bakery – Page 3 – 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.

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.

Delicious Butter Tarts at Circles and Squares

Published on August 23, 2024August 23, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 197 Bartley Drive, North York
Website: https://www.circlesandsquares.ca/

After hearing that Circles and Squares had been awarded first prize at Ontario’s Best Butter Tart Festival last year, my first thought was — wait, there’s a butter tart festival? My second thought was that I’ve gotta try those tarts.

Circles and Squares actually won two awards: first place in the best traditional butter tart category, and second place in the best “wild-style” butter tart category (for their Snickers butter tart, which features chocolate and peanut butter).

I tried the traditional butter tart both with and without pecans, the Snickers butter tart, and the double chocolate butter tart.

They were all very good, but the traditional ones were the clear winners. I can see why they won first place — they’re gooey but not too gooey, the flavour is rich and sweet without being cloying, and the crust is fantastic. It’s a top notch butter tart.

The other two were tasty, but all the stuff took away from their butter tartiness. They tasted more like little chocolate pies that were slightly too sweet. They were still delicious, mind you, but they couldn’t help but be a bit disappointing next to the amazing traditional tarts.

Tasty Vegan Doughnuts at Bloomer’s

Published on August 19, 2024 by Michael NusairLeave a comment

Location: 1510 Drew Road, Mississauga
Website: https://www.bloomersto.com/

Every time I go to a vegan bakery, or a vegan ice cream shop, or a vegan [insert dessert that absolutely should not be vegan here], I think, well, this is going to be bad. And then, more often than not, it’s not bad!

(Though nothing will ever surprise me more than the deliciousness of the the vegan ice cream at Honey’s. It’s ice cream. Ice cream. How is a vegan version that creamy?? It’s sorcery.)

I just tried the rose pistachio doughnut at Bloomer’s, a popular vegan doughnut shop with several locations around the GTA, and I was surprised by how good it was. You’d never guess it was vegan if someone gave it to you blind.

It’s maybe a touch too sweet, but the pistachio/rosewater combination is thoroughly delicious (and the rosewater flavour is more pronounced than you’d think).

The doughnut itself is top notch — it’s not too airy or too dense, with a nice chewiness that doesn’t overwhelm. I wish it had a bit more of a yeasty flavour, but that’s a relatively minor complaint.