Wild Flour Bakery

Banff, there's so much talk about it.  I thought it would be some beautiful glamorous place.  But maybe because I didn't get a chance to hike that much, I didn't feel it. If anything the town of Banff actually felt more like a tourist trap than anything.  Yes, the scenery there was beautiful, because theres the mountains wherever you look, but I don't know if it's because I went to Iceland first, it can't compare to the beauty of Iceland.  It also didn't feel like any locals live there, I felt like I walked the streets with tourists surrounding me.  The people that work in the retail shops, most of them had Australian accents!  It just felt weird.

Embarrassing story time.  Because I knew we would be hiking on this trip, I wore my running shoes, and brought along my hiking boots.  Now I've had my hiking boots for many many years, probably since undergrad.  And i'll pull them out to wear to shovel the snow, or go snowboarding.  About 5 minutes of walking around Banff, I felt something funny, I thought I stepped on some gum.  I look down, and the right sole of my hiking boot has become loose!  It's flapping around like a flip flop.  I made the hubby chew on some gum to see if that will hold, and no it doesn't!  Bought some contact cement at the Home Hardware to see if it will stick.  That stuff apparently takes 24 hours to set.  Ughhhhh.  So we would have to drive back to the apt for me to change into my runners. But of course, before that, we needed to eat.

Food wise, there's a lot of chains, like Earls, the Keg, McDonalds, etc.  I avoid those like the plague.  For lunch we popped into a bakery named Wild Flour Bakery.  Even though we were there for a late lunch, it was busy.  All the tables were taken and there was a small line up.  The bakery sells bread of course, sandwiches, soup, croissants, cookies etc.  All made in house with local organic ingredients.  Even though we were there for lunch, I ordered a breakfast sandwich & latte, and the hubby ordered a combo with a veggie sandwich, soup, cookie & flat white.  My breakfast sandwich was just ok.  The bread was great (they make a great sourdough).  The 'breakfast' filling was a egg frittata and cheese.  I have a feeling they prep the sandwich ahead of time and just warm it on the panini press, because the insides was still a bit cold.  If something is supposed to be hot, I like it piping hot.

Breakfast Sandwich

The hubby's veggie sandwich, there was some miscommunication when he ordered thats why he got a veggie sandwich instead of a meat one, was actually pretty good.  There were roasted peppers, tomato, spinach, and some pesto type spread.  The soup was so good!  Curry lentil soup.  Cookie that he got was a spicy chocolate cookie.  Reminds me of Soma's mayan hot chocolate.  The cookie texture was a bit crumbly, didn't hold that well, but still good.

Veggie Sandwich, Curry Lentil Soup, Spicy Chocolate Cookie

Coffees were good, a little bit weaker than what I would like but still good.  If i wasn't so full I wanted to buy a croissant and focaccia to try because they looked so good, but we said we would come back the next morning for breakfast on route to Lake Louise.  That never happened.  So if you ever come to Banff, skip the chains and check out this bakery, while it's not necessarily cheap, it's most likely more affordable than the other places around.

Latte and Flat White

Wild Flour Bakery
101-211 Bear Street,
Banff, Alberta,
T1L 1B4

Phone:  (403) 760-5074

Hours:  Monday - Sunday 700a - 400p

http://www.wildflourbakery.ca

Le Fournil Bakery

Popped into this little bakery to grab some dessert.  By the time I got there, there was maybe an hour left to close, and selection was starting to run a bit thin.  Breads were practically non existent, there were a few croissants, and a few individual cake slices available.  I picked up a butter croissant, and a slice of carrot cake.  No picture of the croissant because I inhaled it in the car because I was hungry.  It was nice and flakey on the outside (I was covered in croissant crumbs), inside was a bit bready for my liking, and also it missing that rich buttery fatty taste.  I think missing the buttery taste is probably because the milk/butter in Alberta isn't the greatest from what I've discovered.

The carrot cake was done well, could have had more cinnamon in my opinion.  But that's probably because I love cinnamon.  But it was nice and moist, with lots of carrot shreds it in, and had a nice cream cheese frosting on top.

Carrot Cake

Pricing wise, I found to be higher than in Toronto.  But as I've mentioned before in another post, food in Alberta seems to be higher than in Toronto in general.

Le Fournil Bakery
1205 Bow Valley Trail,
Canmore, AB
T1W 1P5

Phone:  (403) 675-5005

Hours:  Monday CLOSED
             Tuesday - Sunday 800a - 600p

http://fournil.ca

Douce France

I have been looking for the best croissant in town for a very long time.  A lot of the times the croissants I come across are just too bready.  I've never made croissants, and not sure if I would want to try since it involves so much work, so I'm just not sure why some would turn out bready.  Is it the flour?  Is it because the dough hasn't relaxed enough?  Other times, the croissants just don't have that rich buttery flavour.  And when I mean rich buttery flavour, it doesn't mean that the croissant has to be leaking out butter and covering my hands and mouth with greasiness.

I recall reading about Douce France a while ago, not necessarily for their croissants, but for their chocolates.  But within that article I recall (the many things that I don't remember nowadays but I remember random things that I should be saving that brain space for more important things) that Douce France made croissants too.  So while I was running errands in the area, I made the hubby go in and pick up some croissants to try.  These croissants were amazing!  Light and flakey and full of buttery goodness!  I'm pretty sure that it partly had to do with them being fresh from the oven as well.    I wish that I lived closer so I could eat these croissants whenever I wanted.  But I'm sure my pants love that I live that far away.

Croissant

Douce France
2471 Yonge Street,

Toronto, ON 

M4P 2H6

Phone:  (647) 348-7661

Hours:  Monday CLOSED

             Tuesday - Friday 830a - 700p

             Saturday 830a - 630p

             Sunday 830a - 600p

http://www.doucefrance.ca

Love Me Sweet - Scarborough Town Centre

Apparently Japanese cheesecakes are still in demand.  No more hour long lineups at Mr Tetsu on Bay St., but I did hear somewhat recently lineups can still be found at Mr Tetsu in Unionville.  So if you don't want to wait in line, an alternative is Love Me Sweet.  This particular location I visited was inside Scarborough Town Centre.  No lineup at all, not sure if it was because it was still early in the morning, or that because there's so many Japanese cheesecake options, the demand has been spread thinner.

Now on to Love Me Sweet's cheesecake.  Taste wise, tastes good, just like any other Japanese cheesecake.  Slight tang from the cream cheese, light and fluffy and not too sweet.  Texture wise, it almost seemed like there were two layers in the cake.  Majority of the cake had the same moist texture, but the top centimetre of the cake I found to be dry.

Japanese Cheesecake

Love Me Sweet - Scarborough Town Centre

300 Borough Drive, Suite 226
Toronto, ON 

M1P 4P5

Phone:  (647) 894-1399

Hours:   Monday - Friday 10:00a - 9:00p

              Saturday 9:30a - 9:00p

              Sunday 11:00a - 7:00p

https://lovemesweet.ca

Allwyn's Bakery

From what I've found online, Allwyn's Bakery has been around for a very long time, and is a staple for anyone that loves Jamaican patties.  When I have cravings for Jamaican patties, if I'm at work, my coworker takes me to this place that's close by her house.  The name escapes me at the moment.  If I'm at home, I used to go to Allan's Pastry Shop inside Peanut Plaza.  But as of the last couple of years, it seems like Allan's started skimp out on the fillings.  Not only is the filling less, but it looks and tastes like there's more filler, cornstarchy gumminess, and minimal meat.  I have to say, their outside is still nice and flakey though, which I love.

Allwyn's Bakery's Jamaican patties are a bit different than Allan's.  The outside is less flakey, and more like a cross between a pie dough and the normal Jamaican patty exterior.  There is a good amount of filling whether it is chicken or beef (we got one of each), and the filling is actual meat, not much in terms of fillers.  You can see the actual meat pieces.

Chicken & Beef Patties

Chicken Patty (inside)

Beef Patty (inside)

I personally prefer the flakier crust, but the fact that Allwyn's has a better filling, I think I would get my patties from Allwyn's now.  Allwyn's also does many other dishes (i.e. Jerk), but I didn't try those, so I can't comment on those dishes.

Allwyn's Bakery
81 Underhill Dr.
Toronto, ON
M3A 1K8

Phone:  (647) 847-4698

Hours:  Monday - Friday 11:00a - 10:00p
             Saturday 11:30a - 10:00p
             Sunday  12:00p - 10:00p

https://www.facebook.com/Allwyns-Bakery-732508286790526/

Bake Code

An Asian bakery with a twist.  I know they’ve been open a while, but I never found a big enough reason to drop by.  Parking near Yonge St. isn’t easy when you want free.  Finally after dinner along Yonge St. one night, we stopped by Bake Code.  It was busy in there, and the shelves were pretty empty.  But I was here only for one thing, a croissant that has this liquidy yolky inside.  I think I saw the croissant I came here to buy, but before I touched anything, I wanted to ask someone that worked there to confirm.  So I asked the girl at the cash.  I said “Excuse me”, and responded “Just wait!”.  Wow……treating a customer like that.  She wasn’t even really doing anything.  Not a good start.  In the end I just took a guess and bought the croissant hoping that it was what I came here for. 

The croissant was quite dry, and the liquidy interior wasn’t as liquidy/lava like as in those deep fried sesame balls from dimsum.  The croissant part wasn’t very buttery like what I would be looking for in a crossant.  It was more bready than I would would like.  And the price, I don’t remember what it was, but it was quite high for a croissant.  With crappy staff attitude, medicore product, and high prices, not sure I will be coming back.

Egg Yolk Croissant

Bake Code

4910 Yonge St. Unit B1,

Toronto, ON,

M2N 5N5

Phone:  (647) 346-3888

Hours:  Monday - Friday 8:00a - 12:00a

             Saturday - Sunday 10:00a - 12:00a

http://bakecode.com

Hawaii Bakery & Tea House

These were the exact words I used to ask my coworker to lunch.  "Want to check out a dirty Chinese restaurant?"  My coworker gave me this weird look that you must have on your face now.  I clarified, dirty to me doesn't actually mean dirty as in dirt, grimy, or bug infested.  To me, the use of the word dirty to describe a restaurant, usually means quick, greasy, simple food.  That is what Hawaii Bakery & Tea House seemed like to me.  Hawaii is essentially a Hong Kong style cafe that serves sandwiches, simple soup noodles, instant noodles, and because they're a bakery, they're also known for their bread.  But strangely, out of all the times I've walked there with another coworker, they only have pineapple buns on the shelf, no other Chinese buns.  That part I've never figured out.

My coworker ordered corned beef & egg on instant noodles, buttered dinner roll on the side.  I ordered satay beef on vermicelli, egg & luncheon meat with buttered dinner roll on the side.  Both served with a hot drink (eg. milk tea, coffee, lemon tea etc).  We both ordered Hong Kong style milk tea.  Wasn't strong enough tea flavour in my opinion.  My memory is getting so bad, but I think these combos are no more than $5 each.  While there is nothing spectacular about each of our meals, they were truly satisfying.  I try and eat as healthy as I can, but every once in a while, a girl has her unhealthy cravings too.   My coworker said it reminded her of her childhood.  I have to say though, the best part of the meal was actually the dinner roll.  It was fluffy, slightly sweet, and just delicious with the butter.  I could eat that forever and not get sick of it.

Corned Beef & Egg Instant Noodles

Luncheon Meat & Eggs with Buttered Dinner Roll and Satay Beef Vermicelli

Hawaii Bakery & Tea House
1100 Burnhamthorpe W.,
Mississauga, ON
L5C 4G4

Phone:  (905) 277-3333

Hours:  Monday - Saturday 8:00a - 6:00p
             Sunday 8:00a - 5:00p

La Boheme Cafe

We had a friend come back from Hong Kong, and brought her coffee loving husband along to check out Toronto.  So I was going to take them to De MelloPalheta, my favorite coffee house uptown, but my friend overheard that I haven’t tried La Boheme Cafe and its on my to try list, she said we should check it out.

The inside of La Boheme is quite large, with plenty of tables for people to sit.  At the counter, behind the glass case, there were plenty of desserts and sandwiches to choose from.  I ordered a croissant and latte (they don’t do flat whites), the hubby ordered a spinach and cheese pastry/croissant and espresso macchiato.  The friends got a regular coffee and café au lait.

I’m not even sure I feel like going into detail about the coffee or food.  It was disappointing overall.  The latte lacked much coffee flavour, my friend said that her café au lait was disgusting.  The regular coffee took the longest to arrive.  The friend’s husband who loves coffee said that his coffee was ok, but then my friend said he also liked Tim Hortons coffee.  So loves to drink coffee, any type of coffee kind of guy I guess.  My croissant was large, but bready, not so buttery.  Hubby’s spinach and cheese croissant, they gave him a ham and cheese instead……when they changed it for him, I took a bite and it was like bread with spinach and cheese inside, nothing remotely like a croissant. Friend also ordered a blueberry tart and a macaron of some sort.  They didn’t finish either dessert.  I’m taking it as it wasn’t very good.   When I was paying for our food, I noticed a sign saying that the bread was from another bakery…..made me wonder if all of the breads and pastries are brought in from elsewhere…..  They do open pretty late for a bakery, so it only makes me assume all baked goods are brought in from elsewhere.

Latte & Crossisant

So if you’re in the area, skip La Boheme, and go a few doors north to De Mello Palheta where they have great coffee and cook their own baked goods!

La Boheme Cafe

2481 Yonge St.,

Toronto, ON

M4P 2H6

Phone:  (416) 489-2233

Hours:  Monday - Friday 8:00am - 7:00pm

             Saturday CLOSED

             Sunday 9:00am - 7:00pm

http://labohemecafe.ca (Not sure if the website is broken, but when I last checked it doesn't load)

mon K Patisserie

My friend, who lives in the neighborhood has asked me several times if I’ve tried mon K’s Patisserie.  The answer was always no because I’m never in her neighborhood!  Aside from visiting her, there’s really not much of a reason for me to go into that area.  But once the opportunity opened up, I stopped by mon K. 

Mon K is a small Japanese owned bakery/patisserie/café.  With it being located in the area that it’s located in, I was very surprised with the number of Japanese people sitting in there early in the morning, enjoying their coffee, eating their pastry, and reading the newspapers.  The store itself is small, just a few tables.  I’m not sure if it’s because I went so early, but their selection was pretty good.  I picked up a few plain croissants, some chocolate croissants, some almond croissants, and a hazelnut twist.   Because I gave most of them away, I only got to try a plain croissant, and the hazelnut twist.  I actually couldn’t wait, and ended up eating the plain croissant in the car right after I picked it up.  Both were nice and buttery, and flakey.  The hazelnut twist, because I didn't eat it until the day after, I reheated in my brand new toaster oven!  The hazelnut twist reminded me of a Ferrero Rocher in croissant form.  Delicious!

Fresh Croissant

Reheated Hazelnut Twist

This little patisserie has a lot more to offer then croissants, they have little cakes and cookies too, of which I didn't get a chance to try.  Until next time.....

mon K Patisserie

1040 Coxwell Ave.,

Toronto, ON

M4C 3G5

Phone:  (416) 696-8181

Hours:  Monday CLOSED

             Tuesday - Thursday 9:00a - 4:30p

             Friday - Saturday 9:00a - 5:00p

             Sunday CLOSED

http://www.monkpatisserie.ca

Neo Coffee Bar

Another late night treat from a new café.  This is why I’m gaining weight.  Having treats this often, plus it being nighttime treats, can only lead to weight gain, for me at least.  But so hard to say no because they’re delivered right to my door!  These places are pretty inaccessible to me normally since they’re located in the downtown core. 

Neo Coffee Bar is a café of sorts, serves coffee and such, but specializes in Japanese style pastries.  As I haven’t been there myself, I can’t comment on whether there’s seating, how the service is etc.  Heck I can’t even comment on the coffee.  What I did get delivered was a matcha white chocolate chunk cookie, a match red bean roll cake, and fruit roll cake.

The cookie had good matcha flavour.  But the texture of it was very crumbly, almost shortbread like, but didn’t have that buttery taste.  The matcha red bean roll cake, surprisingly didn’t have much matcha flavour.  There was more red bean flavour than anything.  Which is surprising since there’s only that bit of red bean in the cream filling.  The fruit roll was my favourite.  The vanilla cake had really good egg flavour.  And I love the use of fresh fruits.  In this case, the fruits were strawberries and blueberries.  Also overall, the texture of the cake was very good.  Quite smooth, considering the amount of air bubbles the picture shows.  And most importantly, the cake was moist!

Matcha Cookie, Roll Cakes

Neo Coffee Bar

161 Frederick St.  Unit 100,

Toronto, ON

M5A 4P3

Phone:  (647) 348-8811

Hours:  Monday - Friday 7:00a - 7:00p

             Saturday - Sunday 7:00a - 5:00p

http://www.neocoffeebar.com/#top

Maman

I was on Chowhound just doing some random reading, seeing if theres any new places (restaurants, bakeries, coffee houses, etc.) to check out.  I saw a really old post re-appear regarding kouign amann, meaning, that there’s a possibility of kougin amann in Toronto?  Super excited!  This would mean I don’t have to wait until the hubby travels to Vancouver or Montreal to get this sweet treat?!  I told my food boyfriend about this, and the very next day he went to scope out Maman for me.  He came back with half disappointing news.  They make kouign amann, but there’s no set day of the week where they will make it.  Feels like my hopes have been crushed.  To make my day less horrible, he did bring a white chocolate blueberry lavender cake, and a chocolate chip cookie.  When he told me it was white chocolate blueberry lavender cake, I was like eww.  I don’t like white chocolate, and there’s no chocolate in white chocolate!  Why is white chocolate even called chocolate?  Strike one.  Lavender in food?  To me, lavender belongs in soap, and lotions.  Strike 2.  I like blueberries?  So at least there’s one good thing.  The base of the cake seems to be a pound cake.  Love pound cake. My pants, not so much.  To my surprise, this cake was pretty good, light on the lavender, so you can taste it faintly.  No soapy taste that I was worried about.  There were a few blueberries floating around the top of the cake.  If the name didn’t have the words white chocolate, I would have never tasted it.  Overall, pretty good cake, nice and moist.

Blueberry Lavender White Chocolate Cake

The cookie had large chunks of chocolate.  A good balance of chocolate to ‘dough’.  The downside, it wasn’t as chewy as I was expecting.  I prefer chewy over crunchy.  So personal preference again.  But still VERY good, with lots of buttery flavour.  

Chocolate Chip (Chunk) Cookie

Maman is a French bistro/cafe/bakery from what I see on their website.  It looks like they also serve sandwiches and stuff.  The pictures alone on their website remind me of Paris, making me miss Paris even more.  I need to make a trip to Maman myself.  Hoping that when I do go, there will be kouign amann to try.  Right now, the best kouign amann I’ve had is still from Montreal.

Maman

100 King St. W.,

Toronto, ON

M5X 1B1

Phone:  (416) 216-6767

Hours: Monday - Tuesday 7:00am - 8:00pm

            Wednesday - Friday 7:00am - 10:00pm

            Saturday 10:00am - 3:00pm

http://mamantoronto.com

Latin Taste

The quest for empanadas continue.  Another country to knock off my list, Uraguay.  These Uraguaian empanadas are very similar to the Chilean ones I’ve had previously.  The empanadas are baked, with a bready like crust.  I just tried the spinach and cheese one.  The hubby didn’t like it much, there was a minor sour taste that he didn’t like.  I didn’t mind it.  I want to try the Chicken one next time I go.

Spinach & Cheese Empanada

Don't plan on checking this place out with a bunch of friends.  The interior of the store is very small.  There is one table with maybe 2 chairs.  If it's nice/warm enough outside, there's a few tables & chairs.

Latin Taste

200 Baldwin St.,

Toronto, ON

M5T 1L8