Maison Bertaux has been on my list of London places to try for ages. Its one of these tiny little shops that manages to keep some individuality amongst the big UK chains like Starbucks, Costa, and Coffee Republic. Its not a hard choice for me. I’d rather come to a place
like this any day! It has been written that here you will find the true taste of France. I do have to admit that my expectations were maybe set a little too high though. What I ate was certainly good, and it beats anything at the chains listed above, but nothing was so amazing that I’m going to have to rush back either. Maybe if I was there earlier and got something hot out of the oven (as they bake their pastries fresh every day) I would have felt differently. By the time we got there, however, it was about one o’clock or so.
There have been reviews on Maison Bertaux that say that its way overpriced. I didn’t really think that was the case. I mean, everything in London is pretty much expensive. Relatively speaking, however, the prices were not exceptional by any means. For my strawberry pastry, one plain croissant, and our tea for two, I believe it came to a bit under £10. I am happy to pay that for freshly baked patisserie (or rather I should say “I am happy for Hubby to pay…”).
Dating back from 1871, this bohemian venue is truly charming. It is so not fancy or polished. I guess you could say its shabby chic, but kind of in an unintentional way. The day was warm but overcast, as summer has seemed to escape us this year. Pretending it was a beautiful day in gay Pari, Hubby and I sat at one of the quaint little tables outside the patisserie.
Here is what we ordered.
A strawberry pastry:
The cream was delish, the strawberries were perfectly ripe, but I was not overly fond of the base (which was made of
choux pastry). I just wasn’t feeling the texture. I prefer the crispiness of a tart shell, this was more chewy.
Croissant:
I’m sorry I didn’t take a picture of the inside of this one. All I remember is that was buttery and super flaky. So much so that when I got up, a huge shower of crumbs fell off my gorgeous self. I was raining golden shards of pastry 
.
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I definitely recommend this if your are planning a trip through London’s Soho area. This would be the most lovely place to enjoy a leisurely croissant for breakfast. If you are super lucky, you may get one while they are still hot.
