I remember when the first Sugar Mountain store opened up in Toronto on Queen Street West in 1995. I…read morewas literally a kid in a candy store, lol. I remember being in awe of all the candy. I think it was the first time I was in a store dedicated to candy. The business has really grown and has many locations now, but every time I step into a Sugar Mountain, for a fleeting moment, I recapture the magic I felt, so many moons ago ;) This location is inside a mall, as is all locations in Ottawa now (we used to have a standalone store in the Byward Market, but that has long since closed down). The selection is similar to all Sugar Mountains with bulk candies, lots of Jelly Belly flavours, Pez dispensers and lots of imported candies that are harder to find in Canada. Most are imported from the UK. Prices are on the high side. So I refrain from buying candies here that I can get at the drugstore or grocery store for cheaper, but for the rarer candies, I'll occasionally splurge ;) Service is pleasant.

I love Purdy's Chocolate, but admittedly only discovered them when they opened their first store in…read moreOttawa back in 2014 despite being a pretty famous Canadian chocolate brand. They are based in Vancouver and all their chocolates are manufactured there. They use sustainable cocoa. They are famous for their Hedgehogs which are cute hedgehog-shaped chocolates with creamy hazelnut paste inside. Their chocolates are smooth and creamy and definitely tastier than the stuff you get at grocery stores and drugstores like Ganong and Russell Stover brands. This location is in the Bayshore Shopping Centre. All Purdy's locations in Ottawa are inside malls. They don't have any standalone locations. Admittedly, all the locations in Ottawa look the same. They are brightly lit with pre-boxed and prepackaged items along the walls and a glass display towards the centre showcasing all their chocolates that you can individually select. They also sell hard ice cream! Service is good. The chocolates are pricey, but great for a sometimes treat ;) (50)

Why oh why was this Purdy's location not in Yelp until now?? They've been in the Bayshore mall for…read more3 years or so! Well, it's time to change that now! From their website: "Canada's Chocolatier since 1907" - who knew? So let's backup a bit here: I got to sample Purdy's chocolates last year around this time, when a box went around the office choc full of a variety of goodies. How pretty! But one of the samples was salted caramel, which is my current favourite. You know what? That's one of the things I miss about working in an office, now that because of COVID we are working at home (if we are lucky enough to be able to do so!) - all the treats that make their way around. You know - the ones we complain about because they're so good and we're trying to watch our calories.... Yeah, right. Then the box of Purdy's shows up in your cubicle and you lose count! I've been dreaming about Purdy's salted caramels for nearly a year! So we needed to make a quick stop at the Bayshore Mall for other reasons besides chocolate :-) but this was the entrance we chose to enter into the building from... and suddenly, I was making a purchase of comfort food! We got a small bag of 10-12 truffles, including a dark and a milk chocolate salted caramel, and then found 3 or 4 more, and a $5.00 "Dear Santa" chocolate bar in support of sick kids, and the total cost was $24.00. Not cheap, but like I said, it's comfort food. And let's be serious: this would make great gifts for anyone! All this to say that the salted caramel was well worth it! I wonder how hard it would be to buy only 1 piece of chocolate next time I'm at Bayshore? I'll have to give this a try next time I go past. Definitely on my to do list. Speaking of which, I hope I'm not on the wrong list!!