The Best Baked Goods to Try in East London

Saturday morning in East London has a particular quality to it. The light comes sideways through railway arches, the smell of butter and warm dough drifts across cobbled market streets, and somewhere on Brick Lane or Broadway Market someone is already queueing. If you've ever found yourself standing outside a shuttered bakery at 8:01am, heart sinking because the last cinnamon bun sold sixty seconds ago, you'll understand why East London's bakery scene inspires such devotion. Weekend breakfast delivery London regulars know the feeling well — and this list is for everyone who wants to get it right. Whether you're visiting for the first time or you've lived here for years and still haven't made it to half of these, consider this your guide.

The Best Bakeries for Baked Goods in East London

1. Beigel Bake Brick Lane

Whitechapel, E1 6SB | Rating: 4.3 | Open 24 hours, 7 days a week

There is no bakery in East London — possibly in the whole country — with quite the same democratic, round-the-clock energy as Beigel Bake. The white-fronted shop at 159 Brick Lane has been open since the 1970s, serving salt beef beigels (slow-braised, fiery English mustard, no messing) and smoked salmon beigels at prices that feel like a benevolent act of resistance against London inflation. City workers, night-shift staff, market traders, bewildered tourists at 3am — all are equally welcome. Over 5,000 Google reviewers at 4.3 says everything you need to know about its cross-city following. Cash only. Go.

2. The Beigel Shop

Whitechapel, E1 6SB | Rating: 4.2 | Open 24 hours, 7 days a week

Two doors down at number 155, the yellow-fronted Beigel Shop stakes its own historic claim — Britain's first beigel shop, tracing its heritage to 1855, and the subject of fierce local loyalty from those who feel the two shops produce entirely different beigels. After a surprising closure in early 2024, it reopened in June of that year to genuine local celebration, once again slinging beigels filled with cream cheese, salt beef, or smoked salmon through the night. The Brick Lane beigel rivalry is one of London's most joyfully absurd food arguments, and you should absolutely try both to form your own opinion.

3. Rinkoff Bakery

Whitechapel, E1 3BS | Rating: 4.4 | Mon–Fri 7am–5pm; Sat–Sun 8am–3pm

Founded in 1911 by Ukrainian immigrant Hyman Rinkoff and still run by the same family more than four generations later, Rinkoff is living East End history in the very best sense. The Jubilee Street store is bright and modern, but the baking is rooted in tradition: pillowy challahs, babka, slab pastries, and Ukrainian-Jewish heritage loaves that have sustained this corner of E1 for over a century. Rinkoff also claims credit for inventing the Crodough — a croissant-doughnut hybrid in flavours including pistachio, salted caramel, and Biscoff — which has drawn queues from across the city. Come for history, stay for the Crodough.

4. Breid Bakery

Bethnal Green, E2 6JG | Rating: 4.9 | Mon–Fri 8am–6:30pm; Sat–Sun 9:30am–6:30pm

Named after the Scottish word for bread and operating from a characterful Bethnal Green railway arch, Breid is one of East London's most exciting recent arrivals — and with a 4.9 Google rating, possibly its highest-rated independent bakery right now. This is a wholesale bakery that also throws open its doors to the public, producing wild yeast sourdough loaves across an inspired range of grains alongside stunning patisserie and some of the finest specialty coffee in E2. The railway arch space is honest and atmospheric, and the baking — long-fermented, technique-driven, deeply considered — has already prompted comparisons with some of London's finest operations.

5. Lily Vanilli Bakery

Bethnal Green, E2 7RH | Rating: 4.4 | Sat 10am–5pm; Sun 9am–4:30pm

This one requires a weekend. Lily Vanilli Bakery is tucked into a cobbled courtyard off Ezra Street, a short stroll from the Columbia Road Flower Market, and it opens only on Saturday and Sunday — which makes it feel like the best kind of ritual. Founded in 2010 by Lily Jones, whose extraordinary cake work has earned an A-list following and international fashion press, the tiny shopfront changes its display every week: seasonal layered cakes, spectacular pastries, famous sausage rolls, and proper brownies. Vegan and gluten-free options are always available on Sundays. The setting alone is worth the journey.

6. Greedy Cow Bakes

Bethnal Green, E2 8PP | Rating: 4.6 | Fri–Sun 11am–8pm

Greedy Cow Bakes opened on Hackney Road in December 2023 and almost immediately generated queues stretching 100 metres to the bus stop — a fairly reliable sign that something genuinely exciting is happening inside. Founded by Nazia Yasmin, this East London dessert bakery has built its reputation on addictive Korean milk doughnuts: pillowy brioche-style, filled with luxurious cream, and impossible to eat just one of. A rotating programme of artisan sweet bakes and seasonal pastries fills out the counter. Open Thursday to Sunday only, which gives the whole operation a weekend destination feel that the queues thoroughly justify.

7. Forno

London Fields, E8 4RP | Rating: 4.5 | Mon–Fri 7:30am–4pm; Sat–Sun 8am–5pm

Forno is an Italian bakery, deli, and pastificio from Mitch Ibrahim — the founder of acclaimed East London restaurant Ombra — and it occupies a stunning vaulted railway arch near Regent's Canal. The speciality is Roman-style baking: plush, cream-filled maritozzi (Rome's celebratory answer to the filled doughnut), custardy veneziana buns, rosemary focaccia pizza by the slice, gianduja chocolate rolls, and a beautiful deli counter of Italian cheese and charcuterie. The Infatuation awarded it 8.1/10, and the Good Food Guide concurs. One of East London's most joyful and distinctive food experiences, bar none.

8. Yeast Bakery

London Fields, E8 4QS | Rating: 4.6 | Wed–Fri 8am–4pm; Sat–Sun 9am–4pm

Yeast has had one singular obsession since 2011: mastering the croissant. Operating from a canal-side railway arch on Sheep Lane — with Regent's Canal glinting in the background, making the setting about as idyllic as a London bakery can get — it has been producing some of the finest hand-laminated pastries in the city for well over a decade. Croissants come in vivid seasonal flavours; the programme expands to kouign amann, pain au chocolat, and carefully sourced specialty coffee. Yeast also supplies several top London restaurants, which tells you everything about the standard of the baking. Open Wednesday to Sunday only.

9. Pavilion Bakery

Broadway Market, E8 4QJ | Rating: 4.1 | Mon–Fri 7:30am–3:30pm; Sat 7am–4:30pm; Sun 8:30am–4:30pm

At the southern end of Broadway Market — one of East London's most beloved streets, especially on Saturdays when the whole thing comes alive with market stalls and morning energy — Pavilion Bakery is a pared-back, no-seating, wood-fronted grab-and-go institution. Sourdough loaves, rye breads, and pastries line the shelves alongside coffee that regulars consistently cite as among the finest in the area. Connected to the beloved Pavilion Café at Victoria Park, it regularly sells out before midday, particularly on Saturdays. Arrive early, leave satisfied.

10. Violet Cakes

Hackney Central, E8 3ED | Rating: 4.6 | Mon–Fri 8am–5pm; Sat–Sun 9am–6pm

Violet Cakes is one of East London's most storied bakeries, and it carries that reputation with complete integrity. Founded by American-born, Hackney-based baker Claire Ptak, it became globally famous in 2018 when Claire was chosen by Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to create their royal wedding cake — a delicate elderflower and lemon creation that brought the Wilton Way shopfront overnight international recognition. But Violet had been quietly extraordinary long before that: daily seasonal layered cakes, cupcakes, scones, and British-inspired baked goods made with genuine care and seasonal produce. Claire also runs a Saturday stall at Broadway Market. A cornerstone of the Hackney food community in every sense.

What if Getting There Isn't an Option?

East London's bakery scene has always rewarded the dedicated — the person who sets an alarm, makes the journey, joins the queue. But the past few years have seen a meaningful shift in how Londoners access artisan quality, driven partly by necessity and partly by the realisation that a genuinely exceptional loaf of sourdough or a perfectly laminated croissant at your kitchen table on a Sunday morning is one of life's better pleasures. The rise of the artisan sourdough London subscription and weekend breakfast delivery London model isn't about convenience for its own sake — it's about access to the kind of quality that was once gatekept behind postcode and opening hours.

Alongside that shift has come a welcome reckoning with how food is produced and delivered. The most compelling breakfast delivery London services are now built around zero-waste bakery London principles — baked to order, not baked to sit — alongside sustainable food delivery London models using bike delivery food London rather than van fleets. A pastry subscription UK that arrives by cargo bicycle, packed in recyclable materials, from a baker who started that morning's dough the previous evening: that is not a compromise. That is arguably the best version of the whole thing.

Butter & Crust: Artisan Baking Delivered to Your Door

If the bakeries above have given you an appetite but Sunday morning logistics are getting in the way, Butter & Crust is worth knowing about. They partner with the best local artisan producers in London to deliver sourdough, pastries, and breakfast goods directly to your door by 9am every weekend — before you've had to think about queues, sell-outs, or whether the number 55 bus is running.

In inner London, delivery goes by bicycle, which keeps things properly sustainable. All packaging is recyclable. And because everything is baked to order rather than in advance, there is zero food waste — no baking surplus, no compromised quality, no wondering whether your croissant sat in a van for four hours. The subscription is genuinely flexible: pause it, skip a week, cancel whenever — no awkward phone calls required. Butter & Crust currently covers most of London zones 1–3, with more areas being added. If you're an artisan sourdough London devotee who simply can't make it to the railway arch every weekend, this is the next best thing — and on some Sundays, it might be better.

Find out more at Butter & Crust

Sources

Beigel Bake Brick Lane — Whitechapel, E1 6SB | bricklanebeigel.co.uk
The Beigel Shop — Whitechapel, E1 6SB | yellowbeigelshop.com
Rinkoff Bakery — Whitechapel, E1 3BS | rinkoffs.co.uk
Breid Bakery — Bethnal Green, E2 6JG | breidbakers.co.uk
Lily Vanilli Bakery — Bethnal Green, E2 7RH | lilyvanilli.com
Greedy Cow Bakes — Bethnal Green, E2 8PP | greedy-cow-bakes.menueat.net
Forno — London Fields, E8 4RP | forno.london
Yeast Bakery — London Fields, E8 4QS | yeastbakery.com
Pavilion Bakery — Broadway Market, E8 4QJ | pavilionbread.com
Violet Cakes — Hackney Central, E8 3ED | violetcakes.com

Editorial sources:
The Infatuation London — Forno review, Greedy Cow Bakes feature (2024)
Good Food Guide — Forno entry
Time Out London — Beigel Bake, Rinkoff Bakery, Lily Vanilli features
Guardian — Rinkoff Bakery, Violet Cakes coverage
Eastlondonlines — Breid Bakery feature (2025)
Tower Hamlets Slice — Greedy Cow Bakes feature (2024)