Mabel's Bakery in the Junction
Mabel’s Bakery makes homestyle baked goods, ready-made meals, frozen foods and charcuterie.
Come here to get some of the freshest, best sourdough in Toronto hot out of the oven. Everything here is made without preservatives and local, organic ingredients as often as possible, paying homage to the grandma the place is named for.
Mabel's has a number of locations in Toronto and each one is designed to look like the perfect image of what a great quaint little bakery looks like in your mind’s eye.
There’s no seating here, but there are also no steps to climb and there are small ledges by the windows for quick snacking.
Breads produced here include their dense, tart white and whole wheat sourdough (also in a petite size), whole wheat spelt, pain de campagne, rye and pretzel or ciabatta buns.
You can just tell each loaf is lovingly baked by hand by the way they’re all beautifully and uniquely decorated.
Montreal-style bagels are 95 cents each or $9.75 for a dozen, a fair approximation of the chewy real deal.
The delivery van makes three circuits a day picking up products from the specialty kitchen located in each individual Mabel’s so items are always fresh everywhere.
Frozen Ontario lamb shepherd’s pie is $13.25 for a small and $25.50 for a large size, delightfully seasoned with rosemary not to mention gluten-free.
A range of pantry items include popular granola made and bagged on site, organic tomato sauce, sugar cookies, preserves, jellies, jams, chutneys and relishes.
They also make fresh organic white bean and black bean dips and chipotle hummus ($4.90) as well as caramelized onion and lemon dill goat dip ($6.95).
Baby-sized ($5.95) and large versions of some of the best pies in Toronto come in flavours like sour cherry ($18.50) and raspberry ($18).
They also make baby versions of their famed cheesecakes ($4.25) in assorted flavours.
Croissants here are considered some of the best in the city, especially delectable thanks to 84% milk fat European-style butter, also used for their danishes and available for sale.
Cupcakes are $2.25 and come in mix-and-match options of vanilla or chocolate cake topped with chocolate, vanilla or raspberry icing.
They also do savoury fare like sausage rolls, meat and veggie empanadas ($5.25), ready-made salads, sandwiches, soup, bagels and quiches.
Coffee ranges from $1.80 for a small drip up to $5.05 for a mocha latte.
Owners Lorraine Hawley and Bob Warburton started up the small chain back in 2008 in Roncesvalles, and now have multiple locations across town where you can get some of the best baked goods around.
Jesse Milns