When you are looking to feel a little pampered, be sure to head over to Nugateau on Queen West in Toronto for some delicious, fancy, french eclairs. Seriously…
When I won a @tastesbyjade Instagram contest for 6 Nugateau eclairs, you better believe my 8 month pregnant self was thrilled. Little did I know how incredible to the senses these pastry delights would be.
The Store
Petite yet effective, Nugateau is located on Queen St. West and offers a tantilizing window display and a delightfully bright and modern shop. It’s a “press your nose against the glass” type of shop and the endless unique choices make things rather challenging when it comes time to make your decision. Not really a place you go to seat and eat your treat, however there is some seating in case you decide you need to chow down right then and there.
The Flavours
There are many options to choose from and I believe they switch things up seasonally (I am sure they might keep some combinations around that are successful). Here are the ones I ended up choosing.
RASPBERRY ROSE LYCHEE
Yup those are edible silver flecs in there. Filled with a fluffy raspberry rose ganache and freshed raspberries. This was definitely a fruity affair. There was apparently Lychee in there as well, but not sure if I was able to distinguish it.
ISABELLE
If you enjoy white chocolate and pistachio, you will definitely love the Isabelle. Fresh raspberries are also a big flavour in this one.
SAKURA
This was one of my favourites as it offered a very unique flavour profile and was so damn delicious. The whip inside is apparently an opalys ganache (not exactly sure what that is) infused with sakura. Also plenty of white chocolate notes as well. Floral and sweet and pretty to boot!
MANGO PASSION
My husband had chosen this one and, to be honest, I was least excited about trying it. To my surprise, however, it turned out to be my absolute favourite of the bunch. Aside from the delicious whip inside (Valrhona Passion Chocolate…I am again not 100% sure what that is), there was small pieces of fresh mango which made it burst with tropical flavour – wow.
JARDIN ROUGE
This was a mixed berry eclair, while still good, I think my least favourite. It had a fruit leather-type piece on top which was interesting and different. Beautifully decorated.
RED ROCKET
Last, but certainly not least, was the red velvet eclair that was a top contender. I think the best part was the fact that the ridiculously cute picture of our TTC streetcar was on a piece of white chocolate (I thought it was fondant when looking at it in store). Absolutely rich and delicious! Also in full fairness to Nugateau, the eclair was in much better shape before it spent time in the hot sun being photographed :p
Stop In? or Walk On By?
I had a great experience at this little patisserie and an even better one when my husband and I got home and dove into the goodies. Definitely would recommend to family and friends and if you have any special occasions coming up I would check out their custom work (apparently doesn’t cost extra, but there are minimum orders involved).
For more information please be sure to check out their website: https://www.nugateau.com/
Happy Indulging!
