ottawa foodies

The selection of pastries is good. I got one of each and two of the marizotti. So glad I did. It is as good as Warby describes it. It is very similar to a similar Hong Kong originated pastry that is available at the pastry shop in Kowloon but I think this one is really good. Solid bun and very nice texture to the vanilla cream. Well done! The other buns are made with the same base but one is dipped in sugar, two filled with custard, and one filled with a Nutella cream.

Go try them!

I tried one of Farinella's maritozzi at La Bottega Nicastro recently and it was really nice. Perfectly chewy rich bread, glazed with sugar, sliced open, and filled with vanilla cream. This was delicious in that wonderful homemade way where the ingredients taste clean and unprocessed.

Next time you think you want a doughnut, try a maritozzo instead! I enjoyed it much more than any doughnut. That said, I do still need to try Farinella's doughnuts...

While picking up a few groceries one day, I couldn't resist getting a sfogliatelle pastry ($2.50) from the coffee counter. This is a crisp-crunchy layered pastry with an orange-scented ricotta filling. Delicious!

Once in a while (Saturdays maybe?) they post some kind of fruit Danish to their Instagram feed. I finally got there early enough to snag this awesome Blueberry Danish ($3). Really excellent: buttery pastry topped with a little custard and wild blueberries. This is very tastefully done, with the sweetness concentrated in the fruit. It's a bit like having an excellent croissant with some top notch fruit preserve.

I love the biscotti from Simply Biscotti! They are so light and fluffy, nothing like that hard-to-bite over-baked ones that you would normally find at the coffee shops! There are many flavors and all are excellent, I think I tried 5 or 6 of them, they were all great! Texture reminded me of Scottish short-bread, it's very yummy!

ever since a friend gave me her super-easy recipe for homemade biscotti, I've been kind of a biscotti snob and don't buy it from cafes anymore, but the cookies and other pastries here are YUMMY.

I'm eating a nutella cookie right now which is delightfully chocolatey, soft/chewy, and has tons of peanuts in it.

Tried a Danish from here (apple and peach) and it was excellent! Tasty pastry with just the right amount of flakiness and real pieces of fruit on top rather than the homogeneous jellies you typically find.

The Brioche Cannelle was pretty dry, as is the norm for pretty much anything here, but the flavour was decent and it would be pretty nice with a coffee. This baby was $2.65, and I have to admit I only bought it because I thought it was half the size it turned out to be. I thought this might be a case of quality over quantity. Alas. :-)

I had tried several kinds of cakes from La Provence, EVERYTHING was delicious, particularly their tiramisu cake, le Parisien and the ladybug raspberry mousse cake that I ordered for my baby girl's 100 day birthday. I do wish that their cakes are freshly baked instead of frozen, oh well...