Best Bakeries in London (2026) — Sourdough, Pastries & More

London's bakery scene has been transformed in the past fifteen years. A generation of bakers trained in San Francisco, Copenhagen, Paris, and the best UK bakeries has raised the standard dramatically — and the city is now producing bread and pastry that rivals the best in Europe. This guide covers 15 bakeries where the quality is genuinely exceptional, from sourdough institutions in East London to laminated pastry specialists in the West End.

1. E5 Bakehouse — London Fields, Hackney

Ben Mackinnon's bakery in a railway arch beside London Fields Overground station is the spiritual home of London sourdough. Organic stone-milled flour, naturally leavened breads, and slow fermentation produce loaves of extraordinary character. The Hackney Wild — the signature sourdough — has a deep, blistered crust and a moist, tangy crumb that improves over several days. E5 also mills some of its own grain on site and runs a pizza operation on weekend evenings. The queue on Saturday mornings is a reliable indicator of quality.

2. Jolene — Newington Green, Islington

From the team behind Westerns Laundry, Jolene is a bakery-restaurant where the bread programme is as serious as the food. Long-fermented, heritage-grain loaves are baked in a wood-fired oven and available to take home or eat at the restaurant. The sourdough, the rye, and the seasonal grain loaves are all outstanding. Jolene also makes excellent viennoiserie and some of the best croissants in North London. The combination of exceptional bread and a genuinely good restaurant menu makes it one of the most compelling morning destinations in the city.

3. Dusty Knuckle — Dalston, Hackney

A social enterprise bakery providing training and employment to people facing barriers to work — and also one of the best bakeries in London. The focaccia, the cinnamon buns, and the naturally leavened sourdough are all outstanding. The bread has a directness and flavour that reflects serious craft, and the knowledge that the baking operation supports meaningful social work adds a dimension to the experience. The Dalston production bakery and café are the best places to buy, though Dusty Knuckle bread appears at farmers' markets across East London.

4. Pophams — Islington & Hackney

Pophams specialises in laminated pastry and is the destination for unusual savoury viennoiserie alongside the classics. The cheese and marmite croissant — laminated dough filled with aged cheddar and a smear of marmite — is divisive but brilliant. The plain croissant is textbook: deep layering, caramelised exterior, honeycomb interior. The seasonal fruit Danish pastries are equally accomplished. Both the Islington and Hackney locations operate with early morning hours and sell out before noon on weekends.

5. TOAD Bakery — Hackney

The Old Armoury Dough (TOAD) operates from a production bakery and sells via subscription, markets, and a small retail counter. The naturally leavened breads — country loaf, rye, spelt — are produced with obsessive attention to fermentation and grain sourcing. TOAD is less visible than E5 or Dusty Knuckle but has developed a devoted following among serious bread eaters. The weekly subscription box, delivering a selection of loaves to East London postcodes, is one of the best value bread options in the city.

6. Bread Ahead — Borough Market & multiple locations

Matthew Jones's bakery at Borough Market is one of London's most visited, and the queue for doughnuts on weekend mornings is a Borough Market institution. The filled doughnuts — custard, jam, and seasonal varieties — are the crowd-pleaser, but the bread programme is serious: long-fermented sourdough, excellent rye, and a solid baguette. The baking school at the Borough Market site offers courses for home bakers. Multiple locations across London including King's Cross, Covent Garden, and Chelsea.

7. Cutter & Squidge — Soho & Covent Garden

A bakery specialising in what it calls "biskies" — a cross between a biscuit, a cake, and a sandwich that has developed a devoted following. The signature flavours rotate seasonally and change with every visit. More accessible and playful than the serious sourdough bakeries, Cutter & Squidge represents the creative, eccentric side of London baking. The Soho location is reliably worth the queue, and the bespoke celebration cakes have earned a reputation as among the most imaginative in the city.

8. Bageriet — Covent Garden

A Swedish bakery in the heart of Covent Garden producing some of London's best Scandinavian baked goods. The cardamom buns — dense, fragrant, lightly glazed — are made to a Swedish recipe and are significantly better than the versions produced by most London cafés. The kladdkaka (Swedish sticky chocolate cake), the semlor (cream-filled cardamom buns, available in spring), and the solid sourdough rye are all excellent. Bageriet is a small space but it produces a short menu with great consistency.

9. Cedric Grolet at The Berkeley — Knightsbridge

The world's most famous pâtissier operates from The Berkeley hotel in Knightsbridge, producing his signature trompe l'oeil fruit pastries and exceptional tarts. The lemon tart — crisp pastry shell, perfect curd, minimal adornment — is one of the finest in Europe. The fruit pastries (a sphere of pâte sablée sculpted to look exactly like a lemon, peach, or fig) are extraordinary pieces of craft. At London prices, Cedric Grolet is expensive, but for pastry lovers it is unmissable.

10. Ole & Steen — Multiple London locations

The Danish bakery chain with multiple London locations has raised the standard for everyday pastry across the city. The cinnamon rolls — large, sticky, deeply spiced — are consistently among the best in London. The sourdough is solid, the rugbrød (Danish rye bread) is the only authentic version readily available in the city, and the pastries rotate with the seasons. Ole & Steen is not a destination bakery but an excellent neighbourhood one — and with locations in the City, Soho, and South Kensington, it is very easy to find.

11. Poilâne — Belgravia

The legendary Paris boulangerie has a single London outpost in Belgravia, selling the same stone-ground wheat miche that has been baked at the Rue du Cherche-Midi shop in Paris since 1932. The Poilâne loaf — a large, tangy, deeply flavoured sourdough baked in a wood-fired oven — is one of the benchmarks of traditional French bread. The butter cookies (punitions) and the apple tarts are also excellent. For bread purists, a loaf of Poilâne from the Elizabeth Street shop is one of the best things you can buy in London.

12. Margot Bakery — East Finchley

One of the best neighbourhood bakeries in London, Margot produces naturally leavened breads, excellent croissants, and a rotating selection of seasonal pastries from a small site in East Finchley. The sourdough loaves — country, rye, and seeded — are reliably excellent, and the laminated pastries show real skill. The coffee is also good, and the bakery has a loyal local following that makes it feel like the kind of place every neighbourhood should have but most do not.

13. BReD — Notting Hill

A vegan bakery in Notting Hill that produces bread and pastry without any animal products — and does it well enough that it is worth visiting regardless of dietary preference. The sourdough loaves use long fermentation and quality flour, producing bread with genuine depth of flavour. The croissant — made with plant-based butter — achieves more layering and crispness than most vegan versions. BReD has demonstrated that plant-based baking can be taken as seriously as conventional baking, which is itself a significant achievement.

14. Pâtisserie Sainte Anne — Borough

A French pâtisserie near Borough Market producing classical French pastry work at a high level. The tarte tatin, the Paris-Brest, and the millefeuille are all textbook. The croissants are hand-laminated daily and among the most technically accomplished in South London. The small size of the space means the selection is limited but consistent. For classical French pastry without the prices of a Knightsbridge hotel, Sainte Anne is the best option in London.

15. St John Bakery — Bermondsey & Maltby Street

The bakery arm of Fergus Henderson's St John restaurant, selling bread from the same long-fermented sourdough programme that supplies the restaurant. The bread is sold at the Bermondsey production bakery and at the Maltby Street Market stall on weekend mornings. The sourdough loaves are excellent — deeply fermented, dark-crusted, and intensely flavoured — and the eccentric pastries (chocolate, treacle, and seed combinations) reflect the restaurant's nose-to-tail philosophy applied to baking. The doughnuts, sold warm on Saturday mornings, have a cult following.

Navigating London's Bakery Scene

London's best bakeries are concentrated in East London (E5, Dusty Knuckle, TOAD, Pophams in Hackney and Islington) and South London (Bread Ahead, St John Bakery, Sainte Anne in Borough and Bermondsey). West London is better served by destination pâtisseries (Cedric Grolet, Poilâne) than by bread bakeries. North London has Jolene and Margot as standouts.

Most of the best bakeries sell out of their best products by midday on weekends. For the full experience — fresh sourdough, warm croissants, cinnamon buns straight from the oven — arrive before 10am. For weekday visits, the Covent Garden and Borough areas have the highest concentration of accessible, high-quality options.

London's bakery scene has never been better, and the trajectory is upward. The combination of international influence, excellent ingredient sourcing, and a growing culture of bread appreciation has produced a city where genuinely great bread is available in most neighbourhoods. For bread lovers, London is now a destination in its own right.