[Dessert] Petit Nuage

Restaurant: Petit Nuage 
Location: 707 Dundas Street West, Toronto, ON M5T 2W6
Price Range: $

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After having lunch at Kanto (review here), Karen (Stenoodie) and I headed to Petite Nuage for dessert! Petit Nuage (means little cloud in French) is one of my favourite pastry shop in Toronto, and I have been here multiple times since my discovery of the shop back in June. Despite the crazy weather and the 30 minutes of TTC to Petit Nuage, nothing can stop me to get the cream puff and the BEST (yes you read it right!) green tea latte in Toronto :).

Petit Nuage is located on Dundas Street West, and is part of Market 707 – the newest strip of street for local cheap eats in Toronto. From the outside the shop doesn’t look like much, but when you go in you’re welcomed by calm music and bright atmosphere. Since the space is so tiny, Steph, the owner of Petit Nuage organized and decorated the shop in such a cute way that you forget this shop is part of a shipping container!

The macaron and pastry boxes are designed by Steph’s friends. She also sells some cat magnets (of course I got a pack), local jams and imported Japanese candies as well.

*Side story: Initially the reason why I wanted to visit Petit Nuage is because of the macaron boxes that feature cats lol. Being a crazy cat lady and a collector of macaron’s boxes, I knew it was fate and I must add that box to my collection. Funny enough, I didn’t get one yet despite my multiple visits to the shop. lol.

The selection of cakes and pastry varies throughout the days, whereas the flavors of macarons are depended on the seasons. For instance Steph currently no longer sells the black sesame matcha cake, but she will occasionally have other limited items, such as roll cakes.

Psh insider secret.. To check what type of pastry Steph will have for the day, follow her Instagram @petitnuagetoronto :). If you see something that you like, comment on the photo to reserve that item and of course, make sure to pick it up on the same day before the store closed!

I got the cream puff and there are other flavors as well, such as green tea and vanilla. Steph advised that the cream puff is best to be eaten after the lid is taken off, unless you want to save it for later then store in the fridge with lid on! You can use fork but I found that it is quite difficult to use a fork with this, so hands it is! Before you devour the cream puff, make sure to bite from the hole where the cream was piped in, or else you will be faced with an explosion mess – you have been warned.

The cream puff was really really really really tasty. I liked Steph’s cream puff more than Papa’s beard cream puffs as I found the latter to be incredibly messy to eat. The cream puff’s shell here is not too flakey and had a slight crunch, which was quite interesting. The cream itself was smooth, not too sweet and had a hint of sour taste from the key lime :).

Before you ask… No I did not order and eat all of this in one day.

The cake itself is a bit harder than I thought, and although the flavors might seems a bit strange, the bitter green tea and nutty black sesame was a perfect combination! However I would have prefered to have more of the matcha flavor, as I found the black sesame was too rich and the sweetness from the honey was a bit overwhelming as well.

At first I disliked the initial taste, but then I decided to keep the candy in my mouth longer, it starts to get sweet inside. It’s like eating a sour and salty plum then it slowly get better and sweeter. Though I couldn’t detect the matcha flavor, I don’t mind it as much as the candy is actually quite addicting!

Petit Nuage was recently crowned as having the best green tea latte in Toronto, so of course I have to get it on all my visits ;). Steph told me the matcha powder that she used is imported from Japan, and it is not being sell anywhere in Canada but Steph has the connection :p. Interestingly she said all high grade matcha powder should be stored in the fridge to preserve the powder, if someone tell you otherwise, that means the matcha powder is not a good quality one! I didn’t know at all and have been storing mine in a cabinet :(..

Look at that nice deep green color! The iced matcha latte at Petit Nuage was really refreshing and not too sweet (you can ask her to add more syrup if you like). It had a deep, vegetal taste, a strong aroma and a lingering sweetness that leaves your mouth watering.

Petit Nuage sells a box of 6 macarons for $12, whereas a box a dozen is $25. In general I found that the macarons at Petit Nuage can be more sweet compared to other macarons I have had in the city. Their macarons are perfectly made in terms of texture, and while some flavors were a hit and miss, but just because I didn’t enjoy it too much doesn’t mean it was poorly made ;).

Some of these macarons aren’t in the correct order …so… yea :D.

• Strawberry Basil: This is a seasonal (summer) flavor and it was really good! There was strawberry jelly in the middle with a sweet basil ganache.
• Vanilla Rose (not pictured): the rose flavor is a bit too strong and I felt it was clashing with the sweet vanilla, which made this macaron too sweet for my taste.
• Yuzu Honey: I wished the yuzu flavor was a bit stronger since it didn’t have a lot of that tangy, tart note but overall it’s really good! A must try!
• Hong Kong milk tea: tasted just like a cup of good old HK milk tea. A favourite!
• Jasmine Apricot: understated jasmine and apricot flavor. Not too sweet, It’s like drinking a nice cup of jasmine tea with apricot syrup.
• Uji Matcha: My favorite! The moment you bite into it, you get a gentle mouth feel of green tea (matcha) flavour along with the slight bitter ganache.
• Roasted tea and Persimmon: strong roasted tea flavor with (I believe) a subtle persimmon jam in the middle.
• Milky Earl Grey: I’m not sure what is the filling here, but there was only a slight hint of earl grey and I felt the filling overpowered the tea flavor.
• Lemon Lavender: I usually don’t like lavender as too much of it can taste like a hand soap, but this macaron had a strong lemon flavor with a faint taste of lavender. One of my favourite!
• Coconut Pineapple: Not too sweet with a strong taste of coconut until you get that slight tartness from the pineapple jam and coconut bits.

All in all, I love Petit Nuage and Steph. She is extremely knowledgeable and when you speak to her, you can tell she’s definitely enjoy what she’s doing. All the pastries in the shop are handmade by her with a lot of love and hardwork. Next time you visit Market 707, grab a quick dinner and leave some space for the delicious pastries at Petit Nuage, I can ensure you won’t be disappointed :).