Montparnasse Cafe

I was a student at a nearby University desperately looking for good coffee in the mornings and delicious meals after class. A friend of mine found this place, and immediately, I was hooked! As word spread, this became the favorite place of our whole study abroad program.
The people are incredibly kind, the coffee is phenomenal, and I could eat the delicious food all day long. (I particularly recommend the chocolate almond croissants!)
We are back in the U.S. now and often talk about how we wish we could easily come back to
Montparnasse Café. We will be sure to come back when we are ever in London, and are jealous of anyone who has the opportunity to come here everyday! Thank you to the incredible people who made every experience here so welcoming and delightful!

J’adore!
A bunch of attractive French guys run this place. Honestly, 5-​stars.
Ok, ok, ok… they are more than a pretty face. I’ll elaborate.
Tucked away on Thackeray Street (away from the hustle of High Street Kensington), Montparnasse Café couldn’t have been more dazzling today.
*A coffee (flat white) enjoyed on their curbside café tables in the sunshine was just about bliss.
*A luscious mozzarella and tomato/​basil/​olive salad arrived to my table no less than 3 minutes after ordering. Fresh as a flower, tasty as a treat. For less than 6 quid?! Surely I could not be in West London with these prices! But indeed, it is.
*I scooped up 3 tarts for my colleagues so they could share in my Paris-​inspired morning joy: lemon, almond, strawberry. There were no crumbs remaining.
They do what they do so incredibly well. Fresh, flavorful café food (sandwiches, panini, pastry) made from scratch. Great coffee. The only thing un-​Parisian is the service… and I mean that as a compliment, of course!
If you’d like to step back in time a bit and lose yourself in a bit of Paris, this is your spot. It’s not full of Macbooks or power outlets or wifi, but it is full of locals enjoying some conversation, a coffee or a sweet. What a breath of fresh air.

Once inside this quaint patisserie tucked behind the high street you may believe you are in Paris. Light spills in the large window seat area and floods the warm yellow walled restaurant with cheer. That feeling is matched by the attentive, warm wait staff. They serve perfect cappuccinos, a wide variety of paninis and salad and scrumptious croissants. What’s not to love?

We loved it here! We’re here from the U.S. on a study abroad trip so our budget is a little tight. Here you get good food for a good price. The men who were working were so sweet (and cute) the man bun game was strong. We’ll definitely be back!

Very cute bakery café off of the busy Kensington High Street. As a tourist in London, being off the busy popular named box stores on KH Street is a treat. I thought I was lost looking for this place. But, trusting GPS on Iphone, I found this place without any problems. Really cute cobble stone street with a very European look. Croissants were really good. Very comparable with those in France. We did get there close to closing time so selection was bare. But, they were nice enough to gather enough for our breakfast the next morning.

It’s a French café which means it has a moustache and rides a bicycle with onions hanging off it and says things like «baguettes» and «ou est la biblioteque?»

Fantastic croissants, and good coffee.

A hidden gem that only the locals seem to patronise. Decided to skip the whey powder in search of laminated dough paradise. As usual, an almond croissant, which by some unknown reason has become the standard item for my bakery evaluations… excellent! This place is a bit hard to find but Goggle Walking Directions from the Tube will get you there without any issues. The place is right of Paris. Everything looked great and the prices were a bar in for London. As I recall they don’t open until after 8am.

a nice little French café/​bakery on Thackeray Street.
café — croissant. or hot chocolate + éclair, in my case. ~4 quids.
Not breath taking, but good indeed.
closes early (5pm?)
No bread left in the afternoon it seems. (always a good sign in a bakery)
A few tables outside. («terrasse de café» is indeed one of my favorite sports). I am not sure this one ever sees much sunlight, though.

I love bakeries. I love London. I love French people. I love French food. I love coffee. I love quiche. Luckily, I managed to find all of these loves in one place: Montparnasse Café. It’s a bit hard to find, tucked back on Thackeray Street between a horse-​riding equipment store and a tile-​designing shop. But you’ll feel GREAT once you find it. Everytime I went there (which was A LOT when I lived in Kensington), I felt like I had been transported back to Paris (minus the urine and smoke smells). The servers were all French expats and always willing to engage in some French conversation with me. And if Bastien is still there, well, he still holds a little place in my heart. I’ll always have a crush on him! Max, who seemed to be the café’s manager, was rugged, handsome, and outgoing.
The place is great for families enjoying a weekend brunch before heading over to nearby Hyde Park. Or you can find students there from the American University around the corner. I always felt welcome and was never let down by the food or the service. They’d let me stay for hours while I sipped away on a creamy café latte and wrote my thesis. It has a very old-​world antique feel that I just lived in. Like the Exeter Street Bakery, I long to go back to Montparnasse Café and waste away the hours in my little French bubble!

Stumbled upon this place during my morning jog on my last visit to London. I only tried their croissants and pain au chocolat and they were amazing! If you are in Kensington, definitely stop by here for your morning fix. You will not be disappointed.

Pastries– 5 stars, coffee– 3 stars, staff– pretty funny French people who are quite particular and «very French». The almond croissant is one of the best I have had anywhere, including France.
Great place if you are nearby, much better than Whole Foods pastries.

Bonjour mademoiselle!
Sweet and savoury French pastries make for a good day in my book, indeed. Montparmasse Café is only just off the beaten track of High Street Kensington. Having escaped from the chaos of Kensington for just a moment, you will feel as if time slows down while you’re in this café. The French magazines, staff, food and atmosphere almost make you forget that you’re in the middle of London, thinking that instead you’ve been transplanted into a homely French café.
I espied a pot of filter coffee on a burner behind the counter and asked if it was fresh. I don’t think I actually got an answer from the Frenchman with the ingratiating manner who served me, and I soon found out why. Because it wasn’t. Still, the pastries and little carafe of steamed soya milk that came on the side of the cup of coffee made up for it. Plus, there’s always espresso to fall back on.
Montparmasse Café is a little pricey but totally worth it for the area of town and the welcome respite from it.

Thank you Simon, great recommendation and after my trip across town I’m not disappointed to find filter coffee (oh yes) and an array of treat-​like-​pastries that were totally delicious.
It’s quite off the beaten track this one so you’ll have to iPhone app it to find the place but you can see why! Step over the channel and land in France. After the tasty looking French server takes your order you can sit amongst the strangely creepy and funny «antiques» as well as a selection magazines in french. I was highly bemused by the tacky «Shepard’s girlfriend with a lamb at her feet» lamp that was in my eye line. But this was all cute and actually adds to the charm. The place has ample seating inside with a very sweet floral sofa seat. As I mentioned — a wonderful coffee shop. Great place to spend a few lazy hours.

I can’t quite be live that I’m Unilocaling about this place, as it’s always full when I go, and I don’t want it to get any busier! But saying that, places like this need to be Unilocaled about. It’s lovely.
I discovered this with my other half when we had spent a wintry afternoon walking around Hyde Park. As we stumbled across this little café I couldn’t quite be live how cosy and pretty it was inside. This place is French, really French. And when I first visited you could still smoke inside. Now, I know the smoking ban is great for everyone, but, as a casual smoker there was something quite Parisian and romantic about sipping on an excellent coffee and reading the Sunday papers in smoky surroundings. Now, the place is full of families at lunchtime which kind of kills the atmosphere, but you can’t have everything.
As you walk in you’re presented with a display of numerous pastries, sandwiches and fruit desserts. Everything I’ve had here has been gorgeous. From excellent pain au chocolat to sesame seed encrusted panninis this place has it all. Towards the back of the café is a slightly raised seating area, surrounded by books, lamps and other front room paraphernalia. Cosy — to the max. Don’t be surprised if you spend longer than you anticipated or ordering that second or third latte. The seating area outside is small, but in the summer this isn’t a problem as the sun beats down on your face.
Montparmasse is a hidden gem. Yes, it’s in a very rich area of town, but bugger it — go and discover it for yourself. I’ve taken several friends, colleagues and members of my family here, it’s that good. An oasis from the hurly burly of High Street Kensington. I can’t recommend it enough. Go now!