Starter Lab

The country sourdough is incredible. The flavour is full yet sour and the texture is soft yet chewy. The food options, which use several of the different breads as base, are also very good (try the grilled cheese). Will definitely return for the bread. Would return for the food.

It’s interesting to read the reviews of this place. I can get where most of them are coming from but will offer my own take. Apologies in advance if this sounds like I’m lecturing. That’s not the intention. Good bread is hard to find. You’re not going to get it at the supermarket or Cedele or Gastronomia. You’re not going to get it at Paris Baguette. You’ll get something that may or may not look nice, but the taste and quality won’t be there. As someone who makes a lot of dough myself, I have some appreciation of the process, especially for high-hydration doughs, long fermentations, and pre-ferments. It’s not easy and requires a lot of practice and experience, all the more so with sourdoughs. Most bread making uses commercial yeast for a reason. You have a single strain that produces consistent, more easily repeatable results that are suitable for production at scale. Sourdough by its nature uses wild yeast. It’s not hard to keep a starter going but you need a lot of experience to be able to use it effectively and consistently. So before one starts whinging about the price, one should understand what one is paying for and compare like to like. With that said, I think the breads and pastries at Starter Lab are generally very good. No, they’re not cheap. No, they’re not ripping you off, either. The price is fair. For dine-in sandwiches, yeah, they could be a little cheaper but the quality and taste are good. What should you try? If you’re dining in, they have a wide range of sandwiches. Go for one that looks interesting or ask for a recommendation. If you’re buying bread or pastries to take home, personally, I like the rosemary lemon and sea salt bread. It’s quite tasty. The country loaf is a bit heavier and chewier, and I have had some “sticky knife” issues with it. Normally, this happens when the bread hasn’t yet cooled enough, but I don’t think that was the issue here. Will try another one later. The pastries are nice. I like the pain au chocolate and the drunken snail. The morning bun was a tad dry for me the one time I had it. The banana bread is good. The brownie is also good and not too sweet. I like miso baguettes, so I’d like to try theirs. Next time. Their coffees are good, too, by the way. Have tried three varieties so far and been happy with all of them. Finally, I like the service and have always found them to be friendly, welcoming, and helpful.

Went there on CNY Eve 2022, beautiful ambience and good, thoughtful service. The bread was really good. We tried the thick toast, New Skool Reuben and OG (see photos). The Reuben and OG came with a jalapeno or pickle to relieve the jelat. Both are super pickled and do a great job (maybe too great too lol) serving their purpose 🙃. Prices are a bit high but servings are surprisingly, very filling Sat at the counter to see their extended kitchen through a glass window. Really cool.

Great bread, great vibe, but the price definitely is on the higher side. A coffee and a slice of sourdough costed me $15. The place opened around 8:45 when I visited, maybe due to the delay of their bread delivery