Friday, August 27, 2010

Apricot Tree Café

Apricot Tree Café, located in Sherwood Forest Village, is probably one of my favorite, if not the favorite, restaurant in Mississauga. This is saying a lot - not sure if you know but I hardly dine in Mississauga (I'm a downtown and uptown girl even though I live in 'sauga) but as yet, I still haven't found a place like Apricot Tree Café outside of Mississauga. I've been to Apricot Tree Café many times now. My parents also go often by themselves for dinner.


I love how Apricot Tree Café is small and cozy - its cute decor and space is surrounded by greenery, white street lamps, wood window panes, and green roof shingles. The walls are painted blue like the sky. All this, coupled with the cafe's simple tables and wooden chairs, often makes me feel like I'm dining on the streets of Europe somewhere. The staff there are also very friendly and helpful.


Here are a few pictures from their website:



And you know how I love open kitchens? WELL THEY HAVE ONE TOO! =)


Obviously when I say that Apricot Tree Café is one of my favorite restaurants, I would need to love their food as well, not just their decor. One of their specialties is crepes, not just dessert crepes, but savory crepes as well. And you know how I go nuts over crepes, right? I mean, more and more places in Toronto now offer sweet crepes for dessert, but not many places have savory crepes as mains. And let me tell you, Apricot Tree Café makes some kick-ass savory crepes. 

Beside crepes, another thing about me that you probably know by now is that I'm a dessert person. No matter how full I am, I need something sweet to end my meal. Lo and behold, Apricot Tree Café not only makes dessert crepes but also a wide variety of other desserts and pastries.



A really popular pastry that Apricot Tree Café has are strudels, which not a lot of restaurants I know of has it on their menu (actual house-made strudels that is). Apple strudel, apricot strudel, chocolate raspberry strudel,  quarkcheese strudel, and poppyseed white chocolate strudels...yum!





Apricot Tree Café also makes a variety different cakes like mousse cakes, cheese cakes, ice cream cakes, pies, pecan pies, and tortes. All their cakes and pastries definitely have a European flair to them, in contrast to the big American style heavy duty and super sweet  desserts that are common in a lot of restaurants. See here for the full list of desserts.


To top it off, Apricot Tree Café has a wide selection of ice-cream (Vanilla, Chocolate, Hazelnut, Pistachio, Strawberry, Cinnamon, Tiramisu, Coffee, Coconut, Apricot/Ginger, Raspberry White Chocolate) and sorbet (Mango, Passionfruit, Raspberry, Lychee). Pretty impressive list for a small cafe.


If you want baked goods on the go, Apricot Tree Café sells cookes, biscotti, and muffins as well.





Do you see why me, being a lover of crepes / pastries / desserts / baked goods, love Apricot Tree Café? And I haven't even started with about dinner yet.

For yesterday night's dinner, I used a coupon I got from dealfind (@DealfindToronto on Twitter). An awesome deal where I got a $60 voucher for Apricot Tree Café for just $25. Honestly, when I saw this deal, I was so deliriously happy that I bought 3 coupons. Thanks dealfind!

Finally, lets start dinner!

The daily specials. 


The bread was so soft that we devoured it within minutes and had to ask for more.




We also ordered a bottle of Pinot Griogio to start the night off right.


Baked Mussels - Tomato sauce, cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese and sprinkled with parmesan cheese.


This is like pizza on mussel haha. I ate the mussels with some sprouts on top to give some contrast in texture. This dish is a good twist for those who want mussels but a bit tired of the typical mussels in wine sauce.


Sesame seed crusted arctic char fillet with artichoke and parika butter sauce - This is one of the daily specials offered last night. Beautiful plating and presentation. My Dad especially liked the crispy crust on the fish.


Chicken & Pineapple Curry Crepe with chicken slices, carrots, mushrooms, pineapple,jalapeño peppers and sweet peppers in ginger coconut curry sauce, served with rice - It was my Mom's first time eating crepe and she absolutely loved it. I've had this crepe multiple times now because it's simply my favorite. 


If you think a crepe won't fill you up then you are wrong; there is a generous portion of filling in that crepe. The side of rice is perfect for that lovely curry sauce. One complaint though: my mom nor I could find any pineapples in the crepe =(


When it was time for dessert, I again, had no question as to what to get - another crepe. I know I'm so boring! Especially when I just had crepe for my main course already. But I can't help it! I made a vow to myself that next time I go to Apricot Tree Café, I must try another kind of dessert. As a side note, a lot of customers go to Apricot Tree Cafe just for their dessert.


Crepe DenmarkTwo crepes filled with ice cream, garnished with whipped cream and chocolate blossoms and served with warm chocolate sauce.


I couldn't decide on what ice cream flavor to get so my waiter recommended the vanilla and pistachio (his personal favorite). Again, love the plating and the way the crepes are wrapped then draped over the ice cream. You can tell they have actually put some thought and creativity into it (unlike Demetres). Loved the pistachio ice cream too.


I haven't raved about a restaurant like this for a while now.... feels good =) Can't wait to go back to use my other two coupons. Speaking of crepes (haha), Apricot Tree Café also has a "Crepe Festival" for two weeks every year where they offer a very extensive list of specialty crepes that are not offered normally on their regular menu. I went last year with a friend and it was fabulous. Just a heads up for all the crepes fanatics out there. 

Also, if you submit your email address for their Birthday Club on their website you will get a coupon for a free entree (with a purchase of another entree) for the month of your birthday =D

Apricot Tree Café on Urbanspoon

 Apricot Tree Cafe at RestaurantGuideBook.com