Ottawa Foodies

Really like their florentines... Just the right balance of well-caramelized sugar and good dark chocolate. Consistently crispy.

ossBASHA, what you are saying is impossible. I know several bakers that work at TFB, and you will never get a croissant that is not fresh. Like the owner says (whom I have the privilege to know), some are kept to make the almond croissant and the pain au chocolat.

Contrary to what you say, TFB is THE place to get a real croissant in the Byward Market. There are plenty of places to go if you want a mediocre one, though.

Dear M. Mantel,
Welcome to Ottawa Foodies! I think the ossBASHA may have meant "pastries" when he said "pates", but he/she would have to clear that up.

I wouldn't be too concerned with one review. The fact that he worries about us calling him biased tells me that maybe he works for the competition! or maybe I am just making up foodie drama.

I think TFB croissants are to DIE for. Every time I have had them, they have been nothing short of perfect! Buttery, flaky deliciousness.

Keep up the great work!

Dear ossBASHA,
I am the owner of the French baker and am a little upset by your comment.
Obviously you were not in my bakery : we don't sale any pâté!
Our croissants like all our Viennese pastries and scone are bake daily in our fournil on Murray St.
At the end of each day, we give away to some charities all our unsold products (Viennese pastries and breads). We just keep croissants and chocolatines for making almond croissants or chocolatines (the real traditional way).

I am absolutely in love with their croissants. Better than the grocery store bought ones for sure. I love the crisp exterior and soft and buttery interior. Perfect fluffy texture that just melts in your mouth. Love it.
Next time I'll try their almond croissant and baguettes!
P.s. Their Illy coffee is also delicious!

The chocolatines are to die for. My friend shared hers with me. I was expecting a Bridgehead chocolatine since I thought that TFB supplies Bridgehead, but somehow this chocolatine was 100% better than any I've had at Bridgehead. The outside was perfectly flaky and crisp, the inside nice and soft and buttery - and somehow the chocolate was melted inside? Maybe this only happened because it was so hot today (Mousseline?) but the chocolate inside the ones at Bridgehead is always hard. I much preferred the melted-chocolate version!

I lived in France for several years and I can confirm that these croissants are the real thing. I searched for months here for something that approximated a true French croissant and The French Baker is it. Their almond-filled croissants are very similar to the "Alsacienne" that you find in Alsace--filled with a not-too-sweet almond paste and sprinkled with almond slices. The petits pains au chocolat (I think they call them chocolatines here)are also very good. It's all about the butter....and also about not being overly sweet.

I loved the croissant here. It was airy, light and buttery. A perfect croissant and wasn't even greasy at all. Next time I'm in the city, I will definitely get croissants here.

Very, very good. I think these and the Farm Boy croissants are the nicest to be found in Ottawa. I had high hopes that TFB croissants would rival those I've had in Montreal but alas...for a truly mind-blowing croissant experience I still feel as though I need to drive a couple hundred clicks.

I have had a couple of these excellent croissents and have recommended them to others. The one pleasant thing is that they did not use too much butter; enough to be delightfully rich but not enough to become greasy.

Two thumbs up.

Their multigrain bread is also delicious. Light and flavourful with a fantastic crust. I bought a couple loaves after being served it in the bread basket at Benny's Bistro.

Somehow at 2pm on a beautiful Saturday afternoon there were macarons left. Pistachio, strawberry and chocolate.

I've never had a macaron before so I have nothing to compare them to, but OMG - these were like little cookie/candy/cake (I can't decide what they are) sandwiches of heaven. I thought they were perfect and will be back for more.

I thought my favourite would be the chocolate, and it was very, very good - but actually I preferred the delicate nut flavour of the pistachio variety; and amazing strawberry-ness of the strawberry (they must use real strawberries in these).

I recently tried a macaron from The French Baker, and sadly, I wasn't impressed. The found the outer crust not delicate enough, and the meringue on the inside not chewy enough. There wasn't a fine balance between the two, and the one I had frankly did not have a lot of taste. I also bought one for a friend who had never tried macarons before (I rave about macarons to him all the time), and actually ended up eating it myself because I didn't want his first experience to be a mediocre one.

I went in Monday after lunch for a little pick me up alongside the baguette for dinner.
I picked up a hazelnut macrons, not entirely sure what I was getting into, also not entirely sure when "hazelnut" came out of my mouth why I hadn't said "Chocolate".

Turns out, I was in the mood for hazelnut, I just didn't know it at the time. As cinderella said, the outside is crisp, but not crunchy--more flaky, and the filling is sweet and creamy, with lots of moist, nutty flavour :) They were definitely delicious, and I will be back for more!

i had the hazelnut; i'm sorry to say that i wasn't that impressed. too chewy, and the visual texture was rather lumpy. lots of sweet creme filling.

since this was on a thursday evening, i will go back on sunday morning for a retry. they only had four flavours when i went (lemon, orange, hazelnut, and a pink one which i don't remember); i was told the bakers are there on sunday mornings so i'll pounce them then...

I went out and bought some two weeks ago after seeing this post. Wow, I'm no macaron expert, but these were exquisite! The exterior is crispy, and the filling is just sweet enough, with lots of flavor! I had one hazelnut, one lemon, one raspberry and one pistachio.

Went back this morning, and they also had chocolate and orange. Picked up one of each. They are absolutely delicious!

Well they were amazing! I ended up sharing them at a dinner party. I tried one of each and vote them all super great!

No coconut Tiana, just egg whites, ground almonds, sugar, and flavourings and colour for the lemon and raspberry ones. The noisette have ground hazelnut and ground almond.

So that was you this morning. I had to laugh because you called just after I ate my morning snack...a raspberry macaron to go with my coffee. The one we were short was the one I ate. Sorry, my bad!

I called this morning to see if they had any in and they did! I have never tried them here before but was really looking forward to it. Previously, I'd only had those found on Preston.

They had chocolate, pistachio, raspberry and lemon. I ordered 3 of each but they only had 2 raspberry ones left. I think I'll live through it.

So far, I've only eaten a chocolate one. It was amazing. The outside was perfectly crispy but gave way nicely when I bit into it. The ganache was nice and solid compared to how fluid the Preston ones are. I'm fairly certain there was coconut in it as well.

It was a soft chewy pleasure beneath the thin crispy exterior. 1 down... 10 more to go...