The Fritter Shop

Inside one of my favourite places in London, The Western Fair Farmers' & Artisans' Market, lies a golden, sugar coated booth called The Fritter Shop. Serving all home-made and freshly baked pastries, they are home to one of the most delicious food inventions I have had to date, the brownie fritter. If you have not yet indulged in such a wondrous delicacy, a London staple if I do declare myself… I think it’s time to start getting out more.

The Story

Moving from the Netherlands in 2001, the Van Rijn family (Jaques, Anja and Kelvin) risked everything, selling their bakery in Amsterdam to start anew in Ontario. Starting up a small bakery in St. Thomas, The Dutch Bakery, they quickly integrated with our community, their now famous apple fritters quickly making a name for themselves.

In Holland, traditionally apple fritters are eaten only on New Year’s Eve. Lucky for us, Kelvin realized how much everyone was digging these, and pushed to start selling them as their main product.

Rebranding as The Fritter Shop just this past year, the bakery now carries 11 fritter flavors, and the list is growing! Bringing the authentic, old-style Dutch baking to London, I don’t doubt you’ll be scrounging the city weekly trying to find more of these bad boys.

The Scene

Only open on Saturdays, The Western Fair Market always draws in a large crowd. At peak visiting hours (10-1ish), you can bet you’ll find yourself in a line at The Fritter Shop. With many people taking home fritters by the dozen, you’ll want to keep your spot in line.

The Grub Okay, let’s get into it. What is a fritter? If you’re picturing a Tim Hortons Apple Fritter thing…erase that image from your mind please. They don’t compare.

The apple fritter is the OG fritter. A classic. It starts with a ring of real apple, sourced locally from an apple orchard in Blenheim. The center is filled with a homemade custard, and then everything is wrapped in a light pastry dough, fried until golden brown and lightly covered in a cinnamon sugar.

If apple’s not your thing, no worries. There are 10 amazing fritter flavours you can choose from, brownie being my personal favorite. Other flavours include, Blueberry, Strawberry-Rhubarb, Cherry, Chocolate-Banana, Peach, Lemon, Almond Deluxe (almond paste with custard filling) and Almond Banana (almond paste with real banana).

Now let me say, I am not really a dessert person. I am a savory kinda gal, and find most pastries too sweet. But these brownie fritters, which you think might push your stomach over the edge, are just the right amount of everything. Perfectly moist, crispy and sugary, they are a work of art.

The fritters are really the bread and butter here, but other pastries I would recommend trying include the Apple Cake, and the cream puffs. Homemade cream puffs….come on.

Find Your Fritter The Fritter Shop has been with the Western Fair Market since opening in 2008, but since expanding more and more shops in London carry the fritters. See the list below to find your closest Fritter hub. Fritter Shops: The Fritter Shop (Open Mon-Fri 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM, Sat-Sun 8:00 AM – 4:30 pm. 779 Talbot Street, St. Thomas, Ontario).

Western Fair market (Saturday’s only 8:00 AM – 3:00 PM. 900 King St., London, ON)

Shops Serving Fritters:

Fire Roasted Coffee (Daily. 3 locations. 136 Wortley Road, London, ON. 630 Dundas St. London, ON and 105 King St. London, ON).
Brescia College (Tuesday’s only. 1285 Western Road, London, ON)
Western University (The Great Hall. 1151 Richmond, London, ON)
Uncle Dad’s (Daily. 75 Admiral Drive, London, ON)
Harbour Merchant (Daily. 288 Bridge St, Port Stanley, ON)