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!

Sorry to bring this up...

But I have a wheat allergy.. and normally cannot eat wheat flour (but Spelt is ok for me). But funnily enough, I have no reaction when I eat croissants that are made in France!

Tried the same in several countries.. and results in uncomfortable situations! But if the dough has been flown-in frozen from France, and baked in premises.. eg london to Bangkok, I am fine. Bangkok Grand Hyatt imports the frozen flour dough from France!

I think it has to do with the type of flour France uses.. (and the preservatives that are in the ones made elsewhere..)

Just FYI

====Having said that, I like the ones from La Duree in Paris. Yum !!

I've never heard a better excuse for demanding French croissants! ^

Belgian, rather than French, but I can recommend Hendrickx in Chicago at 100 West Walton, just off the mag mile.

Run by a Belgian couple, everything is authentic, and they wisely started off very small-scale with only a few items. Now, they're steadily growing.

Really, really good Croissants. Also real Belgian coffee with the funny little plastic cone on top of the cup.

Hmmm. I was disappointed. Small and very expensive. Haven't been for a couple of years.

Croissants also differ as to location, and type. Also from one year to the next, changes in a bakery can lead to unwelcome changes. Mom and Pop for me is usually a good bet but not necessarily if there is only one bakery in a town!

Villandry in London used to do some excellent croissants and some other of the baked goods were really nice. I'm embarrassed to say I'm usually very satisfied in Italy with an Autogrill marmellata (croissant with apricot jam inside - a very mass-produced item) either in their cafe at the Duomo in Milan or at many of the Autogrill motorway service stations! provided it comes with a nice espresso... of course :D In Switzerland I go for Laugen-croissants, made with a salt dough. Yum!

My best croissants of all time are probably the almondy nut croissants (they have a name that I've forgotten) at the original Laduree in the rue Royale in Paris. In the old days before the family that also owns Paul took it over, it used to be my "local". I recall seeing more than one famous French actress there regularly both before and after their various facelifts!

I've heard there are some very nice croissants in California, especially in the Bay Area. But so far I never managed to find award availability on the Air New Zealand flight I wanted to get there...

On a slightly different topic I'm usually very happy with the brioche at Pain Quotidien (and lots else at Pain Quotidien :D).

ps I forgot. Some London offices I know are near some of the city centre branches of Tesco which sell fresh hot croissants in the bakery section. Get them while they;re hot... the Tesco's in Regent Street south of Piccadilly Circus and the one at Hammersmith Underground station are a couple of those that do this. Mostly in the mornings there are several hot deliveries. Price-performance is pretty good on these.

Poujauran in the 7th on rue jean nicot was my fave. Closed but the nondescript place that opened in its place also has amazing croissants.

fauchons paris. On a side note though, a couple weeks ago I was heading to the eiffel tower and I stopped in a patisserie for a croissant and had the best one ever. Man I wish I knew the name of the place!

It's now Secco, and sad to say the quality has really gone down over the past couple of years.

Here in HKG where I am based, my favorite place for croissants (I alternate between Almond and Pain au Chocolat) is Le Salon de Te de Joel Robuchon at the Landmark in Central on the 4th floor.

In Shanghai (few experiences) the Paul at the Portman was nice (no longer there I believe).

In Beijing my favorite has been at the Sofitel Wanda Hotel at their breakfast buffet - they keep bringing fresh ones!

My experiences in mainland China, to be honest, have mostly or all been limited to 5* hotels and not patisseries/bakeries that have been set up.

What plastic cone? I genuinely have no clue what you're on about :p

As for croissants, any non-chain bakery in France will do. A Paul is the next best thing though.

Maison Kayser is now a chain and even international. I haven't been since they've expanded. Are they not so good?

+1

I agree this is the primary reason it is difficult to find a true rendition of a French croissant outside of France.

No idea, I've never heard of them before. Paul is pretty much present everywhere in France (even at some motorway service stations) so it's convenient when there is nothing else in the neighborhood, hence why I prefer them as a chain solution.
Though the first thing I did when I arrived in Paris in June (to visit the Musée de l'air et de l'espace) was look for a bakery with fresh croissants. when in France I suppose ...