Best Pastry shop (patisserie) in Montreal?

[foodlovergeneral]

So far we have had great pastries and breads in Montreal in our 2 years here.

PREMIERE MOISSON: Great bread and amazing pastry.
PATISSERIE GASCON: Another chain, but amazingly good pastries.
YUKI: Japanese style pastries in Westmount. Wonderful.
RENOIR: The restaurant at the Sofitel has an extraordinary pastry chef.

ANY OTHERS?

[montrealeater]

Update (didn't want to start a new thread): patisserie Rhubarbe makes the best cheesecakes in montreal. Now, to be fair, I haven't tried every single cheesecake from every single cheesecake vendor, but I am happy to make the assumption. Possibly the best cheesecake I've ever had. They sell them in little single serving squares, too. The crust is ... uuuh, I have no words, and the cream/cheese part manages to be light and fluffy and rich as hell and totally delicious. You must all try these ASAP.

[SnackHappy]

Rhubarbe makes pretty much the best everything.

[acookatheart]

I can map montreal by its pastry shops, and I have regular stops like Gascogne ... but must tries:

patisserie G&G on Mont Royal street just east of Papineau. Since she makes everything fresh, the offers of the day may be limited in the store - so do consider ordering something from the extensive catalogue. My coups de coeur - is a vanilla mango combination - it is just heavenly. You can check the website and download the entire catalogue (click on commander). Geraldine is an exceptional patissière.

http://www.ggpatisseriegourmande.com/

the new Olivier Potier has been mentioned in other posts. http://olivierpotier.com/

Maison Boulud (at Ritz) is worth it - do not skip the exceptional desserts of Suyin Wong.

[RhondaB]

Fous Desserts, Cerise sur le gateau & Kouign Amman get my vote. The pain au chocolat at FD is insanely good, also love their almond croissants before they get a big soft or soggy and their chausson aux pommes is like eating buttery apples baked in buttery goodness. Also have yet to find a better mille feuille anywhere; puts Gascone to shame (anyone else feel Gascon's price to quality ratio has dropped significantly lately?) Recently tried Cerise & not impressed with his scones, liked his croissants but prefer FD or KA for croissants. As for KA, their croissants and of course the KA are great.

[foodlovergeneral]

That was really helpful post. Thankyou.

[lsalvi]

I agree RhondaB.
Maybe, we're really spoiled in Montreal and have so much selection that can compete with places like Gascon. Thankfully, cause the prices are excessive for what you can find elsewhere for a fraction of the cost! My rule of thumb, Will travel for great food and will pay for the best/favorite if not.....I keep on moving! Gascon is off my list!

[foodlovergeneral]

I just had my first pastry at Fous Desserts. It was about $5 or so per each. I think Gascon is only $4 or so. So I may be wrong, but is it possible that Gascon is cheaper? Nonetheless, the quality at Fous was pretty amazing, even if they were pricier. But perhaps I got it wrong.

Yuki stil seems like a nice alternative. A very Japanese influenced pastry shop, with the most wonderful matcha tea flavored chocolate cakes. We had Fous Dessrts mathca/yuzu desert and Yuki's in teh same day. Yuki's was much better-more of the green tea flavor came through.

[causeimhungry]

Yuki does quite a few different green tea flavored desserts and cookies. I enjoy the brownies and cookies and my husband always gets the tiramisu. The only thing I would not recommend is the baguette, I fine it never has enough color. I also like their lasagna which, I believe, is under 4$/serving (best price around).
http://www.yukibakery.com/
5211 Sherbrooke O

[montrealeater]

Speaking of scones, does anyone have any recs for a bakery that does them well? I tried one from Olive et Gourmando this week and didn't like it (it was too gussied up for a scone - for me - too many cherries and too much coarse sugar sprinkled on it - I just want some plain, ungussied scones, but done nicely). Also looking specifically for pistachio-based pastries etc., if anyone knows of any good ones.

[cherylmtl]

The Mamie Clafoutis on St. Denis has a number of pistachio-based pastries (croissants, etc).. Oddly enough, the Van Horne location doesn't have them.

[montrealeater]

I should have mentioned I am familiar with the pistachio croissant from Clafoutis (too familiar...I think I am solely responsible for those being sold out at least 2 days a week, heh heh) - I'll ask them to include some non-croissant pistachio sweets next time. The St Denis location is super close to me, thanks for letting me know about the other items. :)

[Glaff]

Rhubarbe have scones on weekend. Not a fan of scones though, so I never tasted them.

[kpzoo]

Gryphon d'or has really good scones. If you have the plain tea scones there, you'll get them served warm in a basket with butter and homemade raspberry jam on the side. To take out you can get them fresh or frozen, several different types. They bake up nicely.

[montrealeater]

Fanks - I was thinking of hitting Rhubarbe today anyway, based on this thread, so if they have any scones I'll try them. I just called Gryphon and they said to call back in 45 mins to see if they have any frozen ones to be picked up later today - I checked their website and those are exactly what I'm looking for - they even have plain ones! Thanks for the recs, had no idea about Gryphon...

[montrealeater]

Scones update - bought a bunch of plain and blueberry from Gryphon D'Or and they were so, so, so good. Best scones I've had outside of England (and had I had these in the UK I would have been in love with them, too) and my mom's kitchen. Thank you So much kpzoo, these are the perfect comfort food for me - all warm and buttery fresh out of the oven - and I really didn't think I'd find any like this in Montreal. :)

[kpzoo]

So glad to hear it, thanks for letting us know! They do a fabulous afternoon tea, too - so if you're ever craving scrumptious little sandwiches, warm scones, and a huge array of sweets some day, do try it out. (Reservations needed.) Pics from a few years back here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/3956...

[foodlovergeneral]

Fous desserts is fantastic; wonderful pastries.

[lsalvi]

Too many to mention, you're best to focus on a specific area! I'm in a little italian neighbourhood and the Italian Bread is great! A fraction of the cost of the one you mentioned above and just as good!

[foodlovergeneral]

Would you care to share a name? Some of us may be willing to travel to good places.

[mochimao]

I love Gascon. But, although not as high end as the French shops, some of the Chinatown bakeries like Harmonie and Poon Kai Jade Garden are great too.

[indeed]

Depends what you mean by "great". No preservatives, no food coloring, best ingredients "great" or just "tasty"?

[mtl_foodie]

Rhubarbe. Without a doubt. On de Lanaudière at Laurier.

[foodlovergeneral]

I just tried Rhubarbe. Very talented. Good choice, and talented baker. I will try "fous desserts". I had a wonderful pastry from Kouign Amman once-very impressed.

[indeed]

notice the chocolate, "fous desserts" is using. Flavors are just insane. Some of their desserts could be on a sweeter side (to my taste), but still very-very nice.

[foodlovergeneral]

What are some of the great deserts people have had there?

[indeed]

Go, see what they have today. Everything is tasty : more sweet/less sweet/fruity/super-chocolaty... but still... tasty. :)

[foodlovergeneral]

Went there today. Wow; what a great selection, and how amazing is their baker. Very rich, delicious choclaty treats; croissants that are extremely precise and elegantly presented. Great place.

[williej]

I had "moeulleux" at Rhubarbe yesterday. It was exquisite! (I had never had something like that before). By the way, what is a good translation of moeuleeux in English?

We also tried Farine et Eaux Fraiche on Amherst. Wonderful!

[cherylmtl]

I believe its's best translated as molten chocolate cake.

[marblebag]

I'm not as knowledgeable on pastry shop as on croissants (Fous Desserts, Kouign Amann, Mr Pinchot) but my favorites are:

Fous Desserts
Patisserie Rhubarbe
Cerise sur le Gateau

[indeed]

marblebag, I am with you. All my favorite pastry shops. Patisserie Rhubarbe is especially exquisite.

[iheartspicyfood]

patisserie de nancy/ best almond croissants on planet earth

[yeggy]

San Marco should definitely be included on the list. 1581 Jean Talon est near Fabre metro station.

[Glaff]

Pâtisserie Rhubarbe of course.

[cubanat]

Not a fancy patisserie by any means but the BEST CHOCOLATE BABKA IN THE WORLD is made at:
Cheskie Heimish Bakery
359 Bernard West, Montreal, QB, XX - [phone]

Makes all other babkas taste like stale dry bread. Also super friendly staff.

[sophie.brunet]

I love Cheskie :) I used to work near there and the smell of their pastries fills up the whole Bernard/Parc intersection. Those cream cheese filled pastries... nothing fancy but so comforting
I never tried the babka tough... but was always curious about them.
(yes I just googled babka to see what it was... now I know what to call those swirly layered cakes
)

[jay_81k]

Love those cheese filled things they have. I'm obsessed with them ! You sure it's cream cheese though , always thought it was Possibly ricotta. The babkas are good too

[sophie.brunet]

It might be ricotta too... I just know its something creamy and cheesy... whatever it is its delicious!

[carolilas]

Foodlovergeneral, you really seem to love Renoir. Is it true that they have a lovely afternoon tea? I checked their website out but couldn't find any information on it.

[foodlovergeneral]

Yes, it's fabulous. $20 for all you can eat pastries and tea sandwiches. One of the best bargains in town.

[tdiddy23]

there are loads of others, my personal favourite is fous desserts on laurier