u/vermilion209

This was the more expensive (non-pizza) surprise bag valuing at $30 retail. They gave me a sandwich and 3 single slices of pizza corners (yes with 2 crust edges each) from the fridge. This was perfect for 2-3 meals, and no complaints on the delicious pizzas with variety.

• 1 folded sandwich with prosciutto, arugula, mozzarella (it’s alright, huge portion)
• 1 white pizza slice with mushroom, sausage, cheese, truffle oil (my fav - sooo tasty after warming in toaster oven 👌)
• 1 white pizza slice with basil pesto, cherry tomato, cheese (this was good)
• 1 white pizza slice with mushroom and cheese (this was good also)

I was eyeing their bags for a while, but either timing didn’t work out or the bags were sold out. I got the French Delights Surprise Bag valuing at $45 retail, and received these goodies on a Saturday late afternoon.

• 4P or 5” marvelous cake (the meringue was light, airy, and sweet, while the chocolate whipped cream was cocoa flavoured and barely sweetened; the two balanced out the sweetness)
• 2 sugar cramique brioche, large 250g

The cake and the brioche are amazing. Mind you the cake’s meringue layer slowly disappeared among the whipped cream overnight due to moisture, so it’s best to consume same day and maybe next day at max. I’ll return for more bags when we crave for sweets 😆

This round I grabbed the baked goods bag from Coffee Island near Union station. Pick up time slot was 6-7pm, and they were a bit startled when I showed up at 6:05pm and they didn’t have the bags packed just yet. The lady immediately tapped on the payment tablet and pulled four croissants from the display case. She was super nice, offering to warm up the savoury sandwich for dinner. Also she totally forgot to ask me to swipe, and I’d to insist in showing her after I put away everything in my reusable grocery bag 😂

• 1 turkey and cheese croissant
• 1 almond croissant
• 1 chocolate hazelnut croissant
• 1 pistachio croissant

This was a superb experience with fresh delicious buttery croissants. It’ll be a repeat when I’m in the area at the right time 🥐

P.S. If you really want to try this bag, I’ve noticed that Friday pick ups aren’t as popular, and bags are still available in the afternoon.

After monitoring for a few weeks, I finally scored the $18 baked goods bag at Neo Coffee Bar, a few minutes walk on Yonge north of Wellesley station. I was hoping for some sweets or dessert as per older reviews, and they gave me 3 cold croissants from the fridge. $18 retail value was met, but I probably wouldn’t reorder. May drop by for regular coffee and cake though as the staff was friendly and the cafe vibe was good.

• 2 cheddar cheese croissant with basil (this tasted good but a bit dry… probably much better if I had it fresh in the cafe instead of TGTG)
• 1 almond croissant with almond cream filling

This is my third time getting the assorted fruit and salad bag from Metro at Steeles & Bathurst, and finally I’ve exhausted my luck. You’d see why it got down to the lowest $5.49 (25%) with 5+ bags available close to pick up start time… Thankfully I didn’t pay $6.99 (33%) like previous rounds.

• 1 burger topper set with lettuce, tomato, red onions - 480g (so pointless at least for us… be warned that this’ll be frequent during bbq season)
• 1 protein snack box with cucumber slices, cherry tomato, baby carrots, hard boiled egg, snack size cheddar, almonds - 271g (this is great to compliment a small slice of pizza or focaccia from other TGTG bags!)
• 1 garden salad with lettuce, shredded carrot, purple cabbage, cucumber, cherry tomato - 680g
• 1 caesar dressing pouch (okay thanks for the thought but 3-4 pouches are required for the large salad)

Slightly disappointed that we got no fruit at all, but instead veggies for a few meals. This Metro had set the bar so high previously 😩 Also the brown paper bag wasn’t stapled nor labelled, so very possible that the staff picked and assembled the items on the spot.

Having good experiences with the cake and assorted fruit & veg bags, this time I tried the deli bag from the Steeles & Bathrust Metro. I suppose I got an okay bag that barely met the $39 value. The items expire same day to 3 days later, which is not bad. They are great as sides, or ingredients for sandwiches. Surprisingly nothing is tagged with the 15% or 30% off sticker - maybe they know no one would buy them even at 30% off retail.

• 1 quinoa and chickpeas salad, large 650g (this doesn’t look appetizing as the cucumber liquified, but tastes fine)
• 2 chicken cranberry salad, 360g ea (this is alright? I wouldn’t buy it myself at retail or discounted)
• 2 red beet salad, 130-150g ea (surprisingly appetizing!)
• 2 kolbassa loaf cold cut, 125g ea (your average cold cut, meh)

It was a pretty good deal value-wise as retail total would have been $48. The focaccia expired same day, while the sweet brioche were next day but the top were wet with all the sugar melted.

• 1 focaccia rossa tonda $12.99
• 3 focaccia rossa $4.99 ea
• 1 focaccia cipolla $4.99
• 3 brioche treccia $4.99 ea

One thing that made me uncomfortable was being followed by a security guard after I arrived upstairs, looked around to locate pick-up counter (on the right after getting off the escalator) and staff (they stepped away), and meandered in the aisles waiting for staff to return. I guess I looked like a potential thief in my dressy tee, casual skirt, runners and carrying a canvas tote on a hot Friday evening 🤷🏻‍♀️ That said, the cashier was super nice and wished me a lovely weekend after passing me the bag.

Another overhyped place where the bags got sold out within seconds of posting in the evenings for next day pick up. Alas, I managed to secure a small surprise bag last minute around 4pm for same day pick up at Patisserie Fleur in downtown Markham near Enterprise & Birchmount.

The $18 value was met if you prorated the large cakes. However seeing others received 2 proper mini cakes or several croissants in the past, what I received was quite underwhelming...

• 1 plain croissant (seems days old)
• 1 tiny slice of moonlit peach garden cake, 1/6 cut from 5” (this was ant size and the edges was all dried 👎)
• 1 small slice of mango cloud cake, 1/8 cut from 7”

The cakes tasted great albeit the surface dryness and petite portions, I’ve to admit we were expecting more in terms of slice size or quantity. I wonder if it was because I grabbed the bag the day of at $5.99 (lowest I believe), instead of $9.49 pre-tax.

This is my second time picking up a bag from this lovely bakery at Church & Wellesley. Similar to last time, there are 8 pieces of baked goodies. That said, there is less variety this round, but I’m happy to receive more scones 😋

• 3 cinnamon buns
• 3 orange scones
• 1 raspberry scone
• 1 chocolate scone

Side note - I bought 2 bags of cookies at full retail ($6 for 6 cookies) as gifts, and the recipients gave thumbs up. A business that doesn’t skimp on their TGTG offers and treat me like a regular customer, I will return to purchase items at retail value.

Sushi Kawamura was a random discovery after a weekday evening out in the entertainment district; located on the east end of Chef’s Hall at York & Richmond, near Osgoode station.

Portion was on the small side, but great for a light dinner or late night snack. Price was decent for relatively freshly made slightly bougie sushi. There was good variety as well, 4 pieces of aburi and 8 pieces of small rolls (4 types, 2 each), with raw fish and avocado. Also I found it nice that they’d included condiments (soy sauce, wasabi, ginger) in the tray, and offered utensils (chopsticks, plastic bag) by request.

P.S. I noticed they do extend the pick up time in 10 minutes increments if the sushi trays weren’t sold out.

I’m quite happy with this surprised bag at Queen & Spadina Coco. When I showed up a bit after 9pm on a weekday, the staff made all 3 cups of bubble tea fresh.

• Milk tea with pearls, medium
• Jasmine milk tea with brown sugar pearls, large
• Mango coconut flavoured milk with pearls, medium (it’s the liquid from mango pomelo sago drink, but without grapefruit pulp and sago toppings)

Also I’d like to think perhaps because the staff saw that I’m Asian, they made the drinks with 30~50% sugar. This was perfect for our taste, unlike the Thornhill Tea Shop 168 that gave us liquid syrup. This will be a repeat when I’m in the area in the evenings 🧋

This is our second time getting the Assorted Fruit & Salad bag, and we received more snacking items on a Saturday late afternoon. Value wasn’t bad, but we were hoping for prepared salads with toppings instead of finger food and dips. Great variety of veggies though, I must say.

• 1 veggie stick box with broccoli, cauliflower, celery, baby carrots, cherry tomato, cucumber slices, yellow pepper, and ranch dip (small 525g)
• 1 protein snack box with cucumber slices, cherry tomato, baby carrots, hard boiled egg, snack size cheddar cheese, almonds (271g)
• 1 spinach salad with berries and walnuts (180g)
• 1 cantaloupe cup (380g)
• 1 balsamic vinaigrette dressing pouch

Since my last TGTG cake bag from the same Metro was a score, I tried their Assorted Fruit & Salad bag this time on a Friday late afternoon. Value was met, the items were fresh, and I found them quite considerate to include matching salad dressings.

• 1 spinach salad with strawberries, blue berries, dried cranberries, and walnuts (supersized 400g)
• 1 chicken caesar salad with bacon (320g)
• 1 mixed melon cup (220g)
• 2 honey dijon dressing pouches
• 1 caesar dressing pouch

I’ll definitely grab the bag again. This Metro at Steeles & Bathurst is gold 👌

When I went to pick up around 7pm on a weekday, I was told they miscounted inventory, so they ended up making me a fresh pizza. The total was about 2/3 of the posted $27 value, but acceptable for $10. Here’s what I got:

• 1 whole medium beef thin crust pizza (freshly made and hot)
• 2 slices of Hawaiian pizza (cold)
• 2 slices of pepperoni pizza (cold)

We scored a La Rocca 8” lemon mousse cake on a weekday early evening at the Steeles & Bathurst Metro. The surface was slightly dry, but the cake and mousse were moist inside as per usual. The cake, cut into slices, tasted great even after freezing.

This will be a repeat 😋

Randomly came across this bakery at Church and Wellesley on the TGTG app when I was at the Village on a rainy weekend morning. I got a decent baked goods bag with the following items, all packed in a stapled large brown paper bag.

• 1 honey glazed (?) rosette bread
• 3 cinnamon buns
• 4 scones (orange, cocoa, chocolate chip, raspberry)

The pastries were delicious, likely a day old but good after warming. I’ll return to pick up fresh goodies at regular price!

Perhaps we had bad luck, or this Hong Kong style bakery at Kennedy & Denison got overhyped. Their TGTG baked goods bags have 4.5 ratings, and seem to get sold out quickly every day. I saw availability early morning and placed an order.

The buns were a day old, still good after warming. Variety was also great, however no way the value totalled at $18… it was more like $12 😬 We happen to be super familiar with Baker Duck’s offers as it’s one of the places our family frequent. $6.77 was still a steal, but yikes.

• Mini pineapple buns in tray
• Coconut bun
• Scallion bun
• Hokkaido chocolate bun
• Matcha red bean bun

I considered a super win with this “prepared meals and baked goods” bag from Tre Mari Bakery near Dufferin & Lansdowne! It’s my first time there and I’m not familiar with their menu, but I think the value well superseded $30. I picked up close to 6pm (last pick up time) on a gloomy Friday, if timing mattered. Everything was delicious after reheating; my favs were the ravioli and mushroom danish.

• Meat lasagna + ravioli
• Eggplant lasagna + rice
• Ham and cheese croissant sandwich
• Bacon, fried egg, cheese, arugula, tomato croissant sandwich
• Mushroom danish
• Spinach and cheese danish
• Cinnamon roll
• Chocolate donut

That said, the staff did mention this bag was more substantial than the usual - maybe she saw my shocked face as she held up the 2 large clear bags with the goodies haha. I thanked her noting the generous offer was very much appreciated 😆 I’ll grab another bag in the future for sure, and maybe their cannolis too.