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| - With such a pretty Instagram ready setting, I would hope the flavour and service would match a nice atmosphere. It's quite unlike anything in Kensington. Instead of the grittier and more urban feel of most spots, Sweet Hart is spotless inside and out with lots of natural light and white washed walls. It even has it's own cutesy neon sign to snap away.
This is a vegan bakery and similar to the Bunner's right down the street or the Almond Butterfly on Harbord. Both those spots surprised me on how gluten free and vegan doesn't mean tasteless. Sweet Hart Kitchen has a beautiful display of their baked goods... lots of variety all looking pretty on varying pedestals. I was quite intrigued and hopeful... well, unfortunately it seems to be more on the aesthetics and less on flavour and service.
I came on Mother's day in hopes to pick up a few treats to bring back to a few family members to help end the day on a sweet note. The eye catching blueberry lemon macaroon bites and lemon bars were the more colourful ones so I asked for them to be boxed up.
As the staff starting to pick, I noticed on the platter of lemon bars that 2 of the 6 were smaller and much more darker in shade. As she lifted the dark yellow one out, I realized why. It was from an older batch... the edges were more dense and moistened so it was darker and the lemon curd had dried out making it look darker yellow. I was really disappointed they would serve old items without informing me. I do get that it's not good to waste food but other bakeries often offer old stale items at a discount or inform people before final purchase. Even there's a great app called Feedback that specializes in reducing food waste by offering slightly older items at discount. Not here.. the person replaced the old piece with a fresh lemon bar that matched the other 4 on the plate. This put a bad taste in mouth... do I feel good offering my family stale older baked goods? Not at all.
Anyhow, I paid $9 for 2 macaroon bites and 1 lemon bar. Expensive... definitely not cheap but GF rarely is. I was hoping that the taste at least matched Almond Butterfly or Bunners. Sadly they didn't. At the end of the meal, they were mostly uneaten except for a few forkful and then pushed aside.
Blueberry lemon macaroon bites - Visually quite pretty as it has an amethyst shade with all the coconut pieces sticking out. First forkful for a little kid who has a sweet tooth was a strong 'No'. I tried it myself and I realized the concern... the berry note was more similar to a sour underripe blueberry. Though the sweetness is very minimal, the coconut flavour only briefly in the middle before a very strong vegetal and mildly bitter note came out. It was also on the dry side and I noticed this more when the little one drank half her milk after the bite. It wasn't a macaroon or a treat... definitely missing the concept of the macaroon. 2/5
Lemon coconut curd bars - My fear was realized... it was stale. We touched the top of the curd and it bounced back without a single finger print. With a fork, you can see the gumminess of the dried out curd. Oh ... well. Flavour wise, it was better than the macaroon bite as it didn't have a bitterness. A more sour than tempered sweet lemon note was prominent. The base was mostly wet as it was old and didn't have the nice chewiness as some of the other GF bases I've had at Bunner or Almond butterfly. If it wasn't old, this might have been good. 1/5
Overall, I think if you want GF or vegan, head to Bunners just down the street or go to Almond Butterfly if you dont want to be in Kensington. There's also Little Pebbles and Blackbird who do amazing baked goods for those who are gluten intolerant or fine with non-vegan offerings. For the tastier and more pleasant experiences of a vegan or GF offering, I think other places in Toronto are worth the extra $$.
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