Our food reporter picks the top 5 Distillery Christmas market treats (don’t miss the apple fritters)

Detailed summary

Heading to the Distillery District’s Winter Village? Here are five must-try food options, from a $6 apple fritter to holiday hot chocolate.

When it comes to food at the Distillery District’s Winter Village, which runs until Jan. 3, the options run the gamut from $45 A5 Wagyu sandos and Yorkshire pudding burritos to more subdued poutines and bratwursts.

After perusing the dozens of booths, there are a few holiday specials that strike a balance between feeling like a once-a-year treat and not cutting too deeply into your holiday budget. Here are five things to check out.

The theatre concessions are under a pink theme to go with its holiday run of the rom-com Parfumerie. There’s the aforementioned Pink Velvet Hot Chocolate ($13, with the option to add a shot of rum for $6), but what caught my attention was the Christmas Tree Croissant ($7.30), made by Scarborough’s La Bastille French Bakery (a great patisserie if you haven’t been). The coil of croissant has a marshmallow fluff centre and is given a spritz of edible pink shimmer for an extra bit of magic. The theatre’s lobby also happens to be where you can take a picture with Santa (he, too, was curious about the croissant when I showed it to him).

The St. Lawrence Market staple has a stall at the Winter Village this year offering (what else?) its classic Canadian peameal bacon sandwich ($13.95). Simple, juicy slabs of peameal in a plain bun with a side of honey mustard. It might be plain compared to the more Instagram-bait offerings at the other booths, but for those visiting from out of town, it’s a rite of passage to have a peameal sandwich. The apple fritter ($6) is also worth saving room for. Oversized and dotted with chunks of apple, it’s a delightful shareable dessert made by Colborne’s most famous roadside attraction, The Big Apple. Ask for it to be heated up slightly when ordering.

The Taiwanese bao stall has a mala hot pot-inspired Hi Di Bao, created in part with local food content creator Wallace Wong, available from Nov. 16 to Nov. 30 ($18.99).

If you’re eating sugary desserts, the havarti-cheddar grilled cheese with a cup of creamy squash soup and…

Opening of the article, excerpted from Toronto Star. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.