Baker & Spice

Stopped for a coffee and a sweat treat. Got a pecan pastry and americano, both were good. Nothing I’d write home about, but good stuff that I would like to eat again. Their other food looked tasty. Sat outside and enjoyed the moment. If I lived here I would stop by more often.

service ranges from indifferent to annoyed. staff bangs dishes around, strong smell of bleach. food is so-​so. not worth it.

We were recently staying in the Maida Vale area, and Baker & Spice was our «go to» morning place. It started with cappuccinos and a few baked goods to take back to our flat. By the end of the week, 4 of the group had eaten breakfast there three times and two of us twice. All of their baked goods are quite delicious. I’m not sure what everyone else had for breakfast, but I had the eggs benedict, and my wife had the French toast which was spread with honey and apples pieces instead of syrup. We were all delighted with our breakfasts there, and the help in this location were friendly and cheerful.

Goos pastries made with quality ingredients. A little more sweet than needed. The pain au chocolat could have a lighter dough for a perfectionist. Overall recommended.

This is a great place for lovely tea and lovely cake. They take their tea and cake seriously, as well as sandwiches and coffee. It is fairly high-​class, but well so is the neighbourhood. However, for its location I found it to be very down to earth and friendly.
I actually came here for a business meeting, so didn’t get the full chance to peruse the selection, but it is a nice establishment with a friendly yet business-​like feel. We sat outside and watched the world go by, whilst analysing sales reports.
I really would like to come here again. Next time I’m at Victoria station.

for a chain, this place is great for pastries and coffee. i have yet to try the salads and breakfast, but they all look delicious.

A large bakery/​deli on high-​brow Elizabeth Street, posh n’ trendy clientele… I have to admit that I was ready to hate this place. Until I tasted one of their drop scones. And immediately found myself reaching for my mental notes of ‘best pastries tasted ever’. It wasn’t like any scone I’d ever tasted before: rather than a largely dry centre, this one was moist, packed with blue berries and had a delightfully sweet thin crust. Wow. Wow. Wow.
But I wasn’t done there. As any good researcher knows, a sample of one is far too small to make representative judgements. So I swooped on one of their cheesecake brownies as well. Pretty darn good, was my conclusion. Much better than the average brown sponge one normally encounters. Maybe a bit too ‘out there’ indeed as Lizzie G says: mine had a mini-​canal of raspberry jam on a bed of cheesecake topping. And the main brownie bit was not the best I’ve ever tasted: that honour is probably held by The Pantry in Wandsworth. But easily top 10.
On the downside, Baker & Spice is rather pricey — my brownie was £2.95 takeaway (!) and the drop scone £1.60. But I say it’s worth paying extra for the best. Seems I’ll be swinging by here rather more often at lunchtimes.

It’s Wednesday. Peak of the week. This morning, after making myself a freshly ground black coffee in my shiny Delonghi coffeemaker and warming a little Sainsbury’s chocolate bear claw pastry in the oven, I did what any good Unilocal ambassador does on a midweek morning — I gathered my morning’s wake-​up sustenance next to me and I sat down to peruse the Weekly Unilocal of cities other than mine own. Trawling through London’s delightful bakery-​based offering (so glad I was to have pastry by my side when I read this), I spied Baker and Spice. And then all of a sudden, almost year-​long memories came rushing back in a chocolatey reverie. I’d sat on Primrose Hill munching brownies from one of the Baker and Spice branches. Turns out it was this one.
I’ve probably mentioned before that I’m a hobbyist baker and brownies are my forté — I can fashion any kind rather well, from blondies to PB&J versions, vegan to triple chocolate… and this activity means I’m often judgemental about the things when I eat them outside of home, just as my mum is if she tries carrot cake elsewhere (that’s her signature baked good). I got myself comfortable on my picnic blanket and took my designated hunk of Chris D’s birthday present, and to quote my beloved Dylan Moran when he speaks of French cake: ‘This thing! I wanted to book a room with it!’ Dense and gooey, packed in huge slices, decadently laden with white chocolate chunks… I can recall it exactly now, and as I say, almost a year later that’s saying something.
I’d literally take a Manchester-​London daytrip via those super-​quick Virgin trains to bring some of those bad boys back up to the North West. And I’ll tell you what, it’d give me a chance to sample some of their other offerings too. Baker and Spice, I salute you!
That Dylan Moran moment in full:
Enjoy and giggle :)

After seeing all the love this place has gotten on Unilocal,I headed over to Belgravia in the rain one morning to try it out.
I have mixed feelings about this place. The menu was very heavy on sweet breakfast options (like pancakes and pastries) and didn’t seem to have many savory breakfast options (like eggs) which I usually prefer. But I decided to go with the flow and ordered French toast.
To my delight (and relief), my French toast wasn’t drowning in maple syrup. It was lightly dressed with a bit of honey, and came with a pile of cooked apple slices. The toast itself was soft and creamy on the inside but crispy on the outside — so crispy, in fact, that I wondered if they had deep-​fried it.
It was very yummy French toast, but the portion size was unbelievably huge. It seemed like enough food for two people. I topped the meal off with a cappuccino, which was totally unremarkable but satisfactory.
The service was pretty lackluster — every time I wanted something (like a glass of tap water), I had to hunt someone down to ask. But on the plus side, there was a good wifi connection that let me get some work done during breakfast.
I think I’d go back to Baker & Spice if I were in the area (and had a friend to help me work through the huge portion), but I wouldn’t trek across town for it again.

I love their pastries. I love their coffee. I even love their use of orange.
My friend and I headed here for breakfast before catching a bus from Victoria. The smell when we entered the store was absolutely heavenly. After taking some time deliberating I picked a roll that was packed with sultanas and my friend picked an apple danish and we both had a deliciously hot cup of coffee. Every morsel was delicious and we were able to sit at the window and have the perfect view of the Philip Treacy store.

Love, love, love their pastries. The coffee is great as well. The outside seating rounds up the deal.

I was originally going to pan this place until we understood the mixup. We ordered an English breakfast. Well instead of getting a cappucino we were served tea and then our English breakfast didn’t come. They thought we were ordering English breakfast tea and not a proper English breakfast. After profuse apologies and some complementary cookies, a delicious English breakfast arrived. It is very Ottelenghi-​esque with unique salads and delicious take away cold dishes in the display case and then homemade pastries and cakes abound. They have a big community table, a counter and outdoor seating. The service still wasn’t great despite the sweet apologies – for instance they told us they were out of orange juice and yet tables after us were getting orange juice. But the salads were delicious albeit a bit pricey. A nice place to go overall – hope you like orange though – the place is practically flourescent.

So I’ve been here twice, once to buy a box of cakes for my parents as a gift and once when I was on my hunt to find London’s best brownie.
If you ignore the garish orange decór and concentrate of the fabulous selection of sweet and savoury delights you’ll be blown away by Baker & Spice. I went in for the brownie and got dazzled by the display of cakes. Strawberry cheesecake brownie, walnut and date slice, carrot cake… excuse me while I wipe the dribble off my keyboard. I went for their brownie, you know as part of this quest to find the best in London and wow did I find a brownie. Different from the rest, this had a slight darker, alcoholic tasty to it, like it was laced with brandy. It was the booze that kept it moist and it had a perfectly crisp top. As far as brownies go it was pretty good but it broke the rules, was a little too out there and was a little too big in portion. I know, crazy, but this is a two cup of tea cake!

I’m dangerous. I live on the edge. I play with fire. I walk on the wild side. I flirt with death… daily.
Prove it, you say?
Look me up. I live on the same street as Baker & Spice. If you don’t believe me, or don’t believe that this merits peril like none has seen before, you try living three doors down from fresh berry pancakes with crème fraiche, fresh berries and fruit compote. Or chocolate shortbread brownies. Or fruit scones with organic Jersey cream butter, homemade seasonal preserves & marmalade. They make everything they sell from scratch. Daily. Breads, salads, pastries, cakes, breakfast, lunch, dinner… danger, danger, danger, danger.
Before you even set foot near this warm cozy shop, before you gaze upon the earthy seating arrangements, the casual papers strewn about, the «you can stay all day» look in the kind servers’ eyes, red flags should be flying. Alarms should be going off. You can easily spend your daily allowance of pounds (both UK and US translations) in one innocent order. And it will be so completely worth it.
Go on then, live dangerously. I do!

When I find myself in a dreary mood I will often pick myself up and head down the road to Baker & Spice. There’s something very cheery, comforting and a touch luxurious about this place.
If it’s too cold to sit outside, then you’ll find the interior is inviting, wooden and very warm (befitting a place that does baking on the premises), and they hardly mind if you while away for hours there with your cappuccino.
The food/​salad selection is always fresh, colourful and runs on the side of healthy, which i imagine is their ploy to make you not feel *too* guilty about following up your tasty meal with one of the wonderfully decadent pastries and desserts on display.
I LOVE their savoury biscuits (which I’m sure are 90% butter) and their Indian Masala style nuts will make you re-​think how you’ve been snacking.
*Only* drawback is that prices can be a tad steep — well, depending on what you order. Last time I was there, three Caffe Americanos and a (not at all large) bag of said nuts came to about 17 pounds… Oy!

I was at the one in Knightsbridge (I think). The best cheese straws ever, and for my flight back to US a small tub of spiced nuts, a-​mazing. The brownies that someone recommended were gone probably a good thing for my waistline! Every time I’m in London I make a point of going.

My husband and I trekked through the rain in search of this specific eatery during our recent trip to London (it was recommended in a great book on hidden London gems). We visited the Belgravia location, though a few others exist.
Luckily, our effort was rewarded with one of the most satisfying and memorable meals we enjoyed during our entire visit. I enjoyed the quiche and beet salad, while my husband tried the lasagna and the avacado-​tomatoe salad with a lovely vinaigrette dressing. Our meal was HEAVEN on a plate! Even now, we still wonder at (and salivate over) the food we had that day. The portions were very generous, so with full stomachs we opted to take a few sweet treats to enjoy later. They did not disappoint! If I could export one thing home from our trip, it would be this café/​bakery.
Very reasonable cost as well. My only reservation (and why my rating is more like 4.5 stars as opposed to 5) had to do with the service. We were attended by a woman who didn’t feel the need to bring us utensils or check on us even once throughout the entire meal. Luckily, a different server seemed very attentive and actually came over to help us when it was obvious we needed a bit of help ordering dessert to go and paying our check. I write this off as perhaps a bad day for our particular server instead of a reflection of the overall staff and establishment.
True artistry combined with fresh ingredients and a dedication to quality make Baker & Spice a real treat.

This bakery is lethal! In my opinion they are the only place that can give Konditor and Cook a decent run for their money when it comes to tarts. I had a beautiful pear and blackberry muffin that was so good I nearly cried when it was finished. It was quite reasonably priced too.
Everything from Baker and Spice is so well made and you will want to eat every last crumb.

In lieu of settling for a traditional bland boulangerie, there’s Baker and Spice! This chic and vibrant bakery is not afraid to mix things up and add joy to your daily routine.
You can enjoy finely crafted seasonal fare and an atmosphere of clientele resembling this season’s catwalk. However, the true spice comes from not despairing over the bill, worrying you’ve just spent this week’s rent on a single meal. The staff is attentive and knowledgeable about the daily eat-​in or take-​away menu, which features fresh pastries, oven-​roasted starters and hand crafted artisan breads… so why not add a little spice to your routine!

What a cool place. It’s a café, a restaurant, a bakery, and a take-​away all in one. I discovered this place shortly after moving here and was staying in corporate housing. All the take-​away is stellar and the baked goods are to die for. The chocolate torte deserves to have a book written about it. It’s that good. They have wonderful breakfasts as well, best eggs I have had in London. A little pricey but well worth it.