Hibiscus

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Perhaps you've noticed that Drawn and Devoured tends to focus on very new restaurants. Well, I'm not a selfless creature. New things garner interest, tend to have fun twitter accounts, facebook, which is all good for me- the more people who find me and spread the word the better!

I think some amazing classics fall to the wayside due to my selection habits. Some restaurants, like Hibiscus, have been in Toronto much longer than I have (what is it, about six years now?). Though I've literally wanted to try Hibiscus for years, the stars and planets have never aligned just so to allow it. There was one time my friends and I were right at its door on Augusta Avenue, but a sad sign informed us that a family emergency would keep the vegan eatery closed for the day. Bummer! I hope everything on their end in that situation turned out for the best.

If you've been reading the blog for a while, you should remember Adelle, my favourite person to go explore the seedy underbelly of T.O.'s resto scene- and when I say seedy, I mean pumpkin, sunflower, sprouted and cracked. That's right, we're talking the HEALTHY stuff now! Adelle just came back from an adventure to Hawaii and Eugene (at a sustainability conference! Amazing!), so it was extra excellent to see her, catch up, and gush with all the projects we're both constantly wrapped up in.

You're reading this for the food, though, aren't you? Ok!

Hibiscus is, as I mentioned, a classic. It's been a long standing haunt for the healthy, vegetarian, and vegan. They are known for their buckwheat crepes and wholesome salads. We went on an ideal day as it was balmy and hot summer dress weather. The tables are polished, old wood, sun kissed. With all the natural wood details and age, the place feels homey. The large windows keep it bright and open. There's also a sunlit patio to sit at. So interred is Hibiscus in its digs that the planks under our feet waft wholesomeness, the smell of dry grains and earth. I like it, in my mind it is the ultimate 'health food store' smell- maybe not appealing to everyone, but it is to me.

There are fresh drinks to be had on this intense day. Not one for super sweet drinks and often disappointed with lemonade, I order theirs to see how it compares to others. 3$ buys a tall glassful, and to my pleasure the drink is tart, just mellowed out enough to keep me from sucking my cheeks in against the sourness.

Adelle orders iced Kombucha tea. I was worried I would only taste mushrooms and staleness. This kombucha is not comparable to others! It must be very fresh, and has a booziness to it. She explains to me that the tea is fermented at some point in its processing. Not unlike my lemonade it has a good tartness that helps deal with the heat- I wish I'd ordered it instead.

Even coming from a Dutch family where we would eat apple pannenkoek (like a crepe) regularly, I've never been a huge fan of stuffed crepes. I have a limit, yes I, to sweetness! These aren't your Queen West crepes, though; my understanding of buckwheat is that it's very grainy and robust, very unlike a white flour crepe. Then I read the description of a crepe with chutney, pecans, pears and spinach leaves (9$). I had also been recommended the crepes... I ordered it. The crepe was folded around one end, the other open to display a lovely fan of sliced and delicately cooked pears, layers of spinach and mock-chedar. I couldn't see the chutney until I cut in and forked a chunk. Then, lo, a bright orange splash of colour and flavour! What I tasted was a drizzle of honey over the still-crisp pear slices, and the thick diced mango chutney dashed with cinnamon, nutmeg, and other heady spices. To my surprise the mock cheese was pleasantly savoury, even stringy, though its texture gave it away otherwise. I had had my reservations. I do prefer the hearty buckwheat crepe with its crisp dry edges and extra chewy texture. To perfect the dish, the pecans gave a crunchy kick. No wonder Hibiscus is a classic.

For long before her vacation and explorations, Adelle had talked about the salads at Hibiscus, building them up with praise for their diversity. There's a rotating selection, changing with the chefs whims, favourites reoccurring regularly. I got a look at the big bowls on display. It's a lovely sight, beautiful crockery brimming with orange yam salad, maroon beans, punchy green broccoli heads. You can order an assorted salad bowl, which is exactly what she did. It comes in two sizes (6.70$ or 7.85$), but I think the small isn't enough for anyone with a real appetite. There was a dozen different salads and toppings as well, all served with a raw cracker stuck in the side. Raw crackers fascinate me. Created with a blend of grains and nut pulp (usually, but not always), they're dehydrated for hours until the texture becomes not crisp, but chewy and dry. This one is thin and delicate, its flavour of a mix of whole grains offset by what I thought was black strap molasses.

In the bowl were sweet potato cubes (solid, plain), cold quinoa (fluffy and light, slightly oiled with dried cranberries adding sweetness to offset the natural nuttiness, which was complemented by pine nuts), bean salad (a traditional vegetarian nom, this one made of black beans, chick peas, garbanzo, and flavoured with sweet onion and generous cumin, again that hint of molasses), finely cubed tofu (sweet with a non-smokey barbecue sauce, and lightly dressed), kimchi, and a couple steamed veggie dishes lightly seasoned with lemon: broccoli, green beans, grated carrot, slivered beets. Most perplexing was this dollop of white stuff on top, which we were guessing was mashed potato, but didn't QUITE taste like it. Finally we asked. It is some kind of super-protein mash made of soymilk paste and mushroom. It tasted a lot like ricotta, with a similar texture.

To indulge a shared tooth for well-crafted sweets, we debated over the many cookies and squares displayed along the back counter. I try not to be too pushy when sharing, but coconut does something orgasmic to me. We were both eyeing the selection of squares, and there was little debate over selecting a cashew coconut square (2.75$). Shockingly creamy thanks to the natural butteriness of cashew. It was also very chewy in a more pleasant way than stick-to-your-teeth toffee. Dried cranberries helped hold it together. I wish the coconut had been more pronounced, but this was still an immensely enjoyable treat. Just watch out, they melt in the heat!

Yes, I used the word nom. Is it in the dictionary yet? Quick, where's my Websters!

Caplansky's

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Ah, Caplansky's. The meat-lovers haven of kosher deliciousness, one of Toronto's few authentic deli's. Once upon a time I ventured in to try their smoked offerings at 356 College Street. The turkey was dry, but that was two years ago. Since then, Caplansky's fame has continued a steady climb, and Zane has started some exciting ventures. For those who aren't up for travelling the gruelling distance to middle-of-everything College street, Caplansky now delivers...by bike! Within reasonable  distance. There's also the intriguing deli truck, which takes Caplanky foods out on wheels, like an ice cream cart for adults. Will it play the Lambada?

Let's eat some meat!

 

This might be the thing that brings me back. how to describe the knish? It's no beauty. A wedge of pastry stuffed with meat, spices, and riced potato sits in a puddle of rather hideous, lumpy gravy. It tastes like savoury heaven.  The gravy reminds me of the ragu my not-Quebecois mother would make. It's got a rich briny taste, with the chunks of macerated beef adding a lumpiness that could almost classify it as chili. Though it doesn't have liver in, I can almost taste a rich, heady iron. I thoroughly enjoy the puff pastry, which was bready. The crust was chewy with egg-wash, the tender underside sucking up more and more gravy. I could eat this every day.

For me, this was a challenge. It's not that I'm afraid of the taste of tongue (and you can keep your lewd jokes to yourself!). I've heard unappealing accounts of the texture, though. In my commitment to eating and experiencing everything, I couldn't let that hold me back without advice. Lexie was my consultant for all things on this Jewish menu that I wanted advice for, and told me that tongue is one of her favourite things ever. With trust, I chose if over the sweet gefilte fish. 

The texture is NOT a turn off! 

Perhaps it would have been if the dense and spongy meat hasn't been sliced thin like Montreal smoked meat. The texture is thicker and less stringy than most deli meats, but the flavour is incredible. It's incredibly fatty and overflowing with richness. No risk of being dry here! Since the tongue is pickled, it's packed with tenderness, and the flavours are accentuated from the brine. Call me a convert. What was funny about the sandwich was actually the size of the bread. These poor little wedges of rye! They're under so much pressure to perform. It's a huge task for two little guys, falling apart under the weight of the butter they're drenched in (though that didn't keep me from saturating them further in hot mustard).

What I want to know, Zane, is can I take your tongue home with me? ...do you sell jars, maybe?

The sandwich combo I ordered comes with fries, salad or soup. I need to find a place with more interesting side dished to draw! I opted in for the soup du jour, since it's served cold. Nothing to say 'hello, Summer!' like cold soup to start a hot meal. In retrospect, I should have tried the borscht, something I've yet to try. This soup was very good, though! It was quite filling thanks to the rich and complex squash. With apple puree in it, it was sweeter than I had expected, and reminded me of pumpkin pie. There was a hint of herbs and ginger. It was a lovely appetizer.

Lexie went for an entree from the less deli-centric side of the menu, a vegetarian ratatouille. This was pure comfort food. The rich was fluffy, sticky and plain, the kind that sticks to your ribs. On top was a simple heap of soft grilled vegetables, a medley of citrusy zuchini, earthy eggplant, onions and a colourful array of yellow, red and green pepper. I think the pepper and citrus of the gourds stood out, giving the stew a refreshing quality that balanced with the heartiness of plain rice, and went well with the balmy evening air.

 

Now, I don't usually do this, but the staff was INCREDIBLE. So, here's a quick shout-out as a thank you for wonderful service, humor, and a smile that was massive and almost unnaturally genuine. Seriously man, how do you do it! We came in near to closing time, the hour that servers tend to turn sour, and this guy was just amazing and nice. I probably drew his hair wrong.

Rugelach isn't news to me. Having dated a Jewish boy, I've was lucky enough to get to snack on these tiny pastries semi-regularly. They're like one inch long croissants, but denser. The pastry fall somewhere between puff pastry, and flakier viennoiserie. It's sweet, with just the barest hint of the vinegar used to make puff pastry crisp. That just makes the sugars stand out more. The rugelach at Caplansky's had a chocolate twist which was great (I'm a chocoholic). I really enjoy them for their size, their simplicity. It was a nice and light dessert after a KILLER filling dinner!

 

I know I said not to make any tongue jokes, and now I am making tongue jokes, and have made tongue jokes...well.

 Zane says it himself, he's got the best tongue in town.

Fabarnak

What really disappointment me with Fabarnak was how badly I wanted to love it. The pitch was great. The design and branding is colourful and crisp, and the menu reads like something out of my warmest gourmand fantasies. The price was also shockingly low on things with quality, often local-organic-gluten-free ingredients! Most alluringly, their heart is so in the right place.

Fabarnak is located in the Church Street Community Centre, 519 Church Street. One of the reasons I wanted to go there was because I wanted to contribute some traffic, some awareness, especially since I suspect people would hesitate to go out of their way to dine in a community centre (though after going inside, this place is BEAUTIFUL! They nailed the interior decorating, so cute). The tips get donated to the centre, as do the profits. The staff are people who may otherwise have difficulty finding work (I thought the service was quite fine). It's a beautiful idea.

If only the chefs were as skilled as the menu writer, if only their cuisine reflected that vision!

As with any breakfast brunch thing, my friend Abe and I started with coffee. We were getting a pretty late start, our date happening at 2. What I hadn't realized until the day before was that Fabarnak has shorter hours on the weekend, and would be closing at 3. There was fewer pastries than I had hoped for, as I looked across the counter while waiting. photo's show that the cupcakes here could be delicious, but there was none to try. The coffee was bitter and not very strong. I think the espresso based drinks are better, made with illy.

I was very excited after my initial research of their online menu. Finally, after all the horror and the majesty I'd heard about grits, I could try them! It's another of those love-hate foods I've been hoping to try...the menu touts the dish as this glorious thing garnished with shrimp and sausage, eggs, greens, molasses and shaved toscana cheese.

So, naturally, it had run out.

Now, I will concede the point that we had arrived close to the finish here, and the dish was unashamedly the most interesting and therefore tempting thing on the menu. Alas, my disappointment didn't take me to the grave, there were consolation pancakes to eat.

The idea of yeast leavened pancakes was a draw. Would they be fluffier? Would they have a beerishness to them? Toss in some rosemary whipped cream, and I'm sold on what I was hoping would be a savoury-sweet stroke of genius. What arrived? Two soggy pancakes more akin to bread pudding in texture than the boastfully fluffy griddlecakes I love. Everything was pooled together in the middle of the plate, the whipped cream all over the (dull, grey) peameal bacon and cakes. I was giving this a lot of thought after the fact, and I think one of the biggest shortcomings of this adorable, underwhelming cafe is presentation. The people working the kitchen need to learn to plate. It's not unlike making beautiful hand-lettering. You have to give the letters room to breathe! Let things sit with space between then on the plate.

Dear chefs: go to the Art Gallery of Ontario. Looks at the abstract paintings. Now, plate something beautiful. 

The portion was reasonable, and I DO think the food was good for what we paid (under 15$ each after tip), but my expectations were so high. Their menu reads so well. The pear that came with my pancakes was nice, but I couldn't taste a lick of maple in the whole dish.

I'd like to say that Abe fared better. He certainly seemed satisfied! With big eyes and a big stomach, the full monty sounded like a meal and a half. Picture a triple decker, but instead of toast you have savoury french toast, and in the layers are smoked fontina and peameal bacon. The spread described as garnish for the sandwich made me think of it would totally unique: plum and beet jam with dijon! Though I didn't only try one bite, so this may be a fair assessment, I couldn't taste it. The bacon was not as plentiful on this sandwich as I personally would have hoped, and it really needed something tart or sweet to make it unique. I was underwhelmed, and again, everything had just been stacked in the middle of a giant, white, rectangular plate.

After all this, I want to come back. I want to go to Fabarnak for breakfast, or lunch, or dinner, and have them wow me. I still want this menu to taste as good as it sounds, to be more than just 'Okay'. I want to be able to say something great about a place that is trying to do something great.

Scheduled Delay

Not unlike the TTC this weekend, Drawn and Devoured is going to be derailed for a little while! And it has nothing to do with my awful puns. There won't be a post this week, as I have a LOT of exciting projects I need to finish or get underway, and a new job to adjust to. There may be a post next week, though it might not be what you're expecting...I think you'll all like it.

Thanks for bearing with me, guys, see you very soon.

GUU

 

I've been thinking of this post as my 'In honour of TCAF' post. If you didn't know, TCAF is the Toronto Comic Arts Fair, and happens to be where I spent my whole weekend volunteering, and also happens to be really awesome. Everyone I worked with was a peach. One of the co-founders is the lovely Chris Butcher, who I've followed on twitter for ages...and the man LOVES the izakaya joint GUU which recently landed two locations in Toronto (we went to the 559 Bloor St. W location)! Naturally I had to go there, especially given my interest in trying Japanese food that isn't cookie-cutter dull sushi.

So here's to Chris, the other organizers, the staff of the Beguiling, my co-volunteers, and of course the amazing comic artists who brought so many people together this past weekend. Itadakimasu!

This place has so much character. It's like walking into a crowd scene from a Miyazaki film, with colourful characters yelling back and forth and literally cheering each arrival, and thanking every departure at full voice. I don't know how the staff can act so cheerful and animated, it's hilarious, it's fun, and it's catching. At one point they swarm a table to sing 'Happy Birthday' and for some reason they have maracas. No wonder the vibe inside is of boozy joy, the patrons all getting drunk on the novelty. The staff are very accommodating, giving us hot damp towels to clean our hands on, though they're very slow to serve. There's plenty of staff, but there are WAY more customers; the narrow and dark eatery is jammed. With three seating areas, we go for the speediest and eat at the bar, which is quite wide. There's also an area with large communal tables, and another area where guests must remove their shoes and sit on floor cushions. I'd like to try that next time, when it's not a 40 minute wait. I think the other location on Church street has a summer patio (just don't quote me on that).

We started with the Oshinko (house pickles) off the special menu, with a side dish of confusion. We were told the kitchen ran out of pickles, and a little bit later, were told they were making us pickles! Which doesn't quite make sense since pickles need to marinade and, well... pickle, for a while. Or else they're just vegetables. What we wound up with was a gorgeous plate of raw vegetables, mostly cucumber, daikon, carrot, radish and some crazy sushi-esque deal that I have no name for, just appreciation. The vegetables had had SOMETHING done to them, and even if it wasn't pickled, it was tasty. They were soft and salty, with a dash of sushi vinegar and ginger. A very pleasant, refreshing start to the meal, along with a few huge steins of Sapporo, and a Ramune for me (it's a Japanese soda that taste like a light cream soda... and fifty cents from each purchase goes to help Japan when you buy it at GUU).

A while ago I tried jellyfish. I don't shy away from strange foods, rather I seek to embrace them. It was a weird, mushy disappointment served on watery iceberg lettuce. Gross. I guess I should have expected as much from ordering anything other than the eponymous dumplings from Dumpling House. It was finally time for a second chance from a proper restaurant, and my friends joined me in this deep-dish salad. It was an even blend of lettuce, heaps of noodly jellyfish, chapchae (seasoned cold glass noodles), and crunchy wonton. The jellyfish was SO good! Enjoying the not-too-meaty chewiness, I was happy to be able to reverse my original opinion. The salad really was a chameleon, with the two main toppings, jellyfish and chapchae, taking on the sweet and salty flavour of Japanese dressing. The dressing was the same as at any other Japanese restaurant. There was also jicama which is a variety of turnip, that added plenty of crunch to the salad. Not too special overall.

This was a major hit with us! I would like to call it 'chicken balls for adults", where the chicken is replaced with lumps of squid tentacle, and instead of being dipped in fake, electric red sweet 'n' sour sauce, the balls are instead drowned in a creamy cheese gratin, with stringy crusty cheese melted on top and a savoury sauce throughout. It had a surprising and delightful flavour of hot mustard, which may have come from wasabi, and a sweetness from ponzu. The dough was very soft, like fresh baked bread, and just sopped up all the juice and cheese. A very rich dish for those in harmony with their arteries.

There was little to get excited about with these chicken nuggets in tempura batter. They did all seem to have a frightening appearance like small birds, which I'm sure was completely unintentional, and a great source of amusement for someone with as bizarre a mind as mine. The flavour wasn't much to write home about, since they are just boneless chicken wings in essence and flavour, and taste how you would expect. The mayo on the side had a nice zing, and the portion was generous for 5.20$

 

Again we ordered something delectable and deep fried in tempura batter, this time the fish cake called isobeage. If you can imagine a deep fried sponge that tastes like everything good to eat in the sea, you're starting to imagine the isobeage. It's really unusual, and is shamelessly bar food. I found it really interesting that it came with a heap of matcha powder on the side as seasoning. The matcha tasted bitter and strong, and was soaked up by the oil of the crust of our fish cake cones. I don't think it added much other than a wow for presentation.

With this arrived another dish of shapeless fried indulgence. This one is ika-nan, deep fried squid cartilage. I'm glad someone has found a use for that part of the cephalopod, because I always eat around it when I cook at home. Yet again the meat is battered in flaky tempura crust, this time also tossed in a spicy sauce. The cartilage has crunch and chewiness, but isn't an unpalatable texture. It tastes like squid, but also like a pork rind. It's all fat, all crust, all sauce. This also came with a side of the hot, tangy mayo.

One of the bigger experiments of the night was ordering a mixed bowl- a yukke. We got the salmon natto yukke, mainly because of my insistence on trying natto- Japanese fermented beans. Natto dish is HUMONGOUS in Japan, it's a national staple (from my understanding, anyhow). It's also notorious outside it's country of origin for being one of the more horrible foods you can order, and opinions on it differ widely. Not all fermentation tastes bad after all, or we wouldn't enjoy wine and beer. The dish was so pretty and colourful, with a raw quail egg adding a yolky dash of yellow to the heart of the bowl, which also had salmon sashimi, wonton chips, green onion, shibazuke (a mixture of cucumber and eggplant pickles), takuon (daikon pickle) and of course, natto. The dish is served with all the ingredients separate in the same bowl, meant to be mixed together and served in dollops on squares of crisp nori. I'm a huge nori advocate, but first I wanted to try the natto by itself. I just tried a couple of the little beans. Oh no! Call me uncultured, I'll accept it, but I cannot eat natto by itself. It tastes sour, and the gooey, stringy texture of fermented gloop that coats it is a turn-off. We followed through and mixed the dish all together. The natto helped it stick. In the end, the different flavours harmonized, and even though some of that fermentation came through, the nori and tender salmon saved the dish. I ended up enjoying it as a whole, though I can't say I would order a natto yukke again.

My favourite dish perhaps was the assorted kushi age (Japanese kabob made with unexpected items). This is very similar to tempura, but served on a skewer, and with a more robust batter. We ordered a skewer of quail egg (soft, fluffy yolks and the most tasty snack I never imagined), one of potato (predictable but delicious comfort food), one of ham (served as a slab, just a big chunk of meat that tasted a bit like a hot dog), mushroom (sadly it was only crimini or button- I had hoped we would have shiitake, or some less run of the mill deep fried fungus), and lotus root (this wasn't actually a skewer, and the dense slices of root were pleasantly refreshing and watery while maintaining their body. A bit sweet). All served with an out of this world ponzu sauce, and that ever-present wasabi mayo.

I insisted on desert even though we were all full after sharing all the greasy dishes. I had seen a picture of this sesame troika of a dessert called 'goma senkushi' that I needed to try- not because I'm nuts for sesame, but because I knew I could draw it beautifully. Sometimes that's what motivates me to order a dish. It arrived, and was as lovely as I had hoped. It was tasty, too. The rice cracker wafers were flaky and not overpowering. The two rice balls were warm and glutinous, one had been deep fried with a sesame seed crust. The ice cream was black, and tasted more of cream than seeds, but for the visual alone I would have loved it. Less of an overwhelming aroma than I expected, but a filling dessert that suits the menu going at GUU.

Thanks to my guests Anthony (of the band The Ethers) and Nate (design editor at large) for experimenting with me!

Thank you, ladies!

Things have been going really well here at Drawn and Devoured, and I want to send a special THANK YOU to everyone who's been featuring the blog and spreading the word about it.

Big thanks to Renee of Eat.Live.Shop., who ran a feature on D&D as one of her crushes. It was an honour to be featured as Renee's blog is one of the reasons I got into blogging to begin with.

http://www.eatliveshop.com/

I'm also really exited to share this interview with me by Sarah of the webzine Not French Cooking. She asked a lot of interesting questions, so if you're curious about the person behind Drawn and Devoured, it's worth a read!

http://notfrenchcooking.com/

Bunners Bakery

This wasn't my first encounter with the increasingly popular Dundas West bakery. Getting to Bunners, located at 3054 Dundas West, takes a little dedication, but fortunately there are a few places closer to the core that stock some of their delights (my first encounter was at my old workplace, Atelier cafe, who started stocking Bunners right before I got a new job!) including Te Aro in Leslieville and Crema in the Junction. I'm sure there'll be plenty more soon, as Bunners fever spreads- after all, it is Toronto's only exclusively gluten-free bakery. Did I forget to mention that? I know a lot of wheateaters will read that word and abandon ship, but please, I encourage you to read on. Gluten free baking has come a LONG way. Judge it by its taste, not its reputation! Which is the only thing anyone without an allergy/ethical food avoidance should judge their food by, anyhow.

It was hearing about their other offerings, including a rumored sandwich pocket that made me decide to hop on my bike and visit the mother ship.

I'd just like to quickly put into perspective my dedication to Drawn and Devoured. I live in Cabbagetown. On my way to Bunners I got lost, making for a nearly 20km ride. I'm still feeling sore!

This also means you can't judge me for eating every. Last. Dessert.

It was a fun ride, and the furthest northwest I've ventured yet. I didn't realize how neat the Junction is, with gorgeous salvage stores, and lots of vegetarian and organic option eateries with enticing menus. I spotted a couple places that just made my 'to blog about' list. Since the photo's on Bunners facebook don't show much of the interior of the store, I really wasn't sure that to expect, but I had thought there would be some table space. It's actually very tiny, and the only thing to sit on is a small platform at the front of the store. They sell brewed coffee, but it's not a place to stay and relax! They also didn't seem to have the savoury pocket I'd heard about, either.

In a rare turn for me, I had a lot of questions to ask the owners, and wound up talking to Ashley Wittig who was very patient with my impromptu interview. So much for my usual habit of making notes incognito and scurrying out to draw. When I entered and saw how small the place is, I wanted to ask about what plans she and co-owner Kevin MacAllister have for the bakery. Licensing means this location probably won't be getting any tables, but they are thinking of expanding. When and where? That's a story for another day. One of the questions we got the most at Atelier that I wanted to repeat was 'what sort of flour is in this?', so I decided to ask. To make things easy, here's a wiki-glossary of their most common ingredients:

Chick Pea Flour

Brown Rice Flour

Sorghum

Tapioca Flour

Arrowroot Starch

Potato Starch

Now, onto the fun stuff. Food!

One of my top favourite flavours is coconut. Fresh or dry, it's creamy and heady with natural flavour. I had really hoped that the coconut cake Bunners lists on its website would be available, and it was! Most of what I ordered I took home with me, but the cake I couldn't wait to get my hands on. Because Bunners doesn't have any tables, it was a bit hard to eat, especially since they don't have any cutlery either. Maybe some biodegradable forks would be a good thing to add? The cake is made with brown rice and chickpea flours, and both potato and arrowroot starch. It was so moist! From everything I tried I will tell you that Bunners is the right place for anyone who likes rich, moist cakes and desserts, but if you want something like a dry fluffy Italian cake, or even a from-the-box texture, you might find it too dense and moist. I love it, and I would almost say the cake here stops just barely shy of being as moist and rich as a bread pudding, while still pulling of 'fluffy'. What did disappoint me about the cake was the delicacy of the flavours. I don't need to be hit over the head with lemon and coconut, but I would like to taste them, and I barely could. Even though the slice was coated in coconut shavings, I had a hard time picking it up from the taste of what was essentially a very good vanilla cake. The lemon I couldn't taste at all.
You can but the cakes whole: 30$ for a 6" cake, 45$ for a 9" cake.

Following in the footsteps of the cupcake wave that hit Toronto in the last couple years, comes the whoopie pie- or creamie in Bunners vernacular. I tried these at my old workplace and HAVE to write about them. 4.35 isn't a bad price to pay for the big cookie sandwiches. A creamie is made from two spongy layers of cookie (either chocolate chip or DOUBLE chocolate) with a thick layer of icing inside. I'm really happy with the texture and taste of Bunners vegan icing, it tastes almost identical to dairy icing, but with the comfort of knowing it's all-natural too. The icing is less like butter cream icing, having stronger sugar and air. The cookies that keep it all together are great, with just a hint of that 'natural food store' flavour at the back of the palate. The flavour of the cookies themselves reminds me a lot of cookie dough, and taste sinfully good.

If you want to try and stay a little bit healthy, try the gypsy cookie! It's pretty much a 2$ power bar, loaded with gluten-free oats, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, dried cranberry and chocolate chips. I love the crunch. The layers of all those crisp and chewy ingredients make for a very satisfying snack, breaking up with all sorts of flavours in my mouth, from sour to sweet. It's small but surprisingly filling. It's the only item at Bunners I would describe as tasting like a health food, and it's still yummy.

For the guilty gluten-free sweets lover, there are choices! At long last, you can join everyone else in the debate over vanilla, or chocolate, or red velvet? Bunners has options (at 3.25$ each, I drew the wrong price above. Sorry!). I tried two cupcakes (made with chick pea flour, and both starches), the chocolate with vanilla icing, and the raspberry lemon. Having mini chocolate chips on the icing was an adorable touch, and again, the icing is great! Same kind as in the creamies. The cake texture is drier than the large cake, more airy. The cocoa has a mild dry flavour, with a noticeable kick of salt to boost the taste. Surprisingly rich (by the end of the day I had a toothache. Do not tell yourself these foods are 'healthy', it is a lie! A delicious lie). Again there was a hard to describe aftertaste, though not at all unpleasant.

Though it was fairly smooshed by the time I made my way to it in the afternoon, the lemon raspberry cupcake I was recommended to try was unfortunately as mild in flavour as the coconut cake. The body had a lightly ricey flavour, but did not taste like lemon unless I closed my eyes and really searched for the taste. The icing was a small improvement, flavourful but again without much kick of raspberry. The flavour was there at the back of the palate, and again I had to search for it.

For dessert (ha!) I got two donuts. Or doughnuts, if you want to gripe about the American spelling. They are small, compact little monsters of goodness. Baked, not fried, the exterior texture comes surprisingly close to what you would expect from any other doughnut. I tried one plain and one coconut (made with chickpea and tapioca flour, sorghum, and the coconut dyed with beet juice). These donuts are thick and sticky, without that crisp shell that deep-frying provides. The glaze has enough granulation left to leave the impression of a crust, and I think it's cleverly handled. Making a baked gluten-free doughnut must be HARD. I taste a little bit of lemon in the gummy dough. Again, the coconut was very light.

All in all, I really liked Bunners. I'm glad they're still experimenting and expanding their menu, and I'm sure they're going to come up with even greater desserts in the future. I hope they do eventually open more central locations with more savoury items (they DO sell bread loaves and muffins now, though!).