sandwich, as per their menu: “egg, ham, bacon, white cheddar.”

It’s a well-executed breakfast sandwich, that’s for sure. The eggs are perfectly cooked, and the quality of the ham and the bacon are top-notch.

I don’t know if it’s worth going out of your way for, though. It’s very good, but it’s such a basic, unornamented sandwich that it’s hard to get too excited about it.

This is probably not something I should admit publicly, but it also doesn’t pass my personal “is this substantially better than a McMuffin?” test. I clearly have garbage taste, because I think a McMuffin from McDonald’s is better than like 90 percent of the fancy breakfast sandwiches in the city, including this one.

A Great Cake at Oompa Bakery

Published on September 29, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 71 Underhill Drive, North York
Website: https://oompabakery.com/

Oompa Bakery is a delightful little bakery in North York; they were mostly cleared out when I visited on a Saturday afternoon (they clearly do well!), but they did have dacquoise cakes in a variety of flavours.

The one I tried featured pistachio- and raspberry-flavoured buttercream sandwiched between two little cakes. I really enjoyed it.

The buttercream was perfect; super creamy, not overly buttery, and with a great contrast between the pistachio and raspberry flavours.

The cake in a dacquoise is kinda like a macaron, but with the addition of ground almonds, which gives it a more substantial texture and a slightly nutty flavour. It was quite tasty, with a delicately crispy exterior and a chewy interior that complemented the smooth buttercream perfectly. It’s a great dessert.

Delicious Dessert at Soul Chocolate

Published on September 8, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 20 Wagstaff Drive, Toronto
Website: https://www.soulchocolate.com/

Soul Chocolate is a delightful chocolate shop and cafe where they make their own chocolate, not to mention a bunch of tasty desserts. They used to have a much smaller location on Gerrard, but have since moved to an industrial area nearby.

I tried a small chocolate bar and one of the desserts, and both were stellar.

They have a variety of dark chocolate bars made with cocoa from different countries; I went with the Dominican 70%, and it was actually pretty amazing. It’s about five bucks for a 25 gram bar, which is not cheap, but you know what? You get what you pay for. If you compare this to better mass-produced dark chocolate like Lindt, the difference is night and day. The chocolate here has so much more going on.

I also tried a slice of the chocolate pie, which might have the most intense chocolate flavour of any dessert I’ve ever had; it’s great. It’s ultra rich and fudgy, with an in-your-face dark chocolate / coffee flavour that’s really satisfying. The crust is made with sourdough, and it’s got a mild tang that works nicely with the deep chocolatiness. It’s a delicious dessert.

Tasty Buns at Saint Germain Bakery

Published on September 1, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 100 City Centre Drive, Mississauga (inside Square One)
Website: https://www.saintgermainbakery.com/

Saint Germain Bakery is an Asian bakery chain that started in Vancouver, and that’s been expanding around the GTA for the last few years. Their most recent location is in Square One in Mississauga, and it features a tempting assortment of sweet and savoury pastries (mostly cakes, croissants, and Asian-style buns).

It’s set up in a typical Asian bakery style, with everything (outside of the cakes) in self-serve displays, and trays for you to load up and take to the register.

My go-to at a bakery like this is typically something with red bean in it (I have a very hard time saying no to a red bean dessert), but I noticed they had something called a “Germain bun.” I had no idea what to expect with this, but I feel like it’s always a safe bet to order whatever pastry has the name of the bakery in it.

It’s not the most photogenic dessert in the world, but it’s very tasty. It basically tastes like a custard bun, but with the custard interspersed throughout — like a cinnamon roll, but with custard instead of cinnamon. It also has a crispy, sugary topping that does a great job of adding some texture to the soft, chewy bun. The topping might have amped up the sweetness level a bit too much, but the rest of the bun is more restrained, so it’s just right.

I liked it quite a lot, though I will say that it’s a deceptively hefty bun, so it’s probably a good idea to either share it, or eat half and save the rest for later. I ate it after having a heavy meal, and let me tell you: my stomach did not appreciate it. I think the term “food coma” applies.

Also: I came back another day and tried the red bean bun, and yeah, that’s good stuff. The red bean is maybe slightly too sweet and not quite as chunky as I’d like, but it’s still quite tasty and the bun is fluffy and fresh.