My favourite Toronto food: sweet edition

Best Coffee – Rooster

I have been a solid coffee addict since the age of 20. The habit started at the now-closed Java Java at UNSW where I had soy lattes (to match my vegetarian lifestyle? Who knows) most days. I slowly graduated to drinking real milk coffees, mostly flat whites like any good Aussie. When the habit grew from one to two cups, I would usually have a long black for the second cup. I have many lovely coffee memories all around the world – downing espressos in Gangtok once we came out of the Sikkimese jungle, having real Ethiopian coffee with popcorn, many afternoons in Campos… but I never had the American style brewed coffee till 2016.

It grew on me steadily, especially through all those visits to Timmies at TWH (my usual order is small, dark, two cream) and Starbucks at TGH (small, blonde, a very generous splash of cream).

Hipster coffee is coming to Toronto, and there are lots of cafes now specialising in espresso-based coffees. Goldstruck is nice and the cups were stunning, but the coffee was a little dense. Jimmy’s was pretty reliable most of the time, and a $3 cortado can’t be beat for a workday coffee. My favourite places were Hot Black on Queen, right next to my house, where the coffee was strong enough to stand up to the milk (a lot of Canadian coffees had this problem); Sam James (the best Americano I had in Toronto); 

M squared in PATH at the Sheraton (what beautiful cups); 

And my favourite, Rooster, which actually won some people’s award, apparently for a good reason. Too bad I discovered it in my last week!

Best Bakery – Blackbird

I had plenty of people tell me where to go get bread once I started complaining about the lack of drinkable coffee and edible bread in Toronto. One of the staff went all out and brought me a loaf of challah from Epi – of course Canadians are crazy nice. I found Blackbird one day when I was walking home from TWH, tucked away in Kensington. The sourdough is so good, tastes just like real bread like from Sonoma. Everything I tried there was great - from olive to challah to rye to flatbread with cheese. They also have delectable sweets that are simply impossible to resist.

Best Scones – Cobbs

Canadian scones are kind of weird – dense, but not fluffy like British scones, they come in lots of savoury and sweet options. I loved the scones from Cobbs the most, especially the blueberry scone, so decadent.

Best Cheesecake – Uncle Tetsu’s

Uncle Tetsu’s forever. So light, creamy and fluffy – it’s like eating a cloud. I had this cake so many times I had a collection of the carry bags in my kitchen drawer.

Best Matcha – Tsujiri

I forget how old it is, but it starts with 18 something so it must be pretty damn old. The obsession with this place was insane – even when it was -20 there would be people queueing outside for this. Prices are really quite steep, but the matcha flavour cannot be beat. Whether in a hot drink (matcha latte) or soft serve (impossibly smooth), I fell in love with this place.

Best Bagels – St Urbain’s

I have no idea why we don’t eat bagels in Australia – they are the perfect carriage for sandwich fillings, or eaten straight out of the bag, or smeared with whatever thing happens to be at hand. The types of cream cheese filling in Canadia are mind boggling. I never got to Montreal but this Montreal style bagel house in St Lawrence was pretty damn good. A warm bagel out of the oven, a generous slather of cream cheese, what else could a woman want?

Best Churros – Barrio Coreano

This is kind of cheating since I only had churros once in Toronto. But what wonderful churros they were – crispy and fluffy with deep caramelly dulce de leche.

Best Cinnamon buns – Rosen’s

I would love to have this lady’s recipe. The scroll itself has the perfect texture, not too soft and not too hard. The cinnamon paste is a little on the sweet side, but the whole thing together is a delectable treat. Too bad (or maybe it’s a good thing) it was so far away from my place!