Pan Chancho Bakery and Café is located at 44 Princess street, across from Coffee and Company. It originally started out as a small bakery, baking bread for Chez Piggy. But now it’s one part bakery, one part deli, one part café – and all parts delightful.
The front area of the building is where they house the baked goods and deli items. There are all kinds of wonderful breads: baguettes, olive and rosemary loaf, foccacia … pastries like pain au chocolate, scones, biscotti, hot cross buns, muffins, and croissants. The deli section serves up takeout sidedishes like black bean salsa, marinated olives, wild smoked salmon, salads and much more. They also have some incredible soups for takeout and a wide assortment of imported cheeses.
Last but not least, there is an amazing dessert section — with cheesecakes, cakes, pies, profiteroles .. everything sinfully delicious.
In the back of the building, and upstairs as well, is one of Kingston’s best kept secrets. Pan Chancho operates as wonderful full service restaurant, known as The Café. In the summer they have a big patio open out back, and sometimes host great live bands. The food is incredible (try their famous Stilton Paté Burger with Frites) the staff is friendly, and the atmosphere can’t be beat.
The Chanch is also a great place for sleepy breakfasts during the week. You can have any of the pasteries from the bakery served in the cafe. Their lattes are cheap and enourmous and come with a little biscotti on the side. I can’t think of a better place to go for an early cup of java, on a rainy spring morning. On the weekend they are packed for brunch, so make sure to arrive with lots of time to spare, or make a reservation. Try the three egg torta!
While Pan Chancho certainly isn’t cheap, it’s worth it every now and again (students do receive 15% off when they show their student id). If you are in the mood for great food, fresh bread, or just a little local colour, then it’s a worthwhile trip down Princess Street.
We recommend: If you manage to wake up early, head down to the Chanch right when they open and grab a pain au chocolate fresh from the oven. The pastry is still warm and the chocolate melted.
Phone: 613-544-7790
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I recently visited this local Kingston haunt with my Mom for a late morning snack. The lighting was beautiful that day. We enjoyed some organic tea and some scones – yum. However, getting up to the dining area was somewhat of a challenge. I am not sure who designed the place but they obviously lacked common sense. When one enters there is a wall of bread & baskets and a wall of people all jumbled up tripping over one another. If you wanted to quickly stop in to purchase only bread – be prepared! If you can get through the maze of people at the breads, to the left is the cash register to pay with display windows in the galley to the exit but ALSO filled with hoards of customer all walking in circles. It is a challenge also to push through the people to view the wares in the glassed in area. Then you encounter a line of people squished in a tiny stairwell (at same time reading Globe & Mail) whilst waiting to be seated in the dining area. This stairwell is the same the servers use for the dining area. Bad idea – too too narrow for anyone. If you can make it to the cash you are lucky as they have a one-way door to exit which you must navigate through hoards of people to exit, very disorganized at payment area as well. Even though the experience of dining was delightful (food only – the servers are distant and unfriendly), I would not drag my 84 year old mother through that exhausting experience again. If anyone from the establishment reads this – GET A SEPARATE ENTRANCE FOR DINERS!