bakery – Michael Eats

Outstanding Pastries at Steven Tran Chocolatier Pâtissier

Published on December 24, 2025December 24, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 476 Roncesvalles Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://steventranchocolates.com/

Steven Tran Chocolatier Pâtissier (that just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it?) is clearly doing pretty well. When I visited just after 1:00pm on a recent Saturday, the place was pretty much cleared out, with just a handful of pastries remaining.

I don’t know if I would have tried the salted caramel brownie if it weren’t one of the only things in stock, but wow, I’m glad I did.

This might have been one of the best brownies I’ve ever had? It has a perfect chewy texture and a delightfully intense chocolatey flavour. That’s not to mention the salted caramel on top, which is borderline burnt in all the best ways, with a slight bitterness that balances out its sweetness.

After I finished it, I was extremely tempted to walk back into the store and order another one, which basically never happens. Seriously, seriously good.

I should note that I actually went back a couple of weeks later and ordered the brownie again, and it was just as good. If I’ve ever eaten a better brownie, I certainly can’t remember it.

Because I’m a glutton, I also tried the mont blanc, and yeah, that was stellar, too, with a nice creamy/crispy contrast from the cream and the crispy meringue, a satisfying chestnut flavour, and some nice fruitiness from the sauce (blackberry?) in the middle.

I went back one more time and tried the canele, and like everything else, it was stellar. Perfect light crispy exterior, and the interior is delightfully custardy. So, so good.

Great Cookies at Robinson Bread

Published on December 17, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 6 Brock Avenue, Toronto
Website: https://www.robinsonbread.com/

The sesame, fig, and white chocolate cookie at Robinson Bread appeared in Toronto Life’s list of the top 10 best new cookies in the city, which is all I needed to know.

As you’d expect from the name, Robinson Bread is mostly known for their sourdough loaves, though they do have a handful of cookies and other pastries on offer.

They’re one of those fancy bakeries that refuses to slice their bread, which infuriates me more than I should probably admit. So I have yet to try the sourdough, but based on the quality of this cookie, I have no doubt that it’s tasty.

It’s a great cookie. It’s got a perfect texture, with a nice light crispiness on its exterior and a great chewiness within. And the sweetness is perfectly tuned, with a nice balance between the white chocolate and the figs. But it’s the pronounced nuttiness from the sesame that really makes the cookie stand out. It definitely deserves its place on a list of the best cookies in the city.

Delicious Cookies at Cosette Coffee

Published on November 28, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1715 Bloor Street West, Toronto
Website: https://www.instagram.com/cosette_coffee/

After reading the description of Cosette Coffee’s chocolate chip and walnut cookie (which they call a milky walnut cookie) in this Toronto Life article, I had no choice but to visit. I was obligated. Read that article and look at those photos and tell me you don’t feel the same way. I dare you.

So yeah, got that cookie. It’s a good cookie!

It’s a big, fat cookie with a gooey middle, but unlike some other places in the city (*cough* Crumbl *double cough* Andrea’s), there’s no off-putting rawness in the middle. It’s soft and melty in all the best ways.

It’s also pretty clear that they’re using great quality chocolate, and the big chunks of walnut do a great job of adding some texture and cutting the sweetness a bit. The baker here mentioned in that article that she doesn’t like a cookie that’s too sweet, and yeah, the sweetness here feels very well balanced.

It’s a great cookie, though it does taste like something is missing — not enough vanilla, maybe? But it’s otherwise so tasty, with such an addictive crispy/chewy/gooey texture, that it’s easy enough to overlook this.

I actually wound up coming back on a different day and tried the salted caramel. This one wasn’t quite as fresh as the chocolate chip cookie (it was dense and chewy throughout, with no soft gooiness), but still very, very tasty. Like with the other cookie, the sweetness level is just about perfect, with the addition of a light sprinkling of salt on top doing a great job of balancing thing out the extra sweetness from the caramel.

More Delicious Doughnuts at Dipped Donuts

Published on November 20, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1374 Queen Street West, Toronto
Website: https://dippeddonuts.ca/

Dipped Donuts serves some of the best doughnuts in the city. The best? Quite possibly! I’ve written about their Kensington Market location a few times, and I’m happy to say that their second location on Queen is just as good (UPDATE: since I initially wrote this, this location has closed (I have a bit of a backlog), but their initial location in Kensington Market is still alive and kicking).

As usual, every flavour looked extremely delicious. Picking just one was an ordeal.

I went with peach & ginger jelly, which is an intriguing combo that worked out even better than I was expecting.

It’s a great doughnut. The filling is sweet, but with a mild tartness that helps to balance things out. And the ginger is present enough to give the filling some character and a mild bite, but subtle enough to not overwhelm. I’ve had some ginger desserts where the ginger is too aggressive, and let me tell you: it’s a bummer to eat.

And, of course, the doughnut itself is perfect, with a great flavour and just the right balance of chewiness and fluffiness.

Quality Eclairs at The Happy Chocco

Published on October 23, 2025 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 100 City Centre Drive (inside The Food District at Square One)
Website: https://www.thehappychocco.ca/

I’ll admit that I was a bit skeptical of The Happy Chocco. They always have a million eclairs on offer, and they never seem to be particularly busy. And I’m like, are these all fresh? Because it seems like they won’t all be fresh. There’s nothing sadder than a stale eclair with soggy pastry.

Well, I just went with two other people, and we all tried different eclairs and found them to be quite fresh (and quite delicious!) so I’m happy to say that I was wrong.

I went with the Dubai chocolate eclair: “classic eclair filled with pistachio pastry cream and Belgian milk chocolate dip with roasted kataifi.”

I really enjoyed this. The choux pastry had a great texture and was clearly not stale at all, the pistachio pastry cream was creamy and delicious (if a bit light on the nutty flavour), there was a decent layer of good-quality chocolate on top, and the roasted kataifi added a nice crispy texture. It’s a quality eclair.