Leah’s

I have to say… the best chocolate chip cookie I have ever eaten. Thanks Leah‘s

Leah’s is a nice corner shop. I often see a few people have a cup of coffee at their small counter on St.Clair. I tried their cheese cake and someone else here was also saying that their cheese cake is not one of the best even though it is expensive. I tried cookies, too but not amazing either.

Was driving down St. Clair and was waiting at the stop light when I looked over and saw this bakery. Went in to check out some baked good. Not much of a selection though. When I first walked in, the blonde girl with the glasses behind the counter took no notice of me considering it was a such a small space to begin with. She seemed uninterested and didn’t want to be there. A simply ‘hello’ would’ve been nice.
I’d decided on 2 plain butter tarts, I think the price was $ 2.75 per tart. Brought them home and got my cup of coffee ready and was super excited, I love butter tarts. I noticed that the tarts were oozing something (probably excessive sugar), it was really sticky, which is a mess to clean afterwards, ugh. The tarts themselves was really good and really sweet. If you have a sweet tooth? this is for you. The crust was also good, nice and flaky, though I would’ve prefer more butter or a tough of salt in the crust to contrast the sweetness of the tart. Nonetheless, good tasting tarts. However, what I didn’t enjoy was the sticky and chewiness of some parts around the edges (I’m guessing it’s the caramelizing of the sugar). It was no enjoyable and made for a very sticky cleanup. Also, it got suck in my teeth numerous times.
I would probably go back again for the tarts and try the chocolate pecan butter tart. I hope that girl is not there next time, saddens my day.

I was waiting at the stoplight to cross the street when I saw this cute little bakery.
The décor was quaint and simple and there was a colourful display of cookies and treats.
The ladies at the shop were friendly and they recommended I try a butter tart (One of their most popular items).
The chocolate covered meringues were hard to resist!
They were neatly arranged in a treelike display.
They had nicely assembled gift packages of sugar cookies for the holidays and menorah cookies (since it is a Jewish bakery).
The butter tart it self had a buttery and crispy shell. It was very sweet.
I might come back and try one their cookies if I am in the area.

Is there something wrong with this owner? I’ve been in a few times to get rugelas or cookies and the woman behind the counter is so uninterested to the point of downright «make up your mind and get out of here». You feel like you’ve interrupted an important meeting and need to leave right away.
I’ve had a couple of peanut butter cookies that have been very grainy and not that great tasting.
But it’s the owner who is really off putting, and I’m saying REALLY off putting, yikes.

Yeah I would agree with the previous reviews. Three of us ordered some cookies out of the display case on a Saturday morning after going to the farmer’s market at Wychwood.
I’ve mostly seen this place closed but always thought it looked interesting with its stylish black painted exterior, shades pulled down tight and white Leah lettering. I wasn’t sure if it was an interior design shop, real estate office, coffee shop or other (it’s mostly a dessert shop in case you haven’t figured it out).
The peanut butter cookie was good but I’m sure anyone could make a decent homemade one. The date square tasted like the fridge and not too fresh. Service was aloof and unsmiling.
Cost was too high IMHO and since it’s a small place, you can’t just walk in and walk out without feeling you should buy a least a lil’ something.
My curiosity has been satisfied. I’ll probably try some of the other neighbouring cupcake and dessert shops to see how they compare.

All the portions are small for the price. $ 2 — $ 3 for a small square of something? Okay, I’ll bite… but it better be amazing, which I’m afraid it was not.
Tried the Dulce de Leche Cheesecake, and it was pricey at around $ 3 considering that for $ 5 you can get a cheesecake about 3X the size at Whole Foods from Carole’s Cheesecake (which is SUPER light and fluffy).
I’m a fan of light, fluffy cheesecakes, and this one was dense and thick. but not disgusting, just not my style of cheesecake.
It tasted more like that cheap Richtree Market cheesecake I ate that had modified cream cheese and so on.
Can’t say I’ll go back for this cheesecake. Carole’s Cheesecake in Yorkville is much, MUCH better in my opinion.
Tried the Lemon Bar which tasted very sweet and very lemon-​y. A bit too sweet.
I felt like I was eating dishwashing detergent, but then again, lemon as the only flavour in a tart or a cake is very hard to pull off without reminding me of dish soap.
For $ 2, it was not worth it for me (personally).
The whole cakes seem like a better deal. For $ 8 you get a big loaf of cake, and it was all right but nothing to write home about.
I would have preferred that the cakes do NOT have this thick coat of sugary white icing (they are sweet enough as is)…
I wouldn’t make the trip back just to eat here. If you want a good place to eat yummy pastries, try Petite Thuet at King /​Yonge. They have the most delectable tarts there, although I have not tried their macarons (I am a snob), they have the best pastries in Toronto to date.

Pecan chelsea buns/​rolls are fantastic. Sells Harbord bakery challah on Fridays. Weekday afternoon staff are very friendly. These are the three best things about this place.
Coffee is fine, cookies are chalky, the brownies are always very average and the butter tarts are surprisingly bad.

This place is between a 2 and a 3 in my books although I WANT it to be better. I think that it can get better even! I went last week and got a chocolate chip meringue cookie, it was AMAZING!!! seriously the best meringue I have ever had other than my grandmother’s so so so good. It was chewy and perfect. I went a few days later to get some more meringues and they weren’t as fresh. They still tasted really delicious but they weren’t as chewy. I also got the «everything but the kitchen sink» cookie, and it really wasn’t that good. It was hard and tasted stale, I came home to warm it up and it became chewy but still had a stale taste. I think maybe they just make too much baked goods for the amount of people who come by and are left with a lot of stale tasting things? I don’t know. But I think it could get better! Just as long as everything is fresh! I love the décor and everything is really beautiful looking, but the freshness really needs to improve.

Nice-​looking spot with floor to ceiling windows revealing an enticing display of home-​baked goods. Unfortunately, all of them are sweet and look too sugary for my taste.
The espresso is good, but sometimes burnt. 2 young ladies work there and are very friendly and capable. The owner (I think Leah) is only friendly to her own friends who she places before new customers. Not good for business, Leah.
The location is convenient and I like to support the locals so I will pop in when I pass by but would be nice to see some contemporary alternatives to sugar-​loaded sweets. I don’t need whole wheat cookies but maybe an agave-​sweetened brownie or two. Even the biscotti was topped with sugar crystals!
Finally, seating is limited to non-​existent. Just two stools facing the street. Oh well. A-​OK.

Ok, so I wasn’t going to go into this place since I was getting lunch somewhere else, but I decided to go after I ate. Now I love red velvet cupcakes but these cupcakes are crap. Worst cupcake I’ve ever eaten, if ur looking for a good red velvet cupcake go to Yummy stuff on queen, those are the best. I also bought a fudge brownie, now after eating the cupcake I wasnt sure how this one would be, but it wasn’t that bad after all. Would I go back? Nope.

I think cakes are little bit expensive.
Staff made a coffee too much in a cup.
It was difficult to bring it out soon.

Unfortunately I live right on Wychwood so I frequently walk by Leah’s on a daily basis. I have the tendency of always picking up the cupcakes for my boss and co-​workers as treats. It’s pretty awesome.
It’s a good idea to ask when they tend to bake certain pastries you like so you can show up on the particular day to pick up a fresh piece. Don’t be afraid to ask! Leah and her staff are very nice and willing to make accommodations for you.
I can’t discuss anything about the drinks as I never tried them but otherwise, there are some great pastries.

I had a terrible experience here — the girl on staff made a single americano really watery (2 cups of water), and refused to make another one. So I paid for a coffee that she dumped down the sink.
Poor service and completely unapologetic.

I travel a fair bit and was excited to see that there was a fairly well reviewed bakery in the neighbourhood I was staying in. I don’t know why, but getting fresh pastry just really helps me feel more ‘at home’ wherever I happen to be. Also, I find that there’s nothing like fresh, handmade pastry that just jumpstarts your day.
Unfortunately, Leah’s wasn’t fully successful in getting my day started.
I picked up a cheese danish, an orange muffin, and some of Leah’s chips. The danish was absolutely amazing. I cannot recommend it enough. I wasn’t quite as flakey as I would have liked, but I certainly have no complaints. I would buy another cheese danish from Leah’s in a heartbeat.
The muffin was remarkably less pleasant. The first bite was terrific — moist, great taste, and just delightful. The second was far less impressive — along with my bite came a large piece of plastic! While the rest of the muffin tasted great, the plastic just took me out of the experience entirely. Were this a supermarket I’d just shrug it off, but Leah’s doesn’t claim (or pretend) to be be selling supermarket grade goods. Hopefully this is just a bizarre one-​off, but I’m not going to keep buying muffins to find out!
I picked up the chips based on Brenda S.‘s interest. They’re nice — you get real, full chips that are minimally salted. That minimal salting *isn’t* a bad thing — it means you actually get the flavor of the chip itself. Admittedly, I would have preferred just a hint more salt, but can’t really complain with the choice. None of the chips that I managed to get were greasy which is good considering the premium price you’ll pay for them. Still, having purchased them once I don’t know that I’d actually ever go out of my way to buy them again.
So, if you count things up there was one item that was great, another that could have been but wasn’t, and a final one that was OK. If you’re in the neighbourhood then you can get really nice little deserts, but just hope that you’re not cursed with eating plastic with your tasty treats. Still, if I had the extra minute or two I’d probably pass by Leah’s and just go to Pain Perdu’s instead.

For my health’s sake, it’s a good thing that I don’t live near this place. The pastry selections are always amazing and I’m always tempted to stop for a visit whenever I pass by it on the streetcar. My favourites include their Dulce de Leche Cheesecake, Skor Chocolate Pretzel, cookies, Lemon Meringue Tart, Biscotti (they have arguably the best ones in town), etc. You really can’t go wrong in this place.
As mentioned by others, there aren’t many seats available to sit in, so it’s definitely a grab-​and-​go place. But it’s not a big deal, considering the pretty Artscape Wychwood Barns park is just down the street, you can always take your pastries and enjoy them in the sun.

On the down side: there are about three seats in the place. It’s meant for grab-​and-​go. I wish there was more seating. When we were there at 3 pm on a Saturday they were already out of the vegan cupcakes that we had heard about. Our vegan friend proceeded to pull a Lunabar out of her bag and have that with her coffee.
Now the good: everything was really, really tasty! The desserts are absolutely beautiful and make you want them just by being pretty. I saw the coconut cream tart and had to have it even though it was twice what I planned on spending. It did not disappoint but would have been a nice snack for two people (or one who’s really hungry). I took home a Skor pretzel (big pretzel dipped in toffee, chocolate, and nuts) for hubby and that got thumbs up too.
Next time I’ll try one of those bags of homemade potato chips in the window…

Nice little neighbourhood bakery. The pastries and sweets look like an upscale version of the stuff you’d find at a small town bakery.
The Pecan Chelsea was excellent.
The butter tarts — pecan or chocolate pecan — tasted weird to me. My sister said they tasted like they had dish soap in them. I don’t think it’s that they were poorly made, just that they seem to be using a non-​standard recipe. Not sure what the reason for this is; why mess
with perfection?
If not for the weak butter tarts this would be a 4 star place.
Prices are on the high side. Can’t remember exactly what I paid but I’m pretty sure the butter tarts were about $ 2.50.

I’ve been curious about this place since it opened up a few months ago — who is Leah of the tasteful typeface and list of ingredients scrolling along the bottom of the window?
I finally made a stop and was charmed by the beautiful displays of sweets. The hand written labels are a nice touch. I tried the lovely carrot muffin (elevated in style by the brown parchment paper muffin cup). The mushroom meringue was enjoyable — I’m not a fan of meringues in general and bought it only because it was so cute. The lemon square was just the right balance of tart and sweet.
The prices are as you would expect from a boutiquey dessert joint and with the many coffee and dessert places down the street there are plenty of people in the hood ready to treat themselves to a $ 3 square or cookie — myself included since I seem to consistently mess up desserts when I try to make them.
They have a shiny behemoth of an espresso machine behind the counter so I’ll have to try the coffee next time. Definitely warrants a return trip — I can picture myself stopping in on a beautiful day with a couple girlfriends then taking our treats around the corner to picnic at the Wychwood Barns.

I was up in my brother’s ‘hood looking for a pedicure, but the salon was closed. I kept walking to kill time before heading over to the Oscar party — and came across LEAH’S. What a cute wee bakery on the southwest corner of St. Clair and Wychwood.
I never met a carb I didn’t like, so I wandered in to get some treats to bring over to my bro’s. I found meringues shaped like mushrooms, sweet and tart lemon squares (pornographically gooey in the middle), mini shortbreads, dark chocolate and nut brittle, and chocolate brownies — all of which I bought. I had one of the dark chocolate nut brittles on the spot and my eyes rolled back into my head. There’s a certain noise I make when I eat something REALLY GOOD — a friend once said I sounded like a rhinoceros in heat — but really, it’s my «oh my god, this is the tastiest thing I’ve ever had» noise. I was making that noise.
The vibe is lovely — the young lady at the cashier was really friendly, and Leah Kalish herself (who has the aura of «I may have been around the block, but at the end of the damn day, baking’s what I love most» about her) exudes that warmth that true bakers possess. When a rather strange elderly gentleman came in asking about chicken pies, Leah was there to greet him and hold the door for him. It was sweet.
The shop is tiny, white, and clean, with seating for 2 – 3 people at the window.
It’s a good thing I don’t live in the area, because quite frankly, I’d become obese. However, I do make it up regularly to have Sunday dinner with my bro and his family — so I’m sure to be back again.