Green Tea KitKat

Received this import from Japan

It has the KitKat crunch, but it the sweetness is cut with bitterness from the green tea taste. It's a sweet snack for those who don't prefer sweets. :) 

Cheers to Phoebe for this import! 

Reese Half Pound Cup!

Well, shit. My first thought was, "Is this for one person to eat?! I don't understand." It's about the size of an Oreo ice cream sandwich.

My second, more disgusting thought was, "I must eat one."

Juliette et chocolat

Juliette et chocolat (Montreal)

So, I didn't manage to go to Montreal and eat my heart out this summer. But, I did get a little bit of Montreal delivered to me in the form of a brownie!

So chocolatey. Soft and delicious. 

I'll definitely have to check this place out next time I hit the Mtl. 

Cheers to Lauren and John for the domestic import! 

Imported Chocolate

Swiss Dream Caffe Latte chocolate bar

Mel was kind enough to share some of her imported chocolate. I tried the Swiss Dream Caffe latte business, and I quite enjoyed it. It reminded me of the Villars chocolate from France. It had the same crunchy pops that burst with coffee flavour. The difference was in the creamy milk chocolate used to make the Swiss Dream bar.

Cheers to Mel for importing and sharing!

Coconut M&M's

Coconut M&M's

Saw these at a convenience store downtown, and I was like "Oh snap! These are a thing?!" Had to try them.

It upset me just a bit when I found out that Andrew's package of pretzel M&M's had less calories than mine; however, his had more sodium. 

There is definite coconut flavour in them. It's coconut M&M's... pretty self-explanatory. I was excited when I saw a picture of a coconut tree on one of the candy-coated chocolates, but then I realized that the picture is only printed on some of them. Booo.

Would I get them again? Sure. I liked them better than the Pretzel M&M''s.

Total damage: One fifty-something.

Villars Chocolate

Villars

An import from France, this is quite possibly the best chocolate I've ever had in my life. 

 The "pépites de café" pop like Rice Krispies and the combination is not unlike those Nestle Crunch bars... except that the chocolate is dark and awesome, and the crunchy part tastes like coffee.

Bursts of coffee flavour embedded into Swiss dark chocolate makes this a snack I regret having shared. ;)

Cheers to Aurélie for sending me a sample of chocolate bars available in France!

I wish it were as easy to find here.

1848 Chocolate

This lovely chocolate was sent to me from France.

1848 86% chocolate bar

It's very bitter and just faintly sweet - just like me.

The chocolate is very rich in cocoa, and it tastes a bit buttery. Overall, it's quite enjoyable, but maybe not to those who prefer their chocolate to be sweet and milky.

Just for fun, here's the nutritional table:

Thanks to Aurélie for the delectable import!

Jos Louis Bar

Jos Louis bars

I'm not a fan of the packaging that tries to be cool. 

 Who's that guy? 

 Tastes like a regular Jos Louis... but without the thicker chocolate aggregations at the sides. 

It also has some chocolate filling in addition to the trademark white cream inside. It made it a bit too sweet for me. I think I prefer the original ones better, or at least the half-sized moons when I'm on a diet. 

Ladybug Chocolate!

The instructor had a crossword for us to do and the group that finished first got a prize. Our team yellow smartly paired up with team blue (so we became team green) to finish the puzzle first.

The prize were chocolates for the winning team. I just thought this was so cute.

Inside is plain milk chocolate.

This instructor rocks! 

Total damage: free for me thanks to team green and the instructor!

Lindt Excellence

Lindt Excellence Intense Pear bar.

The crunchy bits of almond are nice. The chocolate is aromatic in a perfume-like kind of way. I like it enough.

Total damage: on sale for $2.50.

Milka

Milka milk chocolate bar!

The squares are dense and intensely milky. They taste great without feeling heavy.

I like how there are directions on the back on how to open it.

Total damage: free for me thanks to Aurélie! She brought this to me all the way from France!

Random Food Post!

Cheesecake Factory


I can't remember which location this is, but I like Cheesecake Factory food in general. Most of the time, it's pretty good.

Some of the cheesecakes are better than others. It helps to have tried a few to know what to pick.

This smiley face formed by itself during a lunch at a Chinese restaurant. Having mealtime is always happy.

Suite 88 (3957, rue Saint-Denis, Montréal)

I bought a set of these chocolate shooters and took pictures of the ones on display so I could remember what were in them.

Fun if you like alcohol and chocolate!

A guy makes fresh noodles at the Pacific Mall upstairs food court. It's quite a show and pretty loud when he bangs the noodles on the metal surface. Also, the noodles are pretty tasty. 

Nadège

Nadège (780 Queen Street West, Toronto)
416-368-2009
info@nadege-patisserie.com

Walking on Queen West, this patisserie caught my eye and I stopped long enough to get sucked into the store.

It seemed pretty busy with people coming in before and after us. There is seating available, but we decided to take ours to go since we just ate a hearty brunch at Swan.

Berta really liked the boxes. I was afraid that my delicate desserts would be rolling around in them.

I was partially right.

A piece from one of the fine creations rolled around in that box like a golf ball after a woman knocked my precious cargo while walking past me on the street. It would have been much worse had the Nadège staff not taped the bottoms of the cardboard pieces under the desserts to the box. That's good thinking on their part, but I guess it doesn't protect against careless Queen Street pedestrians (my careless self included). 

Berta's purchase: blood orange tart.

Out of the boxed items, Berta and I both liked the blood orange tart the best. It was really fruity, and the flavours just all went really well. It was nice, light, and tasted like summer in confectionary form. Berta only wished that the crust wasn't so hard.

Attempts at restoration.

I really liked the textures within the balls. It reminded me of upscale Ferrero Rocher.

I think this dome-shaped thing was called Emperor or something like that. 

Pretty

I like layers. The coffee flavour cuts the sweetness of the chocolate and the sweet filling cuts the bitterness of the coffee. It's best to try to get some of every layer in each forkful. 

Pistachio and banana?

The pastry part is unobtrusive and the filling is not too strong. I like.

Almond.

This thing was kind of awesome. Icing sugar, almonds, flaky pastry = win. That was supremely not descriptive, but that's all I can remember. Awesomeness.

Would I go back? Not the cheapest of their kind, but definitely tasty. So, that's a definitive yes! More almond!

Total damage: $22.76 for two pastries and two petits fours (or whatever you want to call them).