4.5/5 for boulangerie guillaume. a boulangerie is a bakery. and this mile endbakerywas voted #1 bestbakery2013 in montreal by cult mtl. it's a small shop, or at least the front is. meanwhile, there is quite an expanse of things going on behind the counter and bakers bustling about - there's a full-fledged bread factory going on back there. the variety of breads on the racks are beautiful, in all shapes, sizes and colours. it's very much a to-go operation, where you would stop in to fulfill your current bread needs and bring your purchases home. however they do offer sandwiches and beverages, just don't expect to find a table to sit down at.
i had heard that one of the most popular items in the shop is the baguettine aux figues & cheddar fort ($2.00). a small baguette with figs and cheddar inside. we brought these home and later ate them toasted with some butter. the cheese was baked to a crisp and full of deliciousness and the figs were still soft and a little bit juicy. i can see why this is so famous being that it's such a perfectly executed morsel of flavours.
i also turned my visit into more of a meal and ordered a drink. they offer a lot of different hot beverages that are mainly coffee based. it's nice to be able to grab a cup and to continue on with your day's errands. i had a mokaccino ($4.00). there wasn't much to this drink, it tasted great and it was a nice mix of coffee and chocolate. i've certainly had much worse coffee and this one was pretty decent. i'm not much of a coffee drinker so my tastes aren't incredibly discerning in this area.
lastly, i got a sandwich. it appears that they have roughly 6-8 varieties of sandwiches which they cycle through, but usually there are only two or three to choose from on any given day. i picked the vegetarian option, sandwiche feta (on olive ciabatta, tzatziki sauce, feta cheese, sliced peppers and cucumbers - $5.65). this sandwich was incredible. i was pretty blown away by the huge taste. the vegetables were so bright and fresh and i loved the saltiness and powerful flavours from the feta and the olives in the bread. the creamy tzatziki was the perfect binder to tie this mediterranean offering together. i loved this and i would buy it again and again as a snack or as an entire lunch.
thisbakeryis perfectly wonderful. why would anyone buy grocery store bread when bread made locally and from the heart is so readily available? the expert skills are evident here and i can't wait to try many more of their items both savoury and sweet. i've heard that their croissants are incredible - and everything else that i could see during my visit looked incredible as well.