The best bakeries in London

"Единственное счастье в жизни — это постоянное стремление вперед." Эмиль Золя

  • The best bakeries in London

    Fabrique Bakery

    Take-home treat: Levain with Gruyère and Kalamata olives

    At this Swedish bakery, fika comes more than recommended. The buns are the specialty: cinnamon, cardamom or saffron – all of which come with gooey warm centres. The sourdough and organic rye breads are also excellent, as is the cranberry and Gouda loaf. The original outpost is tucked away below Hoxton Overground station on a perfectly picturesque cobblestoned street – a great spot to enjoy a cup of Johan & Nyström coffee and a beautifully knotted bun before work.


    Address: Fabrique Bakery, Arch 385, Geffrye Street, Shoreditch, London E2 8HZ


    Telephone: +44 20 7033 0268


    Website: fabrique.co.uk


    Other locations: Fitzrovia, Notting Hill, Covent Garden

  • The best bakeries in London

    Flor

    Take-home treat: lardy bun

    Lyles was recently announced as the 33rd best restaurant in the world, and now chef James Lowe and GM John Ogierteam have opened Flor, a bakery-meets-wine bar in Borough Market. As Lyle’s more casual sister spot, the light-filled space transitions from doughy baked goods in the morning to daily changing sharing plates for lunch and supper. Pastries from head baker Anna Higham include brioche filled with sourdough caramel and birch-syrup kouign amann and the tangiest sourdough on the market.

    Address: Flor, 1 Bedale Street, Borough Market, London SE1 9AL


    Telephone: +44 20 3319 8144


    Website: florlondon.com

  • The best bakeries in London

    Bread Ahead

    Take-home treat: the donuts and cinnamon rolls

    Bread Ahead made their name by serving bread to local fruit-and-veg suppliers in Borough Market. They are best known for their fluffy, sweet-filled donuts (salted caramel, jam, Nutella) but they also make an extravagant cinnamon roll and soft powdered amaretti that are nothing like the store-bought rocks. Head to their Soho outpost for a taste of brioche French toast and a cheesy croque monsieur or take a course at the Bread Ahead baking school in Borough Market and learn their sourdough secrets.

    Address: Bread Ahead, 21 Beak Street, Soho, London W1F 9RR


    Telephone: +44 20 7403 5444


    Website: breadahead.com


    Other locations: Borough Market, Chelsea

  • The best bakeries in London

    Pophams Bakery

    Take-home treat: laminated maple-bacon croissant

    Pophams Bakery really did pop right into the heart of Islington when it opened its doors in October 2017. With major social media fame for their laminated pastries, and with the maple-bacon croissant leading the pack, Pophams have opened a second permanent spot on the Richmond Road in Hackney. There is also open kitchen along with a chef’s table and pasta bar (for a new dinner service) headed up by current baker Phil King.

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    VIDEO: How to make Pophams Bakery’s famous Marmite and cheese swirl

    Address: Pophams, 19 Prebend Street, Islington, London N1 8PF


    Website: pophamsbakery.com


    Other locations: Hackney

  • The best bakeries in London

    St. John Bakery

    Take-home treat: raspberry-jam doughnut

    Fergus Henderson’s St John Bread and Wine in Spitalfields, is a classic London restaurant. Regulars visit for the nose-to-tail menu: expect bone marrow, terrine and cuts of the highest quality meat. The St John Group opened their first stand-alone bakery on Druid Street in Bermondsey in 2010 with a second opening in Covent Garden a few years later. The ingredients are sourced from local suppliers, with dairy from Neal’s Yard just around the corner. Be sure to get your hands on their doughnuts, the jam filling changes seasonally, and when Easter comes around, their hot cross buns are some of the best in the city.

    Address: St John Bakery, 3 Neal’s Yard, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9DP


    Telephone: +44 20 7553 9844


    Website: stjohnrestaurant.com


    Other locations: Bermondsey

  • The best bakeries in London

    Jacob the Angel

    Take-home treat: coconut cream pie

    One door along Neal’s Yard from Covent Garden’s Middle Eastern favourite The Barbary is the restaurant’s bakery brother, the English coffee house Jacob the Angel. The space is filled with only a few tables, and plates piled high with fresh rainbow-coloured salads. Savoury options include generously filled sandwiches (try the chicken, rose harissa, whipped feta and rocket) and spinach, leek and nutmeg bourekas – but be sure to save room for the individual coconut cream pies, of which only 30 are made each day.

    Address: Jacob the Angel, 16½ Neal’s Yard, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9DP


    Website: jacobtheangel.co.uk

  • The best bakeries in London

    Brick House Bakery

    Take-home treat: the Peckham Rye

    Set in an old electric warehouse in East Dulwich, Brick House Bakery provides the artisanal benchmark for San Francisco-style slow-fermentation sourdough bread. The walls are whitewashed, and indeed made of brick, and the large glass windows flood natural light on to the bakers hard at work in the back. The bread is handmade and kneaded over two days and eventually baked on a stone, all with organic flour. Regulars opt for the Peckham Rye, which sells out by midday so do head there early. Sandwiches, avocado toast and pastries are also all on offer. Walk your breakfast off with a trip to the Dulwich Picture Gallery, the world’s first purpose-built public art gallery, founded in 1811.

    Address: Brick House Bakery, 1 Zenoria Street, East Dulwich, London SE22 8HP


    Telephone: +44 20 8693 2031


    Website: brickhousebread.com


    Other locations: Peckham Rye

  • The best bakeries in London

    The Dusty Knuckle Bakery

    Take-home treat: house sourdough

    Two words: the sandwiches. What used to be housed in an old shipping container, behind the Arcola Theatre in Dalston, is now just across the lot in an airy brick and steel café. There is a cult following for lunchtime made-to-order sandwiches so we recommend heading there before 1pm. The fillings are inventive and favourites include porchetta, salsa verde, braised spring onion and purple sprouting broccoli, chard, olives, feta and almonds on doughy focaccia bread. Morning buns, turnovers and savoury breads are also on the menu. Look out for their recently set-up baking school, and get your hands rolling.

    Address: The Dusty Knuckle, Abbot Street, Dalston, London E8 3DP


    Telephone: +44 20 3903 7598


    Website: thedustyknuckle.com

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  • The best bakeries in London

    Violet Cakes

    Take-home treat: whoopie pies

    Violet has risen to serious fame after head baker and owner Claire Ptak was chosen to bake the lemon and elderflower wedding cake for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding last year. Yet with all of the attention, Violet has kept its sweet Dalston charm since its days as a stall in Broadway Market. Cakes can be made to order but we suggest heading over to Ptak’s east London shop for her cupcakes and whoopie pies, two biscuity cake sides topped and filled with seasonal buttercream (salted caramel, melted Valrhona dark chocolate, fresh fruit purée) – all made with organic and low intervention ingredients.

    Address: Violet Cakes, 47 Wilton Way, Dalston, London E8 3ED


    Telephone: +44 20 7275 8360


    Website: violetcakes.com

  • The best bakeries in London

    Margot Bakery

    Take-home treat: tahini and halva babka

    The brainchild of two locals (a baker and designer), where Muuto lamps and handmade patterned tiles cover the floor. Sourdough is the specialty and a small team of bakers take three to four days to bake each of Margot’s signature breads: sourdough staples and takes on classic ryes. This is a destination bakery with a focus on ingredients. Make your way over to East Finchley for a taste of the tahini and halva, chocolate and cinnamon babkas and the changing sourdough pastries (twice-baked apple croissants).

    Address: Margot Bakery, 121 East End Road, East Finchley, London N2 0SZ


    Telephone: +44 20 8883 6741


    Website: margotbakery.co.uk

    SÖDERBERG

    Take-home treats: knotted buns

    These buns are so good that there are seven Swedish-inspired Söderbergs in Edinburgh. And now one of Scotland’s most popular bakeries has made its way to London’s Soho. Really you’re here for one thing: the cinnamon or cardamom knotted buns. But regulars will know that the seasonal Bakewell tarts are very good too. Try the raspberry almond tart with your flat white from Sweden-based Johan & Nyström roaster.

    Address: Söderberg, 36 Berwick Street, Soho, London W1F 8RR


    Telephone: +44 20 7287 2111


    Website: soderberg.uk

  • The best bakeries in London

    E5 Bakehouse

    Take-home treat: the Hackney Wild

    Crowds flock to this Hackney hotspot for the mistake-turned-specialty bread, the Hackney Wild, a blend of heritage and modern wheat grains, which apparently is chef Michel Roux Jr’s favourite in the city. Housed in a Hackney railway arch, the café/school is completely committed to sustainability and high-quality goods. All the bread is made by hand with organic and locally sourced ingredients and packaged in biodegradable products. The menu changes daily: from sausage rolls and spanakopita to sourdough pizzas and lemon drizzle cakes.


    Address: E5 Bakehouse, Arch 395, Mentmore Terrace, Hackney, London E8 3PH


    Telephone: +44 20 8525 2890


    Website: e5bakehouse.com

    DOMINIQUE ANSEL BAKERY

    Take-home treat: the cronut of the month


    Dominique Ansel will not reopen in 2020


    When Dominique Ansel invented the cronut (a croissant crossed with a doughnut) in 2013, hundreds of people lined the streets of Lower Manhattan just to get a taste. Across the Pond, he’s created cookie-and-milk shots and frozen s’mores on sticks too. And the Belgravia bakery is now a destination for one of the best afternoon teas in London, which is served in its beautiful garden terrace. Opt for the classic service which comes with both savoury choux buns and sweet chocolate confections, as well as warm, doughy scones and chilled chocolate strawberries filled with jam and clotted cream. This is not a traditional bakery, though – Ansel is also famous for his exploding marshmallow flowers, seasonal soft serve and fluffy mini madeleines.

    Address: Dominique Ansel Bakery, 17-21 Elizabeth Street, Belgravia, London SW1W 9RP


    Telephone: +44 20 7324 7705


    Website: dominiqueansellondon.com

  • The best bakeries in London

    Pavilion

    Take-home treat: almond croissant

    This always-bustling lakeside café dishes up an all-day breakfast menu, in which full fry-ups, Sri Lankan hoppers and classic avocado toast are among the staples. This is a place for a long-weekend morning in Victoria Park but if you’re on the go, head to their two other East London bakeries, on Broadway Market and Columbia Road, for fresh breads and flaky pastries. If you find yourself in Cornwall, their Newquay location is a pilgrimage for loyal followers.

  • The best bakeries in London

    Jolene

    Take-home treat: fruit danish (changes seasonally)

    From the team behind restaurants Primeur and Westerns Laundry comes Jolene, a bakery but also an all-day dining spot in leafy Newington Green. The focus here is on the grain, which is chemical-free. With a stone mill onsite, they make their own flour in-house using 100 percent unaltered grains grown sustainably on farms in Sussex and Norfolk. The line-up includes raisin bread, sausage rolls, financiers, chocolate and Guinness cake and cinnamon buns. For brunch, the fried eggs with jamon and potatoes prove very popular.

    Address: Jolene, 22 Newington Green, London N16 9PU


    Telephone: +44 20 3887 2309


    Website: jolenen16.com

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  • The best bakeries in London

    The Dusty Knuckle Bakery

  • The best bakeries in London

    St John Bakery

  • The best bakeries in London

    Jacob the Angel

  • The best bakeries in London

    Brick House Bakery

  • The best bakeries in London

    Pophams Bakery

  • The best bakeries in London

    Brick House Bakery

  • The best bakeries in London

    Bread Ahead

  • The best bakeries in London

    Brick House Bakery

  • The best bakeries in London

    Pophams Bakery

  • The best bakeries in London

    Brick House Bakery

  • The best bakeries in London

    Margot Bakery

  • The best bakeries in London

    Jolene