Reviews Max's Deli

This is a shop located on Oak Street, near 16th Avenue, that serves an enormous variety of cakes, pastries, pies, sandwiches, and other foods. They have such a good selection that it was quite difficult to take my pick. In the end, after quite a bit of hemming and hawing, I went with a Chicken Pot Pie, Mango Raspberry Cheesecake, Sticky Toffee Slice, Chocolate Decadence Cake and a Red Velvet Cake, as well as an Almond Croissant for my mom. In general, I thought the food was not the greatest in terms of taste/quality but still more than enjoyable. The prices were quite reasonable. This is a spot that's worth a visit.

Chicken Pot Pie ($6.75):
3.5/5
The crust was not particularly flaky, but still relatively tender, with a nice bit of savoury flavour. The interior is filled with chunks of chicken, potatoes, peas and carrots. There was quite a generous amount of meat, which albeit a bit dry, was relatively tender, well-seasoned and savoury.

Mango Raspberry Cheesecake ($5.69):
4/5
The cheesecake was thick and creamy, albeit a bit gummy in some parts. It had a nice fragrance of mango and coconut that was not overly artificial. It was sweet; I would have liked there to be a bit more tanginess.

Sticky Toffee Slice ($4.99):
4/5
The toffee was very thick and gooey, with a great caramelized flavour. The cake itself was a tad dense, but still moist. The cake is on the sweeter side, so you do need to have a good sweet tooth to enjoy it.

Chocolate Decadence Cake ($5.49):
3/5
The frosting had a nice bittersweet flavour; I did find the chocolate to be a bit waxy and stale, however. The cake was a bit on the dry side/hard side, though not overly so. This was enjoyable, though nowhere nearly as good as the version from Trafiq.

Red Velvet Cake ($5.49):
3.5/5
The cream cheese frosting was thick, creamy and sweet, with a nice bit of tang. As was with the chocolate decadence, the cake was a bit on the dry side (and I personally also found it to be a bit too bright red for my liking).

Almond Croissant ($4.09):
N/A

Summary
Food: 3.5/5
Price: 4/5
Service: N/A
Overall: 3.5/5
Recommendations: Mango Raspberry Cheesecake, Sticky Toffee Slice

Hot turkey sandwich was fabulous. Generous portion. Roast turkey and stuffing is authentic and delist. Cranberry sauce a little tart if you like it that way. Friendly service.

Decent baked goods. Max's could be an American bakery. It's pastries are BIG -- sweet rolls the size of your hand (not just the size of your fist), croissants that are enough for two people to split, cookies puffed up with white flour and sugar. I don't mean that in a bad way, either. They're bounteous and tasty, not petite with concentrated flavours.

Max's has a wide range of pastries, and everything I've had has been decent, although not spectacular. They also do coffee and beverage service. Whatever your fancy, you'll probably be able to satisfy it at Max's. Their chocolate-almond croissants are eye-catching, with a snowdrift of almond flakes on top. If you heat them the chocolate gets runny, but they taste great and the croissant part has a good crunch when warmed.

I've never used Max's as a deli, even though it's close to where I live, because we cook at home more than buying prepared foods. Max's has a wide selection of casserole-type dishes, wet salads (i.e. potato salad, bean salad) and other savouries if you want to bring something home for dinner or lunch at work. They look OK, but nothing ever grabbed me so much that I said "I MUST eat that." They've got a large eat-in area if you're hungry for the sandwiches and ready-to-eat items they serve.