The Best Pastry Shops in the United Kingdom

Weekend queues

The British bakeries on the list are busiest on weekend mornings. At Lannan Bakery in Edinburgh the queue starts before the 9am opening, runs along a marked line outside and often takes 30 to 60 minutes. Online pre-orders there need several days' notice and are collected next door at The Pantry. At Farro Bakery in Bristol the weekend wait is 10 to 15 minutes, and at Landrace Bakery in Bath the queue often stretches outside.

Buns and British bakes

The counters put Scandinavian buns and British bakes beside French viennoiserie. Cardamom or cinnamon buns are sold at Lannan, at Landrace and at Dune Bakery in South Queensferry. Lannan also makes custard slices and Jaffa cakes, Landrace sells sausage rolls, and Farro has an item called the West Country Queen beside its babka and pastel de nata. Landrace mills grain in-house for its flour and serves pizza and pasta in the evening.

Croissants

Aux Pains de Papy on Gray's Inn Road in London, near King's Cross, is a French bakery where the dough is made on site behind a glass window, and its plain, almond and pistachio croissants bring people back. Rough Handmade at Royal Albert Dock in Liverpool makes very large croissants with fillings such as white chocolate and dulce de leche, and customers pick pastries themselves into paper bags. Indoor seating is limited at all six shops; Rough Handmade has more outside by the dock, and the benches near Dune Bakery look out over the Forth bridges.