Neighbourhood Review: The Junction

The Junction

The Junction

On a whim, Ryan and I decided to spend last Saturday in the Junction.  When our original plans fell through, we decided to explore a new area of Toronto that neither of us had been to before.  Since food drives most things for us, we decided to try this new highly rated taco joint in the Junction.  The restaurant is called Playa Cabana Cantina and you can read more about our food experience there soon.  So purely because we wanted to try these tacos, we decided to go to the Junction to spend the afternoon.  To my surprise, I discovered that the Junction is a wonderful area for people with Celiac Disease or gluten intolerances.  Almost every little shop that I went into had something gluten free to eat!

 

Crema Coffee

  • You can always count on Crema Coffee to have Queen B Pastry’s deliciously moist Orange Olive Oil Cake – finally I can eat something at a coffee shop while Ryan drinks his Americano (he always steals a bite too).  They also have Queen B Pastry’s Cocolime and Crownie cookies available.
Queen B Pastry's delightful Orange Olive Oil Cake

Queen B Pastry’s delightful Orange Olive Oil Cake

 

Bunner’s Vegan & Gluten-Free Bakeshop

  • This is a 100% gluten free bakeshop – hurray for no risk of cross-contamination!  I was excited to finally be able to visit Bunner’s Bakeshop (ok maybe I had an alternative motive when I chose the Junction as our destination).  I first discovered Bunner’s at a Vegetarian Festival in Toronto last summer; I instantly fell in love with their Supersonic Gypsy Cookies (love at first bite)!  They are delicious and somehow they always make me feel like I should eat them for breakfast because they’re ‘healthy’ with all those good ingredients in it.  They are crammed full of seeds, cranberries and of course dark chocolate J  YUM!  The Double Chocolate Brownie is also good.  It’s just too bad that the cinnamon buns have soya in them because they also look delicious.
Bunner's Bakeshop

Bunner’s Bakeshop

The vegan and gluten free treats inside Bunner's

The vegan and gluten free treats inside Bunner’s

 

Delight Handmade Organic Fair Trade Chocolate

  • I spotted a handmade chocolate store and of course I had to go in to sneak a peek.  I really don’t know why I do this to myself though because I figured all the chocolate would have soy lecithin in it, so why waste my time and get myself wanting chocolate I can’t eat.  Well wouldn’t you know — all of Delight’s chocolates are handmade using Camino chocolate which is gluten free & soy free!  Hurray!  At first I didn’t believe the girl who was working there when she told me they were soy free chocolates.  Then the owner came out and showed me the box of chocolate they use and its ingredient list.  What a pleasant surprise!  The chocolate was really, really good!  I got a milk chocolate bunny and a white chocolate bar (it was the first time having white chocolate since finding out my soy allergy – it was delicious!)  I must go back there to get more chocolate soon.  I also couldn’t resist buying Dad a milk chocolate train lollipop since it was only fitting since we were in the Junction!

 

The Sweet Potato

  • A small grocery store that sold several gluten free products.  It wasn’t near as big or as stocked full of good gluten free products as Planet Organic or the Big Carrot, but there were still a few items.  I was really excited to find BIX Pizzelles there!  Now I just need to make some homemade ice cream to eat with them.