King of Dates Sweets & Bakery

Tucked away in a Millwoods strip mall deep in the southwest corner of Edmonton, King of Dates is literally a hidden find. But due to the largely East Indian and Arabic residents in the area – as well as sweet-toothed foodies elsewhere in the city – the sweets and bakery shop has become a local favourite.

The family-owned business is a popular food destination precisely because it's different. Almost all of the sweets sold in the shop – whether they be squares, cookies, baklava or morsels the size of chocolates you'd find in a box of Pot of Gold– all have dates as a primary ingredient. One popular item, a hollowed date stuffed with walnuts and pistachios, dipped in chocolate and sprinkled with a choice of saffron coconut or slivered pistachios, was a popular gift around Valentine's Day. "All the sweets we make in-house," says Mateen Jannesar, who owns King of Dates with his parents. "We specialize in dates, hence the name. Any kind of dates that you can think of we have."