Best Croissants?
 

Spent lots of time In London, Seoul and Paris. Some of the Best Croissants were at the "Paris Baguette" chain Bakeries in Seoul.

Now they have a few locations in California and just as great!

Equally miss the warm Croissants at Pret a Manger.

Your favs?

Japan also has surprisingly good croissants. But the best I've ever eaten has been in Paris, albeit not just anywhere, but at Maison Kayser in the latin quarter. Perhaps not the best in Paris, but better than any that I've eaten (they are more famous for breads).

Recommend a place in Japan?

Anyone ever tried the frozen croissants that Williams Sonoma sells and ships? I have a friend who swears by their chocolate croissants, and he is no pastry slouch...

In Seoul you might want to try the downstairs delicatessen at the Millenium Hilton. Or just "take away" a few from their exec lounge where they are available from morning until early afternoon. ;)

In London, my instincts say head to Bar Italia in Soho regardless of if they call their breakfast pastries croissants or something in Italian. The coffee is superb and the atmosphere as it should be.

As for Paris, out of my depth. :)

Kyoto has several bakeries and French cafes that are very, very authentic in their tastes. Central and northern parts of the city.

In London I used to go to any location of Paul -- I frequented the one in Covent Garden -- for their pain au chocolat and croissant and their cakes and sandwiches.

In Paris, Pierre Herme in the Rive Gauche had THE best iterations of both croissant and pain au chocolat I had. However, almost any bakery in Paris makes a very good croissant.

In Japan, in the basement of virtually every department store is a food hall and there is almost always a bakery. The higher the quality department store, typically higher quality bakery.

Parisians would have a fit, I am sure, but I don't like overly crisp outsides (the type that when you bite croissant flies in four directions!) to my croissants, so I actually really like Sainsbury's croissants (UK grocery store for the non brits) which I warm in the oven, sometimes alone, sometimes with a couple of squares of green and blacks chocolate tucked into it! They go a little bit crispy on the outside, but still squidgy in the middle.

It's probably down to context more than absolute taste, but the best croissants I ever remember having were from our local bakery when I lived in Amiens, in Northern France. It was just a little shop in a fairly run-down 70s shopping parade, but the 'pur beurre' croissants were out of this world. It really taste as if the centres were made of pure butter - you wouldn't even have considered putting something on it.

(They also did a wonderful millefeuille - when I think of what passes for millefeuille in the UK even now...)

Recently, the best I've had has been from a bakery in Nanterre-Ville, although their star attraction is the éclair aux pistaches. They did a wonderful piece montée for my godson's baptism, too.

In the UK, the best I've had has been at the Hotel du Vin chain. And the Pret almond ones are very moreish.

I agree that crisp outsides aren't good on a croissant - you should get nothing more than a fine, soft flake from the outside (and my favourite ones in France have been this way too). The best ones will not leave you wanting a topping.

I also agree that you can get some excellent ones in Japan - I have particularly good memories of the bakery on the bridge in Kyoto Station (I'll be staying in the Granvia in a few days, so I'll find out if I'm right).

Everything always looks very, very good - and tastes as good as it looks.

There was a story a couple of months ago in Travel and Leisure Magazine about the best croissants in Paris. A couple of weeks ago, we decided to try a few. Although we didn't visit all of her recommendations, we did visit her favorite and of the sampling we did while we were there, she was right on. Never have I tasted better (thought it's hard to get a bad croissant in Paris unless you go to one of those chains in a train station) than:

Patisserie Boulangerie Blé Sucré
7 Rue Antoine Vallon

Of course, while we were there, we discovered something I'd never had before - seemed like the butter of a croissant times 10 plus carmelized sugar. The buttery Kouign-Amann! OMG!

In LA I'm partial to Urth Cafe's croissants. In London, I second the recommendation for Paul.

I like Paul in London, and there are lots of them in Paris, but I don't think they compare with some of the smaller non-chain boulangeries in Paris like the one I posted above.

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The 'Paul' outpust in Miami makes a good croissant.

In NY, I'm partial to the croissant and pain au chocolat at Cafe d'Alsace. On that note, I have been able to find good croissants in NY other than the aforementioned place. Anyone have any suggestions?

I was just in Antibes, France.

Local bakery had fantastic Croissants.

Wherever you are, find a local mom and pop bakery and go at it!