Courense Bakery

It’s ok. But the blond waitress is so nasty, she is very rude, we’re a frequent costumers. I asked for a coffee and she negated to make it. The owner should be more careful about who is hiring. Just for that kind of negative people, the place lost a good costumer.

This bakery is really awesome. I can´t say much for the dine in option, but the bread and the baked goods are all amazing. We´ve tried several different breads and pies and also had a delicious lemon cake at Easter.
They do lots of seasonal baking at Christmas and Easter and other holidays, so it´s a great place to grab a dessert or buns for a holiday meal.

Nice place to get your pastries, tarts, cakes and coffee fix. Lovely atmosphere. The rum balls is a must have.

Just moved into the neighbourhood and I can’t stop going to this place! The staff is great, the natas and cod fish cakes are delicious. They also have a good selection of fresh bread to take home.
I love that they let you sit down and enjoy your snacks before making you pay. It creates a very trusting and homey vibe.

Had a great first impression walking in. Holiday décor very finely detailed, tons of yummy looking pastries, and filled with patrons in and out for morning rush.
Cashier doesn’t seem very bright, but the coffee is strong enough to awaken the senses.
This place has a very Homestyle feeling and it’s nice to visit when you are coming bit of the cold. Free WiFi is proudly displayed above the counter, so as to allow you to feel a sense of welcome.

I really wanted to love this place, and have given it more than enough chances but it boils down to this: The food is inconsistent in quality, some days it’s amazing, other days it seems like it was made the day before yesterday.
One thing that is consistent is the bad service, someone needs to train the counter staff, the basics are pretty easy: smile, be polite, and talk up what’s on your menu. On my most recent visit, I asked what was available for breakfast and the guy behind the counter just looked at me, turned his head to another server and said ‘you tell him’ the other server said ‘all we got this morning is soup, and bacon and eggs’ it was Saturday, seriously?

Big fat MEH.
The cheesecake was attractive, but the texture was kinda spongey and dry and weird. The shrimp cake is a breaded pocket with pureed shrimps in it. That sounds weird because it is weird. Some people like this kinda stuff though.
This concludes my review.

If you are in a rush, don’t come. But if you want to enjoy good coffee, great pastry and nice service, this is the place for you. Great opening hours and nice environment.

Cute little place with lots of seating. I came with a friend and we ordered snacks. I love baked goods, sweet and savoury, so I was excited to sink my teeth into some goodness. Unfortunately, my excitement was in vain, for my expectations were met with utter mediocrity. The hot chocolate was pretty good, but the ham and cheese tart was so rubbery and hard that it was essentially inedible. I had one bite and left the rest. Even the meringue was not good. THE MERINGUE! Meringue is like, pure sugar! How do you mess that up? It was rough and crumbly. Not good. On the bright side, I got all of that for $ 5, and service was friendly.

Key point: 24 HOURS! Can’t go wrong with a fully stocked Portuguese bakery at all hours of the night.
$ 1.50 Fish cakes are the perfect snack at 3am. Or as many Portuguese tarts as you can afford.

Great sit down café /​bakery in the area. Good variety of dessert and extremely friendly service.

one of the few cafes that was open on thanksgiving so koodos to that!
the pastry variety is GIGANTIC! too bad they don’t have anything vegan on the sweet menu=(
they had veg soup though=)
teas/​coffees/​hot chocolate is all there too.
super sweet staff but sometimes not very clear on english=)
very cozy café

Best portuguese custard tarts outside of the St Lawrence Market.

I was just there this past week-​end and I wanted to share my recent experience.
I will definitely be going back soon … not only is the famous portuguese egg custard tart delicious … it was almost exactly like the ones I had in Portugal last fall! And what made the experience better is the flavourfull Americana coffee. The atmosphere is low-​key and relaxed… and the service is friendly and quick.

I used to live up the street from Courense in my third year of University (aka, the year when you realize you’re not quite half done yet) and my evening were peppered with little late night/​early morning visits for delicious custard egg tarts or sugary lemon doughnuts. Always warm and comfortable inside, it felt like a little piece of home from away and the staff were always pleasant.
Fast-​forward about 7 years later and Courense has still got it. On a recent trip to my old stomping grounds, 2 coffees and 2 pastries still cost less than Starbucks and with table service and little plates it felt very posh and cozy. They trust you to come to the cash register to pay afterwards, no hounding, while you get to sit and nosh. They also kindly cut both pastries in two to share! Aww. The two of us split a lemon-​filled doughnut (obviously my favourite) and a rice-​bread-​type pastry which was dense but moist. My favourite part about these pastries is that they don’t hammer you over the head with flavours, it’s just good baking components, butter, sugar, flour, tasty!
The café-​feel is probably one of the best parts of this experience as well. Somebody compared Courense with Granowskas, which I think is an interesting thought (especially now that Granowska’s is kaput) the service at Courense is egalitarian, they don’t skip 2 people down in line just because you don’t speak Portugese (somethng I’ve experienced at Granowska’s before) they’re always pleasant and willing to explain what the pastries are, NICELY.
That is how you draw in customers and I hope it works for Courense for years to come.

I’m torn. Courense has excellent white bread, though some — like my girlfriend, Heather — may find the crust too tough for their liking. I’m a fan, however, and do pop in to buy a loaf periodically.
Their pastries are solid, especially those little custard tarts (as Howard H notes); I made a kind of pseudo-​french toast out of one of their doughnuts I’d regrettably allowed to go stale. (Man, it turned into some kinda wonderful!)
Service is efficient and friendly, particularly the older lady who’s English is very poor («no speak-​a English», she cheerfully informs me) — she seems so happy to be there and to be serving customers. It’s nice to see.
I do have a singular quibble, though, but it’s a pretty big one. Their sandwiches are not very good, and rather overpriced. I had the prosciutto, and it was just that, with a slice of cheese, pressed between a sliced white bun. It was a bit over $ 6 as I recall. For the same price I can have sandwich heaven at many a café. This one gave me tough, stringy, poorly sliced prosciutto and nothing else. I was very disappointed.
Still, service is good, bread’s tasty if you want empty-​carb-​death, and the atmosphere is nice (as others have mentioned, great façade, kind of an old school café vibe inside).
Just don’t bother with the sandwiches.

This place is great for fresh Portuguese breads — their pada are among the best around. The atmosphere is a hybrid bakery /​café and the atmosphere is reasonably inviting. Other than the obligatory nata (egg custard tartlets) which are excellent, the rest of their pastries are a bit pedestrian. The deep fried snacks are tasty but a decided health no-​no for anyone over 30 who wants to see 40. Coffee is reasonable — which in the neighborhood is tough to find. WiFi is theoretically available but highly erratic and nobody who works there has any clue as to what to do about that.

Great place for Portuguese snacks. I love their cod croquettes, meat and ham and cheese rissoles, pasteis de nata (egg tarts) and their cakes and pastries overall. Everytime we are between Ossington and Dufferin we find a way to get there. Their service is pretty good and I think it’s very cheap.

I just love the stained wood façade of the building. It has a warm, friendly and classy appearance. I feel that the outside of a shop or café is almost as important as what’s inside. It’s like when you’re looking in a bookstore and have no idea what you want. You’re attracted by the books with glitzy covers. Publishers know it. It’s no coincidence that book cover designs have gotten progressively cooler in recent decades in an effort to attract the ‘generation with no attention span.” The most important thing is, of course, the story inside, but you might not get there without a snazzy cover. Same goes for restaurants.
Once inside, Courense Bakery does not disappoint, like a wonderful story it grips you from start to finish! Anyone know any good Portuguese stories? I don’t.
Also, as a value-​oriented customer, I am naturally attracted by reasonable prices. Sure you can always pay a bundle and get quality. I will agree that In general, you do get what you pay for. But Toronto just has so many restaurants, cafes, and coffee shops, it results in nearly perfect competition. Which means better quality for lower prices, if you’re attentive enough to seek out the hidden gems.
Courense Bakery has a vast array of delicious cakes and pastries. Beautiful glass cases are illuminated so as to make everything look magical. I have only been twice, but I intend to go more often.
On the subject of value, I went into Granowska’s on Roncesvalles on Saturday. For two pieces of cake, and two coffees it came to $ 20. It was good, but I felt that was really pricey.
Courense Bakery. Two coffees. One piece of cake. $ 5.75
That’s about the same price as a couple pieces of styrofoam and two double-​doubles from Timmy’s. Don’t make me hurl! Give me Courense.
And it was just as good as the über-​expensive Granowskas. Sort of a different feel and style from Polish bakeries, but just another type of European baking. I must admit I’m no aficionado on Portuguese cakes or any other kind of cake for that matter. I know what I like when I see it. Here I had like a coconut tart.
Not sure if they had free wi-​fi, but I saw one guy with a laptop, which I suppose I supposed has become a sort of universal invariable. If you were to wander into the only coffee shop in Antarctica, wading through a crowd of Emperor Penguins outside, there would still be one lonely looking dude huddled at a table near the window with his Mac-​book and a big mug of coffee.

A very nice small bakery. The outside is so nice, in fact, it really doesn’t seem to match up with the rest of the block, which is a little grim in contrast to the wood trim and inviting small-​paneled windows.
Inside you’ll find a generous seating area, and no matter when you go there are certain to be people in there chatting, or reading a paper over coffee. The place seems to be very family friendly.
The offerings involve any sort of coffee drink you’re after, as well as lovely pastries and more traditional Portugese desserts and breads. On the menu are also some sandwiches and other lunch-​type items, but I haven’t had any. Generally I will go to Courense to change it up from my old standby Nova Era (just a block away). The staff are very friendly and the atmosphere is pretty calm and inviting.