I love Purdy's Chocolate, but admittedly only discovered them when they opened their first store in…read moreOttawa back in 2014 despite being a pretty famous Canadian chocolate brand. They are based in Vancouver and all their chocolates are manufactured there. They use sustainable cocoa. They are famous for their Hedgehogs which are cute hedgehog-shaped chocolates with creamy hazelnut paste inside. Their chocolates are smooth and creamy and definitely tastier than the stuff you get at grocery stores and drugstores like Ganong and Russell Stover brands. This location is in the Bayshore Shopping Centre. All Purdy's locations in Ottawa are inside malls. They don't have any standalone locations. Admittedly, all the locations in Ottawa look the same. They are brightly lit with pre-boxed and prepackaged items along the walls and a glass display towards the centre showcasing all their chocolates that you can individually select. They also sell hard ice cream! Service is good. The chocolates are pricey, but great for a sometimes treat ;) (50)

Why oh why was this Purdy's location not in Yelp until now?? They've been in the Bayshore mall for…read more3 years or so! Well, it's time to change that now! From their website: "Canada's Chocolatier since 1907" - who knew? So let's backup a bit here: I got to sample Purdy's chocolates last year around this time, when a box went around the office choc full of a variety of goodies. How pretty! But one of the samples was salted caramel, which is my current favourite. You know what? That's one of the things I miss about working in an office, now that because of COVID we are working at home (if we are lucky enough to be able to do so!) - all the treats that make their way around. You know - the ones we complain about because they're so good and we're trying to watch our calories.... Yeah, right. Then the box of Purdy's shows up in your cubicle and you lose count! I've been dreaming about Purdy's salted caramels for nearly a year! So we needed to make a quick stop at the Bayshore Mall for other reasons besides chocolate :-) but this was the entrance we chose to enter into the building from... and suddenly, I was making a purchase of comfort food! We got a small bag of 10-12 truffles, including a dark and a milk chocolate salted caramel, and then found 3 or 4 more, and a $5.00 "Dear Santa" chocolate bar in support of sick kids, and the total cost was $24.00. Not cheap, but like I said, it's comfort food. And let's be serious: this would make great gifts for anyone! All this to say that the salted caramel was well worth it! I wonder how hard it would be to buy only 1 piece of chocolate next time I'm at Bayshore? I'll have to give this a try next time I go past. Definitely on my to do list. Speaking of which, I hope I'm not on the wrong list!!

I was looking for special treat to send to someone alone this year at Christmas. I ordered online…read moreNov 20 to ensure I had lots of lead time. I completed the order form asking for Delivery Dec 18. When I confirmed with my family they didn't receive it I called. I had all my info from the original order, I was abruptly told they don't deliver outside of Ottawa to a bedroom community. I said that would have been helpful information the month prior when they took my money. The person was rude and saying there aren't delivering at all in Dec. again then don't take orders. They did process the refund upon request but I doubt I would have unless I followed up. I would never use again! On the bright side the AnnaStubbe location had exceptional customer service and more then willing to help!

I came here based on the reviews for hot chocolate! It was a freezing, windy winter day, and hot…read morechocolate was the perfect option. The server greeted me right away and asked if I wanted regular hot chocolate or spicy. I chose spicy (I love spicy anything)! It took maybe 10 minutes to make, which is a while, but you can browse the store in the meantime; the variety of chocolates was stunning! They also have 3 types of chocolate cakes you can purchase as slices. I chose to take it to go, but if you have the hot chocolate there, they are served in tall pretty glasses. The hot chocolate was piping hot, and quite rich; the spices really crept up on you, and made drinking it an interesting experience!

I like Purdy's, because their chocolate is good... and they're Canadian…read more My favourite chocolate of theirs is salted caramel (drooling as I write this!) For this particular visit, I discovered that Purdy's also makes white chocolate salted caramel, and in particular, a variety of broken pieces priced to sell, so I tried this. An excellent excuse to shop Canadian! Oh my! Salted caramel in white chocolate is also sinfully good! I will definitely be back! Hopefully not every week, though... my teeth would not forgive me for caving in so often!!

So Purdys is a Canadian chocolate company that started in Vancouver, BC. Although they've been…read morearound since 1907 they only opened their first store in Ottawa in 2014 (at the Rideau Centre). Although they've expanded across Canada, they still make all their chocolates in Vancouver. They use 100% sustainable cocoa. This location is in Carlingwood Mall and is similar to other locations inside malls in layout and size. They have a chocolate fountain and the sell ice cream as well. Before the Covid-19 Pandemic (which we are still in at the time of the writing of the review) this location would hold chocolate making classes. I never took them, but they sound like fun. Purdys is famous for their hazelnut cream chocolates that are shaped like hedgehogs. The chocolates are a bit pricey (a box of 18 goes for $22, and a box of 25 goes for $32) but they taste delicious. They have some cool flavours like "Goat Cheese & Chardonnay," Chai Tea Caramel, and Chili Pepper. They also have more traditional flavours like strawberry cream and mint. I'm a fan :)

I bought the chocolate florentine from Mint and Honey Tea and Gift Emporium in Kanata. It was $4.25…read morefor a medium-sized, thin lace cookie. I've never had a florentine before and I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it really hit the spot for my sweet craving. According to the description, the florentine is made with the Stubbe family recipe of local honey, almonds, and orange peel, plus a thin layer of dark chocolate and plenty of sliced almonds on top with honey. It was delicious! Despite the honey, I didn't find it too sweet. I love nuts and dark chocolate, especially together. The cookie part was buttery and you could definitely taste the orange peel, but it wasn't overpowering. Nice crunch, but not crumbly. Would've been perfect with a hot cup of black tea. I wish I bought more. Would love to try other Anna Stubbe chocolates and treats. Their bonbons are beautiful!

We had the cotton candy topping with vanilla ice cream. It was a delicious sweet treat. Great…read moreservice, very nice family atmosphere. We enjoyed our time here.

I've been meaning to try Chocolat Favoris for awhile, and though I still have a ton of stuff I want…read moreto try on the menu (hello, ice cream!), I ordered a s'mores "Kooky Cake" for my husband's birthday. The menu says it's "three layers of soft genoise and chocolate mousse". I'm not a cake person and I'm not even going to pretend to know what genoise is.. but I also do not care because it was great lol. It was a small cake, not too dense, but definitely decadent. I'm glad it was as small as it was because it was definitely for the sweet tooths out there. I actually thought it didn't sound as sweet as some of the other flavours, like cotton candy, but I have a feeling they're all pretty sweet. There wasn't much of a description of the cake on the menu. The box said "milk chocolate", though I thought it tasted more like dark, especially with the dark chocolate drizzle on top and all of the brownie chunks. I wish they would've put the graham crackers in the middle or as a base as well, instead of just on top. I only had one piece, but my husband had the rest and tried to hold himself back from eating it all in one sitting, saying, "I could eat this all right now" haha! He may or may not have also eaten it for breakfast the next day. But hey, who am I to judge?

I love supporting small local businesses and I think artisan chocolatiers are cool, but I'm not…read moregonna lie, $11.99 for a chocolate bar seems steep to me. I've walked by this chocolate shop countless times, first when it was located in The Glebe on Bank St and then when it moved to Westboro on Richmond Rd. One day, I saw a sign that they were having a "warehouse sale" with 50% off so I figured this was my chance to try their chocolates, lol. So all their bars were $5.99 each (they call them "Postcard Chocolates" because the bars are packaged in a way that you can mail them like a postcard. I would personally be afraid that people would steal them, and they would never reach their intended recipient, but that's just my disillusionment with humanity, which is another topic altogether and has no place in a review about delicious chocolate anyways). They had unusual flavours like "corn and cereal", wasabi, and Pinot Noir. I ended up getting a Buttered Rum and an Afternoon Tea for myself. A Chili for my brother, an Afternoon Tea for his wife and a Spiced Cranberry for each of my husband's sisters. The bars are either dark, milk or white chocolate. Their chocolate is ethically sourced. The dark chocolates are vegan. The Buttered Rum was a milk chocolate and it was sweet and smooth and had a definite buttery rum flavour to it. The Afternoon Tea was a dark chocolate and the tea flavour was way too subtle for me. I was hoping for a potent tea flavour, but it was so mild. The shop itself is beautiful and looks like what you'd expect an expensive artisan chocolate shop to look like, haha. Note the warehouse sale was not in their retail shop but rather in the basement, behind their shop. They have free parking (which is rare for businesses in Westboro) behind the shop at Winona and Picton. (13)

With the situation happening right now, my winter body has applied for an extension (granted) and…read moremy winter body thrives on chocolate. Yes, I am a basic bitch who loves cadbury mini eggs and smarties but sometimes I can be a fancy bitch and when I'm in that mood, I turn to Alicja. Alicja Confections is a cute little chocolate boutique whom I first discovered at the One-of-a-Kind Show in Markham. They caught my eye with their wall of beautiful chocolate packaging. And I am a sucker for beautiful packaging. As a matter of fact, I still have the boxes from the chocolates I bought last year. Their box designer deserves their salary. And hopefully it's a good salary, because these bars aren't cheap. At almost $10 a bar, they are packed with homemade, high-quality chocolate filled with the most unique flavours I've ever seen. I am extremely drawn to desserts with weird flavours so the first chocolate bar I bought was the "Ramen" one. Yes, Ramen. It tasted like crunchy salted chocolate, but with ramen flavouring instead of salt and dried noodles instead of nuts. Surprisingly tasty! Then there was the tart ruby chocolate with freeze dried berries and my favourite to date, spicy wasabi dark chocolate. I just ordered Cheese White Chocolate, Donut Milk Chocolate, Rose Dark Chocolate...I'm delighted and excited. Their gimmick is that the chocolate bars double as postcards. They are just the right weight to avoid additional postage fees and you can get a message written right on the back. And I mean gimmick in the most positive way. Who doesn't want to receive a bar of wacky delicious chocolate in the mail from a loved one?

Best ice cream I've had. Amazing. I got the dulce de leche dipped cone. It was massive and I…read morewanted another one.

Highly recommend this place!…read more First time visiting the store in person as we've only ordered online for delivery before & it was a great experience! The store has a nice vibe with lots of seasonal décor and unique gift selections. Everything was clean, organized, and easy to browse. The staff were friendly, service was fairly quick, and we really enjoyed the affogato. The ice cream was smooth and creamy and paired perfectly with the espresso. Aside from my Hokkaido ice cream experience in Japan, this has been by far the best and smoothest soft ice cream I have ever had and my second favourite of all time. I also loved that you can DIY the chocolate drizzle to your taste. I was a little reluctant to order other dip cones as I am not a huge fan of sweets, but this ice cream already has me reminiscing about it. It honestly was not overly sweet like typical soft serves, and having so many selections of chocolate is awesome. We will definitely be back to try more items on the menu. Strawberry sundae here I come!

Everything was too overpriced I paid $8 something for a milkshake that I never finished and made me…read moresick. The service was kind of slow it took 20 min for my 2 items and there where not many customers. In conclusion it was not worth the price. The reasons being too over priced and making me and my friends sick.

It certainly is Chocolates and "more" at this Kanata strip at the corner of Terry Fox and…read moreHazeldean. Had the Mozart torte, a symphonic masterpiece of a cake and worth every penny, especially considering what the all the wannabe cakeries are charging these days. Combine that with warm old-country service and delicious chocolates and truffles to boot, and alles schmekt gut in Kanata.

This shop is the real deal with the owner found on site working her craft - Fine chocolates that…read moreseem to always be received with appreciation, making the perfect gift no matter the occasion. Drop in regularly.

Al-Rayiss Bakery opened up mid-2022 in the space that was Sahara Dunes Shawarma. They sell Middle…read moreEastern meat pies. I got a regular meat pie ($2.85), with spices but no lemon, and it was pretty good. The spices adds flavour, not really heat so don't shy away if you don't like hot spicy foods. I don't like added lemon juice because I find it makes the pie too sour, but most people add both lemon and spices. The pies have a generous amount of meat and the pastry isn't too thick, which is how I like it. It was crispy on the outside, but still a bit chewy on the inside. Definitely a solid Lebanese meat pie. Staff were nice. And I liked how they have a sink there and I saw staff washing their hands before preparing my food. Many Middle Eastern meat pie bakeries have their listed prices inclusive of taxes, but not here, their prices are before taxes. However, they do take plastic as well as cash, unlike some other places that only take cash (like Aladdin's) or only take plastic (like Bibi's). It's in a strip mall, so plenty of free parking in the strip mall parking lot.