dominique ansel bakery

out of the states, you can only find this in uk & japan. i woke up super early for this, as i was not keen to queue for it. expect to see other pastries along the way too. their pastries are so pretty, i wish i had room for everything!

came to dominique ansel bakery few months ago to try their famous frozen s'more but it did not leave me a good impression as i felt it was way too sweet even a sweet tooth like me couldn't handle it. also i though that the matcha latte was just average. but i was curious with their cookie shot & cronut, which are also dab's signatures. i never liked guava, but when it came to me in cronut form, it was very good. and the cookie shot was amazing. both of them exceeded my expectation and mend my previous visit. no longer 3* but 4.5* it is.

cronuts are not worth the hype. i repeat, they are not worth the hype. overly stodgy and chewy, the promise of crispy buttery layers is a myth. service was appallingly slow. the marshmallow on a stick is too sweet. this place is mostly for show. also had the egg in a bun, which was disappointingly bland.

as soon as i walked in i fell in love with the cakes. they all look beautiful and absolutely delicious. i had a hard time deciding on just one and unfortunately their cronuts had sold out. i went for their peanut butter mousse cake and it did not disappoint at all. it sat on a brilliant penaut base and the mousse was so smooth. i cannot wait to try out more the only negative i can think of is that the cake wasnt big enough!

ordered the typical fair: cronut, cookie shot, and frozen s'mores.

their cronuts are to die for!! cookie shot was also fairly good. i found the marshmallow to be too much for just one person, but that might just be me. the frozen bit balances out the marshmallow quite nicely.

loved the ambiance and the little "outdoors but indoors" area they have in the back.

heads up to anyone on a budget, there's an increase in the price of the items by a pound or so each if you choose to dine in vs takeout, which i'm not entirely sure why.

tried it in new york and got to enjoy the same good stuff here in london! i really like their creation of cronut and the fact that every month there is a flavor. so this month's was the chocolate ganache with mandarin jam, the description didn't seem too appetizing to me thinking the mandarin jam would be better but i was so mistaken, it was a pleasure with every bite.

just before i had the cronut, tried their savory with the croque monsieur with fresh bread stuffed with cheese, béchamel and turkey.... it was divine.

for the sweet stuff, tried the cookie shot. can't say much more than asking people to try it. it made me revisit the place again just for that.

i did not have any 'but if' moment at this place. nice place for bkfst, lunch and a 5 o'clock tea.

iconic place for all people addicted to sugar. i became huge fan of cronuts already in nyc, therefore i was very looking forward to give them a try in europe. everything tastes on equal amazing here, although area where the bakery is located is not very sexy. i am not a huge fan of victoria station neighbourhood, but dominique ansel bakery has plenty of reasons to love it. in comparison to us-based soho location, it is not a big deal to get some cronuts on a walk-in basis here. we ordered 4 with some coffee and tried cookie shots with vanilla milk from fiji. all the sweets were as usual amazing, one of them was leaking, but it has been replaced by the waiter. it took more than 15 minutes to get the coffee to the table, but on a saturday morning it is quite packed place, so tried to be flexible and not complain at all.

i’m not a big fan of desserts so i never really go out of my way to look for amazing dessert places. but then i saw a video on facebook about frozen s’mores and i was way too intrigued to let it go. after the video i went searching for a dominique ansel bakery and was happily surprised to learn there was one near me!

i've had this place in mind for a while now, so i finally decided to visit it and see what the fuss was all about.

first walking into the place, the setup is refreshing and well-designed. although it's a bit noisy and crowded, you can always try to find a table in the back little garden, which, for me, had a nicer quieter setup. i believe the reason for this rushed atmosphere is the fact that customers have to find tables for themselves, which results in people staring at you while you're eating and judging you if you take a bit longer to finish your bite. not the best situation to enjoy your food, but i was willing to go through it in order to finally tick this bakery off my list.

after finding a table, we went to the till to order our food, and had to spend an average of 15 minutes in line and that's only because we were lucky (as we were leaving the place, the line was twice as long). i understand that that's the price you pay when visiting famous places. this wasn't very convenient as it meant someone had to still be seated at the table for 15 minutes while others went to order their food, and then they had to leave again for 15 minutes, while the others are enjoying their dessert. i am not saying this is the worst experience, but just setting up clear expectations for anyone looking to visit dominique ansel's bakery anytime soon.

as for the food and its presentation; these were simply amazing! we were lucky to be visiting around valentine's day, so all desserts were dressed in pink. there was also a selection of valentine's goodies that you could purchase as gifts - all creatively named too! so selection and variety are 10/10! desserts are fairly priced and, most importantly, they have gluten free options!

omg!!!
this place is amazing.
if you have a sweet tooth then you might want live here.
didn't get a chance to try the cronut but the dka was nice and the lemon cheesecake was to die for.

visited new york few years ago and went for a queue in the afternoon after all the cronut hypes. was told cronuts normally sold out 9am in the morning! gutted and cried in the corner (not really). and last month i randomly found out it was coming to london, like finally! so i made my way there to belgravia on the very first day of opening.

dominique ansel bakery, the birthplace of cronuts and new york sensation, has finally arrived in london. this couldn’t be more exciting for all london foodies. it is located at elizabeth street near victoria station. it stands out with its yellow cover as well as the unmissable queue outside the shop. there are two separate queues in the shop – one’s specifically for its cookie shots and cronuts while the other is for any other items on the menu. as you would have expected, it is the queue for the cookie shots & cronuts that grew all the way outside the shop.

it might come as a bit of a surprise to those who know me well (and so know all about my fascination with hybrid desserts), but up until yesterday i’d never actually had a cronut. while there are imitations aplenty to be found across london, *the* original by pastry chef-extraordinaire dominique ansel, always seemed out of reach – my last visit to new york was unfortunately timed right before the opening of his first bakery.
so having spent the last few weeks impatiently counting down to when his new home in london opens its doors on elizabeth street in belgravia, it was with giddy excitement that i skipped over to a special friends and family preview ahead of its official launch on 30th september…