I’ve heard about The Crusty Bun on St. Mary’s road several times over the last few years. The reviews from friends have always been positive. Despite it’s being located just down the Street from St. Mary Magdalene Anglican Church, I’ve never been in. That’s mainly because my visits to SMM generally occur after The Crusty Bun closes for the day.
A couple of weeks ago, I decided I would make the effort to get down to The Crusty Bun when they were actually open. Unfortunately, it was Saturday, and when I walked in, the line was double digits deep. That looked longer than I wanted to wait, plus the tables were all full, so I ended up at the Copper Chimney instead. I made a note to come back a little before the lunch rush the next time. Later in the week I was heading down to SMM for a clergy gathering and went a little early so I could pay a visit to the bakery.
Coffee was served in mugs celebrating the 5th anniversary, which was in 2014
Being there a little bit before noon, there were a few tables available and the line-up at the counter was a little shorter. Given how quickly they were processing the orders at the counter my Saturday wait might not have been as long as it appeared.
I was looking for something fairly light, and a little sweet. I ordered a salted pretzel and a rhubarb croissant. The pretzel had a good crunchy crust, along with being soft and chewy on the inside. The croissant was also quite nice, but I thought it a little scant on the rhubarb filling. The coffee, while not being remarkable, was pleasant and strong.
The Crusty Bun Pretzel is a good mix of crunchy and chewy.
The pastry was good, but it could use more filling.
Crusty Bun Take Home
While waiting at the counter I noticed they had a good selection of packaged goods to take home including jam. I picked up a bag of Flat Bread, A bag of Pigs Ears, and a jar of Pineapple Kiwi Jam. I took the Pig’s Ears along to the St. Philip’s bus tour of the Christmas Lights, They went very quickly, but I was able to get one, which I quite liked.
Pig Ear
Both the Jam and the Flat Bread were put to use in my post on Food Gift ideas. I enjoyed the mild pineapple flavour in the jam, along with the thick consistency given to it by the Kiwi. The Flat Bread was definitely my favourite item from The Crusty Bun. I used it to taste test four different spreads. Two were savoury, two were sweet. The Flat Bread complemented all four very well.
The Flat Bread from The Crusty Bun went well with all these spreads.
Pineapple-Kiwi Jam
I’m definitely going to make sure that I get more chances to get into The Crusty Bun to try more of their delightful offerings.
