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London's bakery scene is as hot as its ovens. Whether you're after the best sourdough, seasonal patisserie or inspired cakes and pies, here's our pick of the very best independent bakeries in town.
Central London
Populations Bakery
Corner Shop on the Strand and Rosslyn Coffee shops
Self-taught baker George Fuest is the brainchild behind the baking element at London's insanely popular Corner Shop at 180 Studios, the grocery by Nick Jones. Having started as a micro bakery with regular 'drops' he's now progressed to supplying Corner Shop. At the heart of his offering is the genetically diverse wheat he works with but he also keeps his other suppliers close, like his brother who provides the Exmoor honey he uses. George's croissants are deservedly famous, but his Earl Grey pain au raisin is also a must-have.
Follow on Instagram: @populations.bakery
Happy Sky Bakery
Fitzrovia and Hammersmith
Run by Japanese baker Motoko McNulty who moved from catering into baking, this Japanese bakery's reputation has spread way beyond London. In addition to milk loaves and matcha mochi bows they do a nice line in sandos too.
Follow on Instagram: @happyskybakery
Bagieriet
Covent Garden - 24 Rose St, London WC2E 9EA
Tucked down pretty Rose Street in Covent Garden this Swedish bakery turns out everything from exemplary cinnamon buns to wonderful strapssnitt (treacle biscuits). They're particularly strong on seasonal specials, around Christmas and Lent and the perfect spot for a fika.
Follow on Instagram: @bageriet_london
Arome
Covent Garden - 9 Mercer Street. Mayfair - 27 Duke Street.
Arome is inspired by French patisserie techniques, but uses Asian ingredients. Top sellers are the honey butter toast and miso bacon escargot. There's always a queue, just make sure you join the right one if you only want to grab and go.
Follow on Instagram: @aromebakerylondon
Cedric Grolet at The Berkeley
Knightsbridge - Wilton Pl, London SW1X 7RL
You’ll often see this billed on social as London’s most expensive bakery and, for sure, master baker Cedric Grolet’s pastries don’t come cheap, but they are quite extraordinary. The fruit cakes in particular look indistinguishable from the real thing. For a special treat, book yourself a seat at the chef’s counter and watch the magic first-hand.
Follow on Instagram: @cedricgroletlondon
Miel Bakery
Fitzrovia - 60-61 Warren St, London W1T 5NU
Owner and chef Shaheen Peerbhai trained up at Le Cordon Bleu and the Centre de Formation d'Alain Ducasse and won two prestigious James Beard Foundation scholarships before opening her bakery on Warren Street. They have a range of bread, cookies and viennoiserie - we can highly recommend the pistachio financiers and double chocolate Valrhona cookies.
Follow on Instagram: @mielbakery
Toklas Cafe & Bakery
Temple - 9 Surrey St, London WC2R 2ND
The Toklas empire, just off the Strand, includes this wonderful bakery focusing on sourdough with seven varieties to choose from. Look out for seasonal specials too like their sour cherry swirls or chocolate and blood orange danishes.
Follow on Instagram: @toklas_bakery
Chestnut Bakery
Belgravia, Covent Garden and Piccadilly
Chestnut's talented team has been pulled from baking institutions across London and the proof is in the baking; their croissants have won the best in London award two years in a row. The bread offering is particularly strong. In addition to baguettes, you'll find Moroccan bread, simit and Turkish flatbreads.
Follow on Instagram: @chestnut.bakery
Fortitude Bakehouse
Bloomsbury - 35 Colonnade, London WC1N 1JD
The USP at baker Dee Rettali's Bloomsbury bakehouse is that the cakes she and her team make all use either sourdough starters or fermented batters. The offering changes regularly - when they're sold out, they close - but recent bakes have included orange & almond cake with mascarpone and clementine curd along with an apple, hazelnut crumble and cinnamon cream Danish. The beignets are extremely popular and the downside is that there's almost always a queue.
Follow on Instagram: @fortitudebakehouse
North London
Quince Bakery
Islington - 267 New N Rd, London N1 7AA
Having run the bakery at the much-missed Flor before becoming Executive Pastry Chef at The River Café, baker Anna Higham knows what Londoners want in terms of baked goods. Quince is, first and foremost, a British bakery so all the stoneground flour is UK-grown and the cakes and pastries are seasonally-focused. So in January there'll be forced rhubarb buns, while autumn might bring plum and apple cobblers. One of the best bakeries in the city.
Follow on Instagram: @quince.bakery
Tarn Bakery
Highgate - 83 Hazellville Rd, London N19 3NB
With experience at Flor, Pophams and St Barts on their CVs, chef and baker Felix and Florin opened their bakery up on the Highgate/Archway border with plenty of know-how when it comes to making gorgeous bread and cakes that everyone wants to try. Best of all, a visit is a calorie-neutral experience when you factor in having ambled up the nearby Parkland Walk to get here.
Follow on Instagram: @tarnbakery_
Astrid Bakery
Muswell Hill - 118a and 114 Alexandra Park Rd, London N10 2AH
Baker Charlotte O’Kelly describes her original Muswell Hill shop as London’s tiniest bakery - after all it started as just a hatch serving up her legendary croissants and more. She's just opened the doors to Atelier Astrid a few doors down where the offering has expanded to include pizzas, and there are a few stools if you want to sit in to enjoy your purchases.
Follow on Instagram: @astrid__bakery
Sourdough Sophia
Crouch End, Islington, Highgate and Hampstead
One of London’s lockdown stars turned business success stories, Sophia Sutton Jones and her husband Jesse are keeping busy serving up great bread and pastries to North Londoners. Not only is the bread in question great, but Sophia doesn’t gatekeep that knowledge, her online and 1:1 courses are very popular.
Follow on Instagram: @sourdoughsophia
Boulangerie Pierre Alix
Muswell Hill and Islington
Normandy-born baker Pierre comes from a family embedded in all things bread - his great-grandparents were millers and his great uncle was a baker. All of his sourdough breads are made using organic flour but we're also big fans of his patisserie too, those canelés are just so good!
Follow on Instagram: @boulangerie_pierrealix
Baban's Naan
Finsbury Park - 51a, Blackstock Rd, London N4 2JW
Baban's Naan has been a Finsbury Park mainstay for years, but social media has brought it to wider attention. Simply put, they serve up some of the best naan in London, made to order right in front of you. It's also extremely cheap. Best eaten asap while still warm (speaking from experience) and you can get falafel wrapped in the naan here too.
Follow them on Instagram @babans.naan
Happening Bagel Bakery
Finsbury Park - 284A Seven Sisters Rd, London N4 2AA
London's bagel game is extremely strong, from Stamford Hill to Brick Lane, our output rivals anywhere in the world. But we'll admit to having a particular fondness for this all-night bakery in Finsbury Park where the bagels are super fresh - and usually hot - no matter what time of day or night you come.
Margot Bakery
East Finchley and Highgate
This East Finchley bakery is the creation of two locals who steadily built up the business to grow a reputation that now brings people across town to them. Sourdough makes an appearance across the board, including in the pastries. Top non-bread draws include their babkas, sourdough brioche cinnamon buns and Danishes, and lots more limited editions.
They also run the Holloway Model Bakery, just off Holloway Road.
Follow on Instagram: @margotbakery
The Spence Bakery
Stoke Newington - 161 Stoke Newington Church St, London N16 0UH
It's hard to know what Stokey folk would do without this gorgeous bakery on their doorstep. There's a reason why there's always a queue outside, whatever day of the week you tip up. If you're not a fan of sourdough, the traditional white tin here is amazing, and the bacon and egg brioche rolls for breakfast are a must-try.
Follow on Instagram: @spencebakery
South London
Chatsworth Bakehouse
Crystal Palace - 116 and 120a Anerley Rd, London SE19 2AN
Lucky Crystal Palace folk have two Chatsworth bakeries to queue outside of a weekend. The original is where to go for their Insta-worthy focaccia sandwiches, which get more hype than a Palace drop. The newer bakery is more of a grab-and-go place for their seasonal pastries and pies. From blood orange buns to tartiflette turnovers, this should be on every bakery nerd's visit list.
Follow on Instagram: @chatsworthbakehouse
Gaya Bakery
Putney - 253 Putney Bridge Rd, London SW15 2PU
Like most of London's best bakeries, Gaya started life as a one person operation with baker Gaya Vara creating gorgeous cakes to order. Describing herself as a cake artist, Gaya's bakes are incredibly pleasing to look at. Happily they're just as good to eat. Cupcakes are a speciality here, recent ones have featured single origin Peruvian chocolate and Arbequina olive oil, but you can also buy larger bakes to take home and act like you slaved over them all day.
Follow on Instagram: @gaya.bakery
Aries Bakehouse
Brixton - 99 Acre Lane, Brixton Hill, London SW2 5TU
This artisan bakery in Brixton has quietly developed an intensely loyal fanbase. Owner and baker Jackie is Brixton born and bred and her range here covers everything from seasonal bakes like blackberry and pine Chantilly pastries to the jerk chicken sausage rolls that usually mean queues at the weekends.
Follow on Instagram: @ariesbakehouse
Milk Run
Balham - 16-18 Ritherdon Rd, London SW17 8QD
Billed as the bakery baby sister to popular Balham cafe Milk, this is a good place to stop in and grab a superlative Danish and coffee to go. The patisserie counter selection here looks like a work of art but not so much so that you couldn’t seriously contemplate diving head-first into it. Toasties are also worth checking out.
Follow on Instagram: @milkrunldn
Mahali
Battersea - Ground Floor Retail, 24 Battersea Park Rd, London SW11 4HY
Right off the bat, word on this South London bakery was good - the kind of good that means you’re going to have to jump on the train to Battersea Park and go check it out. This bakery is a great example of the creativity that comes out of a cross-pollination of cultures with influences from China, Australia and the Philippines. Lemongrass, pandan and kaffir lime are all among the flavours you’ll find employed in the patisserie.
Follow on Instagram: @mahaliandco
Maya's Bakehouse
Tulse Hill - 37 Tulse Hill, London SW2 2TJ
Ballymaloe-trained chef Maya Manwaring pivoted from home baker to bakery owner following a successful crowdfunding. Here in Tulse Hill her sourdough is legendary but she’s also won quite the fanbase for her seasonal bakes and signature focaccias.
Follow on Instagram: @mayasbakehouse
Bunhead Bakery
Herne Hill - 145 Dulwich Rd, London SE24 0NG
At her Herne Hill bakery, baker Sara Assad-Mannings is all about exploring her British/Palestinian heritage through the medium of baking. So if you’re already partial to a great cinnamon bun, you might fancy trying the rose and cardamom version here, or her amazing knafeh. Recent bakes have also included Mahleb toffee & sour cherry brownies.
Follow on Instagram: @thebunheadbakery
Eric's
East Dulwich - 20 Upland Rd, London SE22 9EF
Baker Helen Evans picked up a stellar reputation at Flor before opening her own bakery. It's a small neighbourhood affair and concentrates on championing UK-grown wheat. Here you'll find top-drawer croissants and Danish pastries as well as limited edition options, like greengage, brown sugar custard and oat streusel brioche buns.
Follow on Instagram: @ericslondon
Toad Bakery
Camberwell - 44 Peckham Rd, London SE5 8PX
Originally known as Frog before legal proceedings forced a change, this popular Peckham bakery is run by bakers Rebecca Spaven and Oliver Costello, who honed their craft at the likes of Ottolenghi and Fortitude Bakehouse. Expect super-seasonally influenced patisserie from quince, sausage and cavolo swirls in winter to pea quiches in the summer.
Follow on Instagram: @toadbakery
East London
Forno
Hackney - 322 Andrews Rd, London E8 4RP
London's obsession with maratozzi shows no signs of waning and some of the best in town can be found here at Forno. Head chef Mitshel Ibrahim - who also runs Forno and Brillo - brings his Milanese experience to the fore with a range that includes everything from pitch-perfect panettone in the festive season through to seasonal pastries like pumpkin-spiced cornettos.
Follow on Instagram: @forno.london
The Snapery East
Hackney - Arch 373 Helmsley Place, London E8 3SB
Owner and chef Christoffer Hruskova moved from running a Michelin-starred restaurant to opening this Danish bakery (formerly known as The Bread Station) in London Fields. The breads here are baked without yeast or additives, using traditional Danish baking techniques. They do great Danish rye, seeded sourdough and the marvellously-named Hindbaersnitter which is a raspberry Danish pastry.
Follow on Instagram: @thesnapery.east
Dusty Knuckle
Dalston, Green Lanes and Highbury Fields
Dusty Knuckle is among the very upper echelons of London bakers with both its Dalston and Haringey branches worth a visit. Sourdough is the big seller. We can't help being partisan because we think their potato sourdough is one of our favourite loaves in London and their cinnamon morning buns are pretty great too. They also have a van in Highbury Fields selling sandwiches and bread.
Follow on Instagram: @thedustyknuckle
E5 Bakehouse
Hackney - 396 Mentmore Terrace, London E8 3PH
E5 Bakehouse are one of London's premier sourdough providers and you'll find them in many a restaurant too. The range also includes a spelt loaf, rye breads and buns and plenty of top-drawer pastries. Brunch at their cafe is very popular, and they have also have a coffee roastery and sister bakery in Poplar.
Follow on Instagram: @e5bakehouse
Little Bread Pedlar
Bermondsey, Primrose Hill and Chalk Farm
Little Bread Pedlar are another big supplier of London restaurants, and at their Bermondsey and Primrose Hill bakeries, you'll find sourdough, baguettes, rosemary focaccia and more. On the pastry side, look out for their Kouign Amann in particular.
Follow on Instagram: @lbpedlar
Yeast
Cambridge Heath - Unit 1, Canal Place, 1-3 Sheep Ln, London E8 4QS
Co-owners Ben Keane and Angela Chan are obsessed with viennoiserie, the croissant in particular. Having spent the company’s formative years supplying the city’s restaurants and cafes, they then took on their own canalside space just off Broadway Market. The cercle is their take on the viral supreme croissant and is well worth looking out for.
Follow on Instagram: @yeastbakery
West London
Don't Tell Dad
Queen's Park - 10-14 Lonsdale Rd, London NW6 6RD
Owner Daniel Land played a blinder when opening his Queen’s Park bakery and restaurant by persuading Head Baker Keren Stenberg away from Layla. Keren’s daily offering starts with classic patisserie and takes it in a new direction so the croissant might be a hazelnut brown butter one, and scones might come as a rye and sour cherry iteration.
Follow on Instagram: @donttelldad_qp
Kuro Bakery
Notting Hill - 95 Notting Hill Gate, London W11 3JZ (and also Harvey Nichols)
Formerly an old magazine kiosk, this Notting Hill spot serves up a daily offering including sourdough, pastries and Japanese milk bread Shokupan. All of their bread and pastries are made using Wild Farmed flour. They also do a very popular line in filled bagels. Most recently, they opened a new bakery inside Harvey Nichols.
Follow on Instagram: @kuro_london
Layla Bakery
Notting Hill and Acton
Bringing that East London bakery vibe to West London, Layla places a big emphasis on sourcing and sustainability with flours from Wildfarmed helping to make their amazing sourdoughs, which are all baked on-site, and pastries. Right now, the gochujang & soy caramel pastries are definitely life-enhancing.
Follow on Instagram: @layla_w10
Tetote Factory (closing 28 March)
Ealing - 12 S Ealing Rd, London W5 4QA
This South Ealing bakery makes amazing Japanese breads, cakes and pastries - if you want to make sure something is going to be in stock, like their sweet azuki bean buns, then order ahead. They also do French baguettes which are the stuff of legend in these parts. Sadly, though they're about to close for good, so go while you can.
Photo by: @aririsoo
Follow on Instagram; @tetote__factory
Various locations
It's Bagels
Primrose Hill, Soho and Notting Hill
The arrival of this NYC-style bagel bakery took North London by storm when it opened its first place in Primrose Hill. Locals and A-listers were to be found in the perma-queue and that hype was sustained when it opened more branches. They now do a nice line in cream cheese schmears to go with those bagels.
Follow on Instagram: @its__bagels
Fabrique
Various locations
Fabrique hails from Stockholm, originally appearing as a bakery in Hoxton (there are now five of them across town). Rye is at the heart of the bread menu, in loaf or roll form and there's even a rye and cranberry loaf. As for the pastries, the cinnamon buns remain a big seller.
Follow on Instagram: @fabriquebakery
Jolene and Jolene Bakeries
Various East and North London locations
Jolene comes from the same people behind Westerns Laundry and Primeur. While the restaurant has been a big hit, it kicked off the bakery business in big style and there are now a variety of satellite Jolene bakeries across town. Pastries are super seasonal and the bread is made using farmer Andy Cato's heritage grains.
Follow on Instagram: @jolene_bakery
Pophams
London Fields, Islington, Victoria Park
Pophams pastries, particularly their deservedly famous bacon and maple croissant are huge hits and you'll often see them popping up on Instagram. Whenever they launch a limited edition pastry, there are queues around the block. The toasties are well worth having for lunch and they serve up an excellent pasta menu at the Hackney bakery.
Follow on Instagram: @pophamsbakery
Soderburg
Soho and East Dulwich
This Swedish-inspired bakery actually started in Edinburgh, where they have multiple bakeries, before expanding to London. The main events are their cinnamon and cardamom buns, kladdkaka, mazarins, pistachio horseshoes and chocolate balls. Dine in and you can have waffles, open sandwiches and a very Swedish brunch.
Follow on Instagram: @soderbergbakery
St John Bakery
Bermondsey, Borough and Bloomsbury
Almost as highly praised as the restaurant itself, the St John Bakery is hugely - and deservedly - popular. Here you can get Fergus Henderson's famed Eccles cakes and some of the best doughnuts available in London, alongside breads, pastries and more. We highly rate their English white tin loaf.
Follow on Instagram: @st.john.restaurant.
Bread Ahead
Various locations
Bread Ahead are probably one of the biggest success stories of the new breed of London bakeries. They originally started in Borough Market before growing their number of stalls and eventually launching standalone bakeries (the flagship is at Borough now). The sourdough is highly recommended and we have a particular thing for their doughnuts. If you're looking to stretch your baking skills, they offer excellent and varied classes.
Follow on Instagram: @breadaheadbakery
Also see...
Ararat (Dalston) - A hole-in-the-wall Pakistani flatbread shop at Ridley Market that supplies the likes of Bubala.
Pomme Bakery (Shoreditch) - owner and baker Ivie Egonmwan is the talent responsible for amazing Danishes and more.
Win's (Leyton and Walthamstow) - pies, sausage rolls and pasties are the mainstay for this family bakery in North east London run by an ex-Manteca chef
Bake Street (Lower Clapton) - More of a cafe than bakery, their creme brulee cookies lure people from across town.
Beaten by a whisker (Walthamstow) - small batch vegan sourdough bakery serving up legendary cookies.
Farha (Leyton) - this Middle Eastern cafe in Leyton has the supremely talented Vanessa Campanelli as head baker.
Kossoffs (Kentish Town) - an old London baking family scion showcases classic and modern baking.
Onsu (Soho) - former Dorchester head pastry chef Michael Kwan has opened his first solo bakery and it's already creating waves.
Bakeries, mapped.
More bakeries...
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