The Best Bakeries in North West London
There's a particular kind of Saturday morning magic that belongs entirely to North West London. It starts somewhere around Kilburn or Queen's Park, where the smell of butter and cardamom drifts through a cracked-open bakery door before the street has quite woken up. By the time you reach Notting Hill or Hampstead, there are queues of people clutching paper bags with the reverence usually reserved for rare vinyl. NW London has always had extraordinary food — the delis of St John's Wood, the Lebanese grocers of Edgware Road — but its artisan bakery scene has quietly become one of the finest in the capital. Whether you're after an impeccable French croissant, a pioneering gluten-free cinnamon bun, or a century-old kosher family recipe reinvented for 2025, this is a neighbourhood with serious baking credentials. If you're looking for a weekend breakfast delivery London can be proud of, you're in the right postcode.
The Best Bakeries in North West London
1. Hart & Lova Bakery — Kilburn
Belsize Road, NW6 4AA | Rating: 4.7 (Google) | Wed–Sun 7:30am–5pm | hartandlova.com
This is the bakery North West London didn't know it was waiting for. A passion project from Andrea Hartlova and master baker Nicolas Juaneda, Hart & Lova produces French-style laminated pastries that have no business being this good in a Kilburn side street — and yet there they are. The croissants are widely regarded as the finest in the area: shatteringly flaky, deeply buttered, properly honeyed in the interior. Alongside those, you'll find crusty sourdough loaves, glossy cinnamon rolls, artisan tarts, and sandwiches generous enough to count as lunch. With a 4.7 Google rating from over 738 reviewers and morning queues from across NW6, this is the undisputed star of the neighbourhood.
2. Don't Tell Dad — Queen's Park
10–14 Lonsdale Road, NW6 6RD | Rating: 4.5 (Google) | Mon–Sun 8am–4pm (bakery) | donttelldad.co.uk
Opened in January 2025 by Coco di Mama founder Daniel Land in memory of his late sister Lesley, Don't Tell Dad is one of the most emotionally resonant and technically accomplished new bakeries in London. Head Baker Keren Sternberg, formerly of Layla, runs a kitchen producing some of the city's most-talked-about madeleines — buttery, perfumed, and already considered benchmark quality — alongside sourdough loaves, savoury croissants, ciabatta sandwiches, and inventive seasonal pastries. The open kitchen adds theatre; the Michelin Guide listing (2025) adds credibility. The evening restaurant under Head Chef Luke Frankie (Noble Rot, Forza Wine, Spring) is a different kind of treat entirely. A remarkable addition to Queen's Park.
3. Kossoffs — Kentish Town
259 Kentish Town Road, NW5 2JT | Rating: 4.6 (Google) | Mon–Sun 8am–6pm | kossoffs.com
The Kossoffs family has been baking since the early twentieth century. Fourth-generation great-grandson Aaron Kossoff — Le Cordon Bleu graduate and former Head Baker at Ottolenghi at just 26 — revived the dynasty in July 2021 with this Kentish Town shopfront, blending Eastern European Jewish heritage with contemporary baking excellence. The miso and chive swirls, twice-baked hazelnut croissants, and kimcheese claws are genuinely unlike anything else in NW London. The sourdoughs are outstanding. The story behind them makes everything taste even better. If you come once, you'll be back every week.
4. KURO Bakery — Notting Hill
95 Notting Hill Gate, W11 3JZ | Rating: 4.8 (Google) | Mon–Fri 8am–4pm; Sat–Sun 8am–5pm | kuro-london.com
Boutique, focused, and quietly brilliant. KURO has become one of the most admired laminated pastry specialists in West London, drawing repeat visitors for an almond croissant that food critics have placed among the city's finest. The signature Sākuro — a croissant roll filled with chocolate or vanilla cream, encased in a flaky, sugar-dusted exterior — is the item that generates the queues. It is every bit as good as the hype suggests. The menu is compact by design, and all the better for it. Arrive early or expect to be disappointed.
5. Layla — Notting Hill
212 Portobello Road, W11 1LJ | Rating: 4.7 (Google) | Daily 8am–4pm | laylabakery.com
Founded by Tessa Faulkner, who was struck by the fact that West London had somehow missed the artisan baking revolution that had transformed east of the City, and decided to fix that herself. The result is a bakery built around wild grains, Wildfarmed flour, and a genuine commitment to reducing waste without sacrificing creativity: sausage rolls made from leftover croissant dough and HG Walter pork; rhubarb cardamom pastries; Wildfarmed peanut chocolate cookies. Everything sells out. Early arrival isn't optional — it's essential.
6. Fabrique Bakery — Notting Hill
212 Portobello Road, W11 1LA | Rating: 4.6 (Google) | Daily 8am–6pm | fabrique.co.uk
The Stockholm-born bakery with 19 outposts in Sweden has brought its Scandinavian baking tradition to Portobello Road, and it fits perfectly. The cinnamon buns are consistently ranked among London's best: deeply spiced, properly chewy, resolutely unfancy in the best possible way. Rye bread, vegan chocolate slices, and fudge cookies round out a menu that proves brevity is a virtue. The Notting Hill crowds love it. So does everyone else.
7. Libby's — Notting Hill
61a Ledbury Road, W11 2AA | Rating: 4.6 (Google) | Mon–Sun 8am–4pm | libbys.co
A genuinely pioneering bakery that has changed what gluten-free means in this city. Created by founder Simon in partnership with MasterChef: The Professionals winner Keri Moss, Libby's hand-makes every item fresh: croissants, cinnamon buns, sourdough loaves, seasonal pastries — all 100% gluten-free, all uncompromising on flavour and texture. Three Gold awards at the Free From Food Awards. An invaluable, joyful destination for anyone navigating gluten intolerance in a city where that can still mean a dry cardboard muffin. Not here.
8. Happy Sky Bakery — Shepherd's Bush
95 Askew Road, W12 9AH | Rating: 4.8 (Google) | Fri–Sun 9am–3pm | happyskylondon.com
Founded by Motoko McNulty in 2007, Happy Sky is one of London's longest-established Japanese bakeries — and one of its best, named among the UK's top 49 bakeries by The Times in 2023. The fiercely loyal following it has built over nearly two decades comes for Tokyo milk bread, matcha pistachio croissants, yuzu custard tarts, and chicken katsu sandos that are the very definition of umami breakfast. Open Fridays to Sundays only; the scarcity is part of the ritual. The Oxford Street second location extends the reach, but the Shepherd's Bush original remains the heartland.
9. Karma Bread — South End Green, Hampstead
13 South End Road, NW3 2PT | Rating: 4.2 (Google) | Daily 7:30am–5pm | karmabread.co.uk
Founded in 2015 by Tami Isaacs Pearce at the foot of Hampstead Heath, Karma Bread is a warmly loved neighbourhood bakery rooted in Jewish baking heritage. Pillowy challah, tangy sourdough, and authentic New York rye form the backbone of a daily offering made entirely by hand on site. Everything is baked to traditional recipes with genuine craft — and the location, steps from the Heath, means it doubles as the perfect pre-walk provision stop. A second location at Brent Cross Town now extends the reach to NW2.
10. Louis Hungarian Patisserie — Hampstead
32 Heath Street, NW3 6TE | Rating: 4.2 (Google) | Mon–Fri 6am–5pm; Sat–Sun 7am–5pm | louis-patisserie.com
A Hampstead institution since 1963 and one of London's most atmospheric cake shops — a Viennese-style tearoom tucked behind a patisserie counter, selling Hungarian-inspired cakes and pastries in a space that hasn't substantially changed since the Beatles were charting. The mocha cake has been acclaimed as among the finest in the city. In one of London's most competitive and affluent neighbourhoods, Louis has survived on the sheer quality and irreplaceability of what it does. That should tell you everything.
11. Coco Bakery — Golders Green
20 Russell Parade, Golders Green Road, NW11 9NN | Rating: 4.4 (Google) | Mon–Thu 9am–8pm; Sun 9am–8pm; Fri 9am–1:30pm | cocobakery.co.uk
An entirely unique family-owned kosher bakery at the heart of one of London's most vibrant Jewish neighbourhoods. The Ferrero Rocher doughnut and the white chocolate and pistachio version have developed a devoted following that crosses religious lines entirely — these are exceptional pastries by any standard. A full artisan bread programme — sourdough, challah, enriched loaves — sits alongside desserts, celebration cakes, and a warmth of atmosphere that makes Coco Bakery feel like exactly what it is: a family business that bakes with love.
12. Melrose & Morgan — Primrose Hill
42 Gloucester Avenue, NW1 8JD | Rating: 4.5 (Google) | Mon–Fri 8am–7pm; Sat–Sun 8am–6pm | melroseandmorgan.com
More than just a bakery — Melrose & Morgan is the kind of perfectly curated food emporium that makes you want to
