London‘s best cafe revealed as ‘delightful’ spot with unique pastries
It’s no secret that London is full of spectacular places to eat, with restaurants, cafes, bakeries, and pubs down pretty much every street.
As such, working out which one to pick can be pretty tricky, so you might look for the crème de la crème of the capital.
And when it comes to baked goods, apparently it’s the borough of Richmond that you need to head to for the best spot in the city, and not central.
A Swiss bakery in Ham has been crowned the best cafe in London in the 2024 Muddy Stilettos Awards, which saw a whopping 515,000 votes cast by members of the public.
Among the winners was the Camberwell Arms for best Destination Pub, and The Zetter in Clerkenwell for best Boutique Stay, but it was Swiss Bread Bakery and Cafe that was top for best Cafe.
The chocolate croissants and schnitzel sandwiches are incredibly popular. (Picture: Swiss Bread Bakery)
The independent family-run business on Ashburnham Road is owned by Tanja Burri and André Brogli, both from Switzerland, who have prided themselves on offering an authentic taste of their home country in London since 2020.
The bakery serves up unique and organic bread, pastries, and cakes, as well as heartier lunch options such as potato rostis, flammkuchen (also known as tarte flambée), sausage boards, and weekly specials.
Some of their most popular items include chocolate croissants made with Lindt and Sprungli chocolate, chicken schnitzel sandwiches, pretzels and Zopf (a traditional butter plaited soft bread).
Speaking to Insta Talk about their win, the bakery owners said: ‘We are immensely proud of this win and representing Richmond in London. It’s incredible to think about all these votes we received from our customers. We could not have done it without their support and our incredible team.’
Zopf, a traditional braided Swiss butter bread
It’s not very hard to see why the bakery scooped a top accolade, as customers can’t stop raving about the food. On Tripadvisor the baked goods have been hailed as ‘delightful’, ‘fabulous’, and ‘delicious’.
A reviewer named guestasmuch wrote: ‘Delightful. Fabulous lunch, delicious food and frothy coffee served by charming, welcoming staff. Outside seating as well as indoors, free parking close by. Complimentary bread basket and thirst quenching iced water on tap. Can’t wait to return and try something else on the menu. Cakes and bread are fabulous if you haven’t got time to stay and sample in situ.’
While Caroline E gave them five stars, saying: ‘WOW THE BEST PLACE! Honestly this is a fantastic cafe, the food is amazing, the bread is the best I ever had but the best is the staff! The friendliest, most welcoming owner and the whole team is amazing.’
Travel22276256388 added: ‘This is one of the best bakeries and cafes in London, couldn’t recommend more for both food and service.’
If Richmond is a bit far for you, then another top London bakery can be found in Islington, as Quince Bakery also won an impressive award from Muddy Stilettos, being crowned best local food/drink producer.
The neighbourhood bakery by pastry chef Anna Higham celebrates British produce and baking traditions.
Recent items on the summer menu include brown butter buns, cherry blossom and almond buns, fig leaf custard pie, apricot, ricotta and olive oil cake, and various pizza slices. Yum!
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Hidden gem London bakery with Lindt chocolate croissants and ‘best bread ever’ from £1.30