Doce Minho Bakery is everything you'd expect from an old-school Portuguese bakery; lots of chatter at the counter, clusters of old men silently sipping their coffees and walls of freshly baked breads and other little treats.

On a largely residential stretch of Dufferin St. south of Eglinton, Doce is impossible to miss. If it's not the bright green and red sign with the bumblebee in the middle, the huge glass-encased patio will surely grab your attention. Opened by Ant贸nio and Dina Ara煤jo, the bakery is a hotspot for area residents, as well as the Portuguese community looking to get a taste of home. And that's one thing Doce certainly delivers.

One of the first things I noticed once stepping in the bakery was the volume of unfamiliar products lining two huge walls. "Everything is from Portugal," the girl behind the counter said. "Shipped directly here." Those must've been some heavy boxes, because Doce has everything you can imagine: oils, canned beans, crackers, candies, baby cereal--even Portugal's version of People magazine, called Maria .

And it doesn't stop with packaged products. Doce's famous cornbread ($2 or $3, depending on size) is baked from flour shipped to the bakery directly from Portugal. It's not for those craving a nice, fluffy loaf, however. I was initially a little surprised by the sheer weight of bread, but Doce's loaf is everything a good cornbread should be--crunchy and chewy with a mild flavour throughout. A sweeter favourite is Doce's Portuguese custard tart ($1.10), which is usually a big seller at the bakery.

As if breads, buns, books, beans, cereal, candy and everything else wasn't enough, Doce also has a deli counter serving meats and cheeses. Oh, and there's eggs and milk in the fridge by the front door, just in case you need to pick up a dozen. And like every grandmother's living room, there's a glass cupboard of figurines and kettles, shipped directly from Portugal.

Photos by Dennis Marciniak