As I was roaming the streets of Ottawa yesterday, I chanced upon Bread & Sons Bakery and decided to step into the quaint hole-in-the-wall cafe bakery. It was close to 5pm so they didn’t have as many items on the shelf, but their rustic wooden shelves were still decked with enough to impress. From muffins and cookies to pizza and pastries, there were so many things I wanted to try. But seeing as I had to catch a bus back to Montreal, and I didn’t want to be lugging a whole bag of food with me, I settled on the Raspberry Bran Muffin and the Vegan Pumpkin Muffin, both of which were on sale for just $1, and there was no tax!

Raspberry Bran Muffin

I ate this as it was, for supper, and it was good even at room temperature. The muffin top was hardened due to the sugar crystals sprinkled on top before baking, while the lower half was still moist. I couldn’t taste much raspberry, apart from a few little dried chunks here and there, but you could definitely taste the bran. I would recommend it, if you like bran! It wasn’t very sweet as well, not like the commercial muffins that leave you with a strange aftertaste.

Vegan Pumpkin Muffin

This was breakfast! Vegan means no butter/egg/dairy in this muffin, so despite my initial reservations, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this muffin was so moist and tasted just like how a muffin should, or even better! It was sprinkled with some pumpkin seeds on top, which didn’t do much except contribute to the aesthetics (which is important haha).

Tastewise, it was very flavourful and the pumpkin and spices hit a perfect balance. I would definitely buy this again. I now know why people say pumpkin tastes like Fall. I’ve never experienced Fall, but I think eating this muffin was close enough. Like the Raspberry Bran Muffin, it wasn’t artificially sweet at all, and even on the whole, there was just a hint of natural sweetness probably from the pumpkin puree.

Bread & Sons Bakery also sells sandwiches and soups daily, in addition to their baked goods. The service was great, and the young lady at the counter was so friendly and upbeat. This is the place to visit if you end up in Ottawa and have cravings for a sweet treat.