Canada: Tim Hortons

Canada; big country, small population, one national dish: Poutine (chips with gravy and cheese curds). Unfortunately, Poutine is impossible to find in the UK.  I, along with every Canadian ex-pat in London have been unable to find a place that serves up this most Canadian of dishes. Legend has it that Canadian pub The Maple Leaf in Covent Garden once served a very poor version of Poutaine, but that was before the new management took over and turned it into a tacky theme pub.

So giving up on the Poutaine I turned to the other Canadian dietary staple Tim Hortons Doughnuts. Tim Hortons (or Timmies as it is lovingly known) is a massively sucessful chain of doughnut and coffiee shops.  There are nearly 3000 shops in Canada alone with another 550 in the northern USA, several franchises in the UK and even a shop on the Canadian Military base in Afghanistan.   In fact Canadians love Timmies so much that when I was in Toronto a few years ago our tour guide gave us a 20 minute lecture on the history of Tim Horton and his company.

A few years ago when the first Timmies franchises started popping up in the UK, the Canadian ex-pat community got very excited.  And if you want to see for your self what all the fuss is about I suggest you head down to the unlikely location of a Spar convenience store off Picadilly Circus to find out.

The small display stand in the middle of the shop holds 6 varieties of Tim Hortons doughnuts - all fluffy and light on the inside and covered in sugar or chocolate.  I ate one and I liked it.  Whether they are better or worse than any other doughnut is for you to decide.  But I defy you to tell 34,000,000 Canadians that Tim Horton's aren't the best doughnuts in the world, ever.

Address: Spar, 58 Haymarket, London, SW1Y 4RN
Telephone: 020 7930 2522
Tube: Picadilly Circus (Bakerloo, Picadilly)
Bus: Lots of buses stop here, check the TFL website for a full list
Car:  There is very restircted parking in the area, proably better to take public transport.




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