Nickel's Bakery

Bakery: Nickel's Bakery
Address: 1816 Lonsdale Ave, North Vancouver BC
Website: http://www.nickelsbakery.ca/
Style: Polish, Eastern European
Price: $$ 

Nickel's Bakery is a Polish bakery that, unlike its deli counterparts in major Canadian cities, isn't too ethnic, while at the same time offering a selection of classic Polish and Eastern European baked goods along with some Canadian favourites like cinnamon buns. And they have doughnuts. Oh yes, Nickel's has doughnuts; Polish-style jelly doughnuts and doughnut rings, to be exact. And unless there's a secret, undiscovered bakery somewhere out there, Nickel's has to be home of Western Canada's best pączki. Believe me, this is an honour worth having; many Polish bakeries and delis have doughnuts, but they're seldom good; there are very few exceptions and when there is an exception it is generally worth trying.

In addition to the aforementioned selection of Polish/Eastern European goodies like poppy seed buns, crumble cakes, and sweet cheese buns, they have several varieties of doughuts, including rings, doughnut holes (jam-free) and interesting fillings like blueberry and poppy seed, along with the classic plum. I have encountered poppy seed pączki twice before and in both instances, they knocked my socks off. This one may not have been platinum-medal calibre, but was still amazing: delicious filling, the perfect soft dough on the inside with the slightly crispy fried exterior, and a fresh glaze that is of the right consistency, neither hard and brittle (sign of a stale doughnut) nor too runny and wet (resulting in a soggy doughnut). A great place to stop for a doughnut in (Metro) Vancouver!

Rating: ****