6 of my favourite bakeries in London
...because there's simply nothing better than a good pastry to start the weekend
If you’re anything like me, waking up on the weekend - or, in fact, any day of the week - is made infinitely better by the promise of a good pastry. The joy of starting my morning with a perfectly fluffy cardamom bun can quite literally dictate my mood for the rest of the day.
There are plenty of artisan bakeries in London to choose from (and there seem to be new ones popping up across the city each week!), but the 6 I’ve shared below are my long-time favourites for a reason: I’ve consistently visited each of them time and time again, and never been disappointed.
This is quite possibly my favourite bakery in London, thanks in part to its proximity to my home. Perched at the top of Notting Hill’s Portobello Road, Layla is open every day of the week, and there’s always a good mix of pastries on offer. Choose from cinnamon buns, dense cookies, and all kinds of croissants (interesting flavour combos are always guaranteed, with pistachio pain suisse and wild garlic cheese scrolls being two fan favourites). At lunchtime, hefty sourdough sandwiches are also rolled out - and you can take home loaves of sourdough too. Note that there’s no room to sit inside, but there are plenty of tables outside for spilling onto.
Pophams specialises in viennoiserie, and has a handful of bakeries across east London. I’m not a diehard croissant fan (I will usually opt for a cardamom bun or cookie as my first choice), but on the rare occasion that I feel like a flakey pastry, Pophams is my first port of call. Aside from classic viennoiserie, you’ll always find unique flavour combinations on offer: think Marmite cheese scroll and ’ndjua, ricotta and honey croissant. There are always seasonal specials on the menu, along with sourdough sandwiches. Their London Fields branch has the most space to sprawl: make sure to skip the queue by getting here early on a weekend. In the evenings at this particular outpost, they also serve a dinner menu, which centres around delicious handmade pasta.
Arome has two branches in central London: Marylebone and Covent Garden. In both, you’ll find expertly executed French patisserie incorporating South East Asian flavours: gula melaka coconut buns, egg custard tarts, and Japanese BBQ hotdog croissants are all regular features on the counter. Croissant lovers will appreciate the ridiculously flakey viennoiserie, while the signature honey French toast is an absolute game-changer: a thick slice of Japanese milk bread encrusted in caramel.
