Toronto's best chocolate chip cookie

Heads up: This is the second last entry in our groundbreaking Coffee Crawl series. Next week, you, the readers, speak. Send your picks for favourite coffee shops where you live (and say why you love them) and we'll print them here.

So, I was strolling along a side street, en route to an afternoon latte at Ella's Uncle, a cute little grab 'n go coffee shop on Dundas Street, with sunny windows, a checkerboard floor, and something good always coming out of the oven. On the way there I see this kid walking towards me and think, "What a Michael Cera wannabe." But then, upon closer inspection, he turned out to be the real McCoy. And let me tell you: Cera definitely wears his own clothing in his movie roles. In fact, I think he was wearing one of the exact same outfits he wore in Superbad. 

Anyhow, I was just out for my latte fix, but as I went to pay the coffee guy I noticed these incredible-looking cookies under the glass cake dome.

"Are those chocolate chip?" I ask.

"They sure are," he smiles. "Just came out of the oven a half hour ago."

Sold! All-butter, with a crisp bottom, burnished edges, a dense centre full of melting chocolate, and all at not too sinful a size -- it made my day.

But I had to make sure it wasn't a fluke. So, fast-forward to later that week, I return to Ella's Uncle for another smooth organic latte and one more round of those killer cookies. I notice some oatmeal raisin, a couple of fruity looking scones, peanut butter cookies, but no chocolate chip. I am crestfallen. Crestfallen! 

"Um, don't you have any chocolate chip cookies today?" I ask, hopefully.

"We sure do," he points to a cookie sheet cooling in the open kitchen behind him. "Fresh from the oven."

Okay, it's declaration time: I hereby crown Ella's Uncle's cookies to be the new chocolate chip cookie kings of Toronto. Le Gourmand, your oversized cookies, riddled as they are with chocolate chunks, an almost raw centre and toasty exterior, have had a good run. But it's time to pass the torch. 

Latte: $2.75, cookie, $1.50

Pro: They have Ovaltine!

Con: There are a handful of stools, an al fresco bench and even free WiFi, but it's not really a space that encourages hang time.