Toronto West Dessert Walking Tour

It's been a while since I last did any walking/eating tour around the city because I've been very occupied with sport activities. However, since I'm forced to take a break from training due to my ankle injury, I have a whole day of gorgeous weather and free time to spend. The whole trip took about 6 hours with a total walking distance of approximately 12km.

Alternative Grounds

333 Roncesvalles Ave., Toronto

(416) 534-6335

http://www.alternativegrounds.com

I arrived at the Dundas West subway station and began walking south on Dundas West towards my first destination on Roncesvalles. On my way over, I realized that I didn't have my morning coffee yet! There are many independently-owned cafes along Roncesvalles and Alternative Grounds supports fair trade and organic beans. I had a single latte with a very nice layer of foamed milk that didn't burn my lips. This cafe also had a menu of extensive vegetarian selection and many different baked goods. However, I must save room for a day ahead of eating.

Ah, caffeine. I'm ready to start my day. Let's bring on the pastry!

The Queen Of Tarts

283 Roncesvalles Ave, Toronto

(416) 651-3009

http://www.thequeenoftarts.ca

I have a soft spot for stores that specializes in one particular item and The Queen of Tarts is all about tarts. You wouldn't find any cakes in their display case but I can assure you that you wouldn't miss it. On the day of my visit, there were over fifteen different choices for individual-size tarts it was difficult to make a decision. I ended up with a Mexican Chocolate & Chipotle Tart and a bag of handmade raspberry marshmallows enrobed in chocolate. The tart had a very flaky and tender chocolate pâte sucrée of just the right thickness. It was filled with a smooth chipotle infused dark chocolate ganache with chunks of Mexican chocolate that provided very interesting textural contrast. The spice from the chipotle was very subtle and did not have any burn. I liked the tart so much I decided to return to the shop as soon as I finished eating. I wanted something made with plain pâte sucrée this time. What's a better barometer than lemon tart? My first bite told me what I wanted to know...the buttery flavour of the crust came through loud and clear (good) but the lemon curd was a little too tame for me (oh well). My preference for lemon curd has always been on the tart side. However, overall, it is still a very good lemon tart. The candied lemon slice was particularly tasty. Oh yes, The Queen of Tarts is also home to the funkiest gingerbread cookies in Toronto. Here, you would find gingerbread cookies in the likeness of celebrities as well as hunky firefighters!

Granowska's

175 Roncesvalles Ave, Toronto

(416) 533-7755

http://www.granowskas.com

Continuing my walk south on Roncesvalles, I slowly approached Polish-town. Of course I wouldn't miss the chance to enjoy a paczki. I love the fluffy texture lightly flavoured with almond extract and orange zest. I chose one filled with plum jam although the rosebud marmalade sure sounds enticing too! Trust me, a paczki beats any jelly doughnut you can find in a doughnut shop any day. Granowska's also has many other usual suspects of a Polish bakery including cheesecakes by weight and all manners of rye bread.

Clafouti Patisserie et Cafe

915 Queen St West, Toronto

(416) 603-1935

To walk off all the sweets that I just ate, my next destination was a little further away. I continued to walk south on Roncesvalles and then turn east on The Queensway, which eventually turned into Queen St West. Clafouti reminds me of the French neighbourhood pastry shops that one see everywhere in Paris. The shop is cosy and a steady stream of locals coming in for sandwiches, coffees, and pastries certainly reinforce this feeling. The croissant and pain au chocolat are popular items here. By the time I arrived, they were already all gone. You would find many different variations of the namesake pastry here. In addition to the typical cherry and pear clafoutis, there are also strawberry rhubarb, mirabel plums, mixed berries, and caramelized lychee. I had the lychee clafouti and a brioche. The lychee flavour was great. It kept the floral note without turning sour which so often happens when this fruit is heated. Unfortunately, the crust was rather disappointing. It was soggy and the bottom was still doughy. The custard was not too distinguish. The brioche was okay. It was not particularly buttery and in fact on the dry side. I suppose it would be a perfect companion to fruit preserves though.

Johny Banana Bistro Latino

181 Bathurst St, Toronto

(416) 304-0101

http://www.johnybanana.com

Walking east on Queen St West brought me to the heart of West Queen West. I'm quite familiar with this neighbourhood so I made a few detours into my favourite stores (Magic Pony, Prague Fine Food Emporium, Posepod, JS Bonbons, Red Tea Box, Dufflet) before arriving at the next destination. At the corner of Queen West and Bathurst is the recently opened Johny Banana. Okay, so this is not a dessert place. However, with such a tempting menu for licuados and other mixed drinks, it's just what I need for some liquid refreshment. I ordered an Atole and the dessert special Alfajor. The thick and smooth texture of atole was very pleasant. It was as comforting as a hot chocolate. The alfajor was a sandwich of two very tender shortbread cookies with a dulce de leche filling. The whole thing was generously coated with icing sugar and coconut shreds. It was surprisingly delicious in a rustic kind of way.

Le Gourmand

152 Spadina Ave, Toronto

(416) 504-4494

http://www.legourmand.com

I kept on walking on Queen St West until I reached the intersection of Queen West & Spadina. Located on the boundary of Chinatown and the Fashion District is the very classy cafe Le Gourmand. The minute I walked in I immediately took a liking of the airy high ceiling, checkered floor, wicker chairs, and cafe tables. This cafe looked like it was transplanted from somewhere else and plopped into this neighbourhood. The hot chocolate menu (!) was impressive with a choice of Poulain 32%, Poulain 60%, Schokinag, and frozen hot chocolate. Unfortunately, I was still full from the atole so I only had their made in-house almond croissant instead. Compared to other top-notch croissants available in Toronto (Thuet, Rahier, La Bamboche), this croissant was not quite as flaky nor buttery. However, it is certainly one of the higher qualities one out there. The almond filling had a very smooth and soft consistency which blends well into the croissant.

Alchemy Baking Company

287 Augusta Ave, Toronto

(416) 531-2471

http://www.alchemybaking.com

I walked north on Spadina and west on Dundas until I reached Augusta. Walking north on Augusta brought me to the heart of Kensington Market. I walked past El Gordo and Perola Supermarket where I enjoyed some tasty empanadas and pupusas a few months ago. Alchemy is located close to the Augusta & College intersection on the edge of Kensington Market. It was getting late so the bread selection was limited, understandably. I bought a loaf of onion and dill bread. The savory flavour from the herb was perfect without being overpowering. I was a little disappointed that the bread was not a hearth-type loaf with thick crust. Instead, it was closer to a flavoured sandwich loaf shaped like a hearth bread. However, as a sandwich bread, it pairs deliciously with smoked salmon and cream cheese. The walnut apple bread that RS mentioned to me before were already sold out! Oh well.

DT Patisserie Bistro

154 Harbord St, Toronto

(416) 916-8155

http://desserttrends.ca/wheretobuy.shtml

I walked north on Augusta and turned west on College. Brunswick was the next intersection and I walked north on this beautiful tree-lined residential area until I reached Harbord St. Dessert Trends has long been providing their excellent cakes and pastries to many high-end Toronto establishments. However, their retail location at Harbord and Brunswick has only been opened for less than a year. Unfortunately, its Sunday hours is rather short and it was already closed by the time I arrived. However, from what I could see from peeking through the windows, this place looks awesome. You know all those dessert cafes that are sprouting up in New York? This is as close to one of those as we have in Toronto! I'll be sure to come back soon (and I did a couple of weeks later).

Pain Perdu

736 St Clair Ave West, Toronto

(416) 656-7246

By this time, I realized that I have to call it a day soon because it was getting near to closing hour for most bakeries. I walked north on Brunswick until I reached Bloor St West and continued east on Bloor St (passing by Greg's Ice Cream) to the Spadina subway station. I took the subway northbound to the St Clair West station. I hurried west on St Clair only to find Pain Perdu's blinds firmly shut. This is the third time that I missed Pain Perdu. RS highly recommends their baguettes.

Da Best Pilipino Bakery

1482 Bathurst St, Toronto

(416) 658-5278

My feet were tired and I was ready to head home. However, as I was making my way back to the St Clair West subway, I was drawn by a sweet smell of freshly baked bread. A glance to my left at the St Clair & Bathurst intersection solved the mystery. Tucked into an unassuming corner is Da Best Pilipino Bakery. It was very warm inside from the heat of the oven and I was surrounded by many different types of traditional philipino bread. There were sweet buns filled with coconut, taro, cheese, and fluffy squishy sweet dinner rolls. I bought a dozen sweet dinner rolls on the recommendation of another customer. I took my purchases over to a nearby park and had an impromptu picnic. The buns were slightly sweet and oh so soft! This is definitely THE unexpectedly cool find on this trip.

For more walking tours:

• my first patisserie walking tour
• chocolaterie walking tour

Technorati: Toronto, dessert, walking tour

Comments

[JaCe]

Hi... i sent you an email earlier on. I chanced upon your blog and the cupcakes you made for your birthday and they were truly amazing. I have tried various matcha cupcakes recipes but they didn't turn out well. Yours look really pretty. Care to share the recipe for the matcha cupcakes and the white chocolate cream cheese frosting? Thanks alot.

[JaCe]

Btw, my email add is jace722@hotmail.com