I am not a purist. And I don’t like subtle. I like my almond croissants to be big, filled with loads of marzipan-y goodness, sweet, and messy. I only discovered almond croissants very recently. And since then, I’ve fallen for this particular variety of baked goods.
I have had the good fortune of having these all over London. Here’s the outcome, presented in order of yumminess:
- Albion, Old Nichol Street: Albion’s massively popular amongst Shoreditch regulars for their coffees, cakes, and other baked stuff. But I was here on a mission, and Albion did not disappoint. The filling in Albion’s croissant was amazingly gooey, warm, and plentiful. The croissant itself was massive, flaky, and buttery. Mind you, this one’s super messy to eat. So do what I did, buy one, get home, and devour it as greedily as you can.
- AMT, St. Thomas’s: I admit, not the first place you’d choose for breakfast. My wife had a baby recently, which meant that I was frequenting St. Thomas’s a lot. After many a sleepless night, the one thing that I had to look forward to in the morning was the almond croissant from the AMT in the hospital’s foyer. Again, huge, flaky, and gooey on the inside. Not as messy to eat as Albion’s but still good. Bonus: The hot chocolate at this AMT is particularly good and goes well with the croissant. Note though that the quality is, somehow, not consistent across all AMT outlets. To test my theory I went to the AMT outlet in Liverpool Street Station. Their croissant was nowhere as near nice as the one at St. Thomas’s.
Disagree? Let me know. I’d love to be proven wrong :-)