15 best bakeries in London
Get behind the bakery boom with our hit list of the city's top bakeries, complete with focaccia sandwiches, laminated pastries and unrivalled cakes
Artisanal bakeries have been in the spotlight for a few years now, and this is nowhere more evident than in London. Since we emerged from the pandemic, bakeries have been reworked into trendy destinations, with pastry obsessives basing their weekends around new menu additions and collab events. One-hour-plus queues have since become the norm, with baked goods going viral and selling out faster than Glastonbury tickets.
The Good Food team is nothing if not a bunch of crumb-covered bakery fanatics, so it only felt right to curate our favourites, ready for you to peruse and potentially add to your bakery bucket list.
See our best rooftop bars in London and best vegan restaurants in London for more inspiration.
15 best bakeries to visit in London
1. Layla Bakery, W10 5PQ
Layla is a dream for foodies. Watch the chefs rolling the dough behind the counter as you choose from a five-star line-up of freshly baked pastries. The menu is constantly evolving, boasting delicious seasonal flavours, artful viennoisserie and fabulous coffee.
When we recently visited, we were blown away by the pistachio cream & dark chocolate pain suisse; a cross-laminated pastry flavoured with wild garlic, pine nuts, parmesan and homemade wild garlic oil; and an impossibly glossy miso caramel bun. The cardamom buns are also a must-try. It's situated at the tail end of Portobello Road; we suggest visiting on weekdays to beat the weekend queues.
2. Maya's Bakehouse, SW2 2TJ
This Tulse Hill bakery has been steadily accruing a following from Brixton denizens since its opening in 2023. It sells unfussy bakes done exceedingly well, with a menu stretching from sourdough made from carefully sourced flours to monthly seasonal speciality bread, pecan brownies and almond cookies. You can also expect lavish creations such as gochujang, spring onion & cheddar buns and chocolate frangipane & candied kumquat buns.
Maya’s cinnamon-cardamon bun hybrid is far better than many of the offerings found at London's more established bakeries, and we love nothing more than washing it down with a velvety flat white. Its signature drink, however, is the hot chocolate, topped with a plump marshmallow that's blowtorched in front of you.
3. Chai Guys Bakehouse, W11 2ED
This hidden gem in Notting Hill serves a range of beautifully spiced viennoiserie, inventive savoury pastries and enriched milk buns. It takes inspiration from Japanese cooking techniques, and incorporates Indian spices into French- and Scandi-inspired pastries, all using seasonal British ingredients.
The menu is constantly changing, but we highly recommend the signature pillowy milk cardamom bun, masala chai pain suisse and passion fruit kouign-amann. Wash it all down with one of the signature hot chai drinks.
chaiguys.shop/chai-guys-bakehouse
4. The Dusty Knuckle, various locations
The Dusty Knuckle is a true icon. This bakery excels at bread in particular — the potato sourdough is sheer genius — and supplies its loaves to some of the best restaurants in London. It was a pioneer of the giant cut-through focaccia sandwich, and the cafe menu is super-seasonal, with flavour-packed dishes. The pastry range is absolutely brilliant too. The popular bread delivery truck is likewise inspired, and helps all parts of north-east London enjoy the range. It has locations in Dalston, Haringay and a van in Highbury Fields.
5. Chatsworth Bakehouse, SE19 2AN
This teeny ruby-hued bakery is best known for its sell-out sandwich drops and epic Saturday queues, with hardcore regulars camping in front of the line with fold-up chairs to bag the best wares. Locals tend to play more tactically, swinging by on the quieter weekdays just before the lunchtime bell beckons.
The menu changes weekly and the team bake to the seasons, however a typical walk-up menu includes gems such as porridge tins, jalapeño and cheddar focaccia, malted milk maritozzi buns and marshmallow cereal cookies. Our favourite has to be the gorgeously dense Guinness cake, smeared with a blackcurrant-laced cream cheese icing for elevated indulgence.
6. Don't Tell Dad, NW6 Queens Park
Don’t Tell Dad in Queen’s Park is best known for its flaky croissants, inventive pastries, sourdough and focaccia sandwiches. By day, it draws crowds for its miso caramel buns and laminated danishes; by night, it transforms into a relaxed neighbourhood restaurant serving seasonal small plates.
The head baker, formerly of the acclaimed Layla Bakery (see above), brings a refined yet playful touch to everything that comes out of the oven. With a daily-changing selection and excellent coffee, Don’t Tell Dad is the kind of place locals love.
7. Popham's, various locations
Locals flock to this popular bakery and queue up for the famous maple bacon swirls (ask for it to be heated) and gianduja pain au chocolats. Enjoy your baked goods with Origin coffee and sit on one of the tree-shaded benches outside, or huddle up indoors close to the bakery action.
Since its first opening in Islington in 2017, Pophams has opened two more sites, in Victoria Park and London Fields, with the latest opening in 2022. It has also opened two homeware and pantry shops, selling a curation of stunning homewares.
8. TOAD Bakery, SE5 8PX
TOAD applies creative flavours and vivid colours to its pastries, which are pleasing to the eye as well as the stomach. Situated on the stretch of road which straddles Peckham and Camberwell, this effortlessly cool haunt attracts chic art students and pastry buffs alike.
As you reach the front of the line, you'll be rewarded with a stack of metal trays carrying a plethora of heavenly baked goods, from malt & white chocolate pretzel pucks to porchetta honey butter swirls. The ‘everything bagel croissant’ is a contender for the best savoury croissant in London, where golden buttery layers of pastry are stuffed with cream cheese and chives, sprinkled with everything seasoning and fresh dill, then finished with dill oil.
9. Roll Boys, E20 3BS
Roll Boys is rustling up the warmest, squidgiest cinnamon rolls London has to offer. Run by George Artemi, this one-man business leaves many of its roll-making rivals in the dust. The key to its success? The freshness of its rolls – there's no pre-baking involved, so they move from the oven to your mouth within half an hour. The unholy amount of gooey icing slathered on top is also a crowd-puller, with lip-smacking flavours including pecan bacon frosting, cookie butter and pistachio cream.
It's currently operating as a residency at Saint Espresso in Hackney Wick. You can expect queues at the weekend from 10am, but it's an impressively swift operation and the last roll doesn't tend to sell out until around 1pm.
10. Sourdough Sophia, N8 8PL and N1 2SN
Having started during lockdown as a microbakery, Sourdough Sophia is a full bakery operation in its own right now. The flagship store is tucked on a little street in Crouch End, whereas its Islington site is an unmissable pink edifice on the Essex Road.
The cereal milk cookies are a must-buy: malty, crunchy, sweet, milky, chocolatey and salty. The focaccia is delicious, as is the sourdough. If you're after something very sweet, the cruffins are a lot of fun, and come in several creative flavours – we've enjoyed the pistachio, passion fruit and tiramisu flavours.
11. Manna Dew Gluten Free Bakery, SW11 3J
This popular south-west-London bakery sells an impressive range of coeliac-friendly pastries and bakes. The selection is top-tier, from almond croissants and cinnamon swirls to cheese sticks and truffle mushroom vol-au-vents, plus the bakery sells frozen pastries, which you can cook in the oven at home. Our favourite has to be the pistachio galette des rois – the pistachio creme is what dreams are made of.
Manna Dew also has a brilliant selection of vegan and dairy-free pastries, which are kept separately from the rest of the bakes.
12. Bread Ahead Bakery, various locations
Founded in 2013, Bread Ahead has become a London institution, known for its award-winning doughnuts, among other bakes including cinnamon rolls, focaccias, sourdough bread, croissants and biscuits.
Visit the original stall in Borough Market and try the crème brûlée doughnut, balancing a crisp, blow-torched sugar coating with a heavenly fluffy centre. It's worth taking away a box so you can also sample the excellent sea salted caramel, jam and chocolate fillings. Want to learn the secrets behind its winning bakes? Visit one of the many workshops and bakery classes in Borough or Wembley.
13. Okja, E1 7NE
Okja is making some of the finest vegan pastries you'll find in London. Pay a visit to its tiny shop on Toynbee Street in Spitalfields and you'll find a selection of pastries (made with its homemade vegan butter and oat milk), cookies and coffee.
Our personal favourite is the pistachio and lemon pastry, however the chocolate hazelnut pastry is equally delicious. Okja is takeaway-only, but vegan cafes Third Culture Deli in Broadway Market and WAVE in Hackney Central both currently stock Okja's sweet treats.
14. The Spence Bakery, N16 OUH
Operating since 2002, Spence Bakery has become a staple in Stoke Newington thanks to its next-level bagels and five different types of sourdough. We particularly love the brioche – try the plain chocolate or marbled masterpiece with large sugar crystals on the outside.
Spence is great to visit all year round, but the location being so close to Clissold Park means in the summer you can grab a pastry and coffee to go and sit in the park in the sun. Perfect for a chill Sunday.
15. Forno, E8 4RP
This Hackney-based bakery serves Italian fare in a pared-back industrial-chic space. The star of the show is the maritozzi: plump brioche buns almost overflowing with light-as-air whipped cream. The elegant sugar-dusted sfogliatelle shell pastries are also extremely moreish.
Looking for lunch? Grab a square slice of Roman-style pizza, with a variety of toppings, from classic Margerita to salami, mortadella or thinly sliced potatoes. Enjoy it with a coffee to go while walking along the nearby canal.
