With such great driving weather, I decided to take a LONG trip down from Richmond Hill to pay Mon K a special visit this morning!.
Like so many chowhounders before me, my selection of Croissants, for comparison with the Rahier, Thuet and Jules...etc, were also the Almond and Pain au Chocolate. For the Almond version, i would like to echo the same observation and sentiment by 'Apple'. It was indeed buttery, flaky and airy with generous not-overly sweet filling ( see photo ). Unfortunately, both ends of the pastry were burnt causing some bitter after taste. This 'overcook' also caused these end parts to be too chewy. A slight miss!
As for the Pain au Chocolate, I too agree totally with cheesymama's friends comparison with Rahier's. Not only the pastry part was good, the chocolate used for the filling was really exceptional! Complex and flavorful, a clear winner!!
The same accolade however cannot be said about Mon K's tarts and cakes!! :(
Established outfits like Jules or Rahier are definitely better in this area! For one, the shells, be it short bread crust or puff pastry lacked the taste and aroma of butter, big time!! Rahier is definitely head and shoulder above when it comes to pastry shells.
Attracted by its 'cute' look, I too bought the fruit and custard eclair, which was different and good.
However, the orange and Dark chocolate truffle tart was way too sweet, almost at par with the likewise, overly sweet pastries, of 'La Cigogne'.
For a little bit more butter in the puff pastry, the Apple tart would have been perfect! In its current form, the pastry was light and flaky, the apple nicely seasoned and crisp but again, the pastry is just not aromatic enough due to the lack of butter used.
Berry custard tart again was inferior to Rahier's and Jule's. The tart shell was crumbly, lack of taste and definitely not up to snuff!
As a neighborhood French pastry shop, Mon K would definitely be a nice welcoming addition. However, as a special destination for tarts and cakes, I will not make a special trip from up north to get them since better products can be had closer in places around the Bayview, Mt. Pleasant and Eglington area.
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