Sunday, March 26, 2006

Greek Pastry Tour

Yesterday afternoon, Candy and I went downtown to the Danforth Ave. area for Greek pastries. Candy had organized a couple of walking tours in the past, but this was my first time joining her... :D I was very excited!!

After getting off at Broadview subway station, we walked along Danforth Ave. to a little chocolate store called "Simryn". Simryn offers a variety of home- made chocolate truffles.



Simryn Chocolates
147A Danforth Avenue
Toronto, ON
416 778-7978

Since I like chocolate with alIcohol, I brought a BRANDY chocolate. Candy brought 2 chocolates and one of them is blueberry.

The chocolate is good but not enough brandy taste.


Then, we walked along Danforth to another store: Dash Kitchen




Dash Kitchen
236 Danforth Ave.
416-463-DASH(3274)
http://www.dashkitchen.ca/

Dash Kitchen sells different kinds of jams and kitchen sauces. It also sells a lot of ready made take-out food (e.g. salads, roasted chicken, salmon, sandwiches, etc). Everything looks delicious.

I had a taste of the fruit salad. It was very good... yummy yummy... ;) It contains pineapples, oranges, raisins, Green Split Peas, and apple.


Then, we walked by a store selling different crystals and stones. I brought a pair of earrings and a turtle pendant (made with a clear stone... forgot the name of it... :P )

After that, we went to a famous Greek pastry store: Athens Pastries


Athens Pastries
509 Danforth Avenue
Toronto, ON
416-463-5144




Athens Pastries has a small selection of high-quality Greek pastries:
1) flaky philo pastry stuffed with a thin layer of custard (bougatsa)
2) flaky philo pastry stuffed with a thin layer of minced meat (bourekakia?)
3) flaky philo pastry stuffed with a thin layer of Spinach and Feta Cheese (Spanakopita)
4) flaky philo pastry stuffed with a thin layer of Feta and Cottage Cheese
5) honey drenched little balls of fried dough (loukoumades)
6) thick slices of custard sandwiched between thin layers of philo pastry (galakto bouriko)



Between the two of us, we brought #1, #3, #4, and #5. The philo pastries were extremely good... crispy and fresh...

Since the pastries were flaky, it was hard for us not to make a mess... hahahahaha :P I was stuffed after eating two honey balls and the cheese philo pastry (#4). I was very amazed that Candy can finish the rest.


We kept walking west along Danforth Ave. and went into any stores that looked interesting. :) One of such stores is Avec Plaisir (Fine Lingerie)... ;)

Then, we hopped on the subway and went to Greg's Ice-cream at St George and Bloor. This store offers many flavours of homemade ice-creams.




Greg's Ice Cream
200 Bloor Street West
Toronto, ON
416-961-4734



I tried the blueberry ice-cream and the famous Roasted marshmallow ice-cream. The blueberry ice-cream is good. The Roasted marshmallow ice-cream is very unusual. However, it tasted more like burned marshmallow instead of roasted marshmallow. :P

After having a big ice-cream cup, we needed to do some exercises, so we walked around the Yorkville area. We walked pass a Ferrari dealership and saw a nice red sport car... I wish I can buy one... hahahahaha....



At night, we went to M0d0 restaurant for a light dinner. The restaurant is very beautiful... The lounge area has 2 bronze-like statues on each side with a big screen in the middle showing black & white movies.... We sat at the bar table in the lounge area.

After the light dinner, we went to Pangaea restaurant for desserts.


Pangaea restaurant
1221 Bay Street
Toronto, ON
416-920-2323



This restaurant has a totally different feel than the Mudu restaurant... It has a pale colour but bright and lively environment.... high ceiling... big pot of flower in the middle....


For dessert, I had their famous Banana Coconut Cream Tart and a cappuccino... Banana coconut cream in sweet pastry with coconut sherbet, mango puree, and caramelized bananas... very delicious... I noticed that there is no chocolate between the pastry and the cream to prevent moisture from getting into the pastry. Candy told me that since all desserts are freshly made, there is no need for chocolate. ;)



Candy had the Winter Citrus Tart... Blood oranges with passionfruit in sweet pastry with frozen vanilla-crtrus "shooter" and candied fruit... looks very beautiful...


This was a fun tour!! I wish I can do this more often... but tasty food always have high calories... I need to do more exercise to burn all fat before I can go again... hee hee.... :)

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