Food Review: Au Pain D'oré (Montreal)

This is one of my favorite things about the french: boulangeries.  Their multitude of buttery pastries are so inviting and so sweet. My all-time favorite (classic) are croissants. 

 Just north of Rue Ste. Catherine on Rue Peel is this bakery called Au Pain Doré.   

My trip into Ste. Catherine led me to this very inviting shop. The retail stores hadn't opened yet and so I opted to indulge my stomach with a sweet breakfast.  I walked in and was immediately overcome by the bakeries sweet aroma.  One of the staff gave me a smile and asked what I would like. I looked around and the choices were endless. Like always, I looked towards the palmiers and croissants. However seeing my indecisive visage, one of the staff starting suggesting some options.  My eyes fell upon these adorable tartlettes made of maple. Having never seen or heard of these tartlette érable, I decided to change it up and try something more Quebécois.

Seeing that I ordered something that could possibly be very sweet, I added a cappuccino to help balance the sweetness.  I paid at the cashier and they packed my tartlette in a paper bag and then told me to go upstairs to get my cappuccino.  Upstairs was the café area.

My first bite in the tartlette érable was a very pleasant surprise. The maple was not overwhelmingly sweet but a perfect amount of sweet and buttery texture. I loved everything from the crust to the filling. The cappuccino was another thing. It was extremely bitter. The roast tasted as though it was burnt and after forcing myself to drink a few sips, I had to stop. I tried pairing it with my tartlette to use that sweetness with the capuccino but to no avail. =0( All in all, it was probably the worst capuccino I've had.

Rating it 2.2/5 stars 

This is a great place for casual and/or business meetings and/or coffee dates.