The Best Croissants in Notting Hill (and the Bakeries Worth Queuing For)

Introduction

There is a particular kind of Saturday morning that Notting Hill does better than almost anywhere else in London. The market stalls are just setting up on Portobello Road, the plane trees are doing their dappled thing overhead, and somewhere nearby — if you are lucky enough to be walking in the right direction — the smell of laminated pastry drifting from a bakery doorway will stop you dead in your tracks. This is the smell of butter meeting heat, of layers that took a baker two days to build collapsing perfectly in about four seconds of chewing. It is worth crossing the city for.

Notting Hill and its immediate neighbours have quietly become one of London's most compelling neighbourhoods for serious pastry. Whether you are after a classically French croissant, something inventive and Japanese-inflected, or a wholly gluten-free version that refuses to apologise for itself, this pocket of West London has it covered. Here is where to go — and what to order when you get there. If weekend breakfast delivery London is more your current reality, we have got you covered at the end too.

The Best Croissants and Bakeries in Notting Hill

1. KURO Bakery

Notting Hill, W11 3JZ · Rating: 4.8 (Google) · Mon–Fri: 8am–4pm; Sat–Sun: 8am–5pm

If you only visit one bakery on this list, make it KURO. Tucked just off Notting Hill Gate, this boutique pastry specialist has built a quietly devoted following with some of the most technically accomplished laminated pastries in the city. The almond croissant has been singled out by multiple food critics as among London's finest — deeply fragrant, generously filled, with a crust that shatters in a genuinely satisfying way. But the real reason people queue here is the Sākuro: a croissant roll filled with chocolate or vanilla cream and finished in a flaky, sugar-dusted shell that somehow manages to feel both indulgent and precise at the same time. KURO has been featured in The Modern House and praised by critics across the board. Arrive early; the bestsellers go fast.

2. Layla — Portobello Road (Notting Hill)

Notting Hill, W11 1LJ · Rating: 4.7 (Google) · Daily: 8am–4pm

Founded by Tessa Faulkner, who was genuinely puzzled that West London had not caught up with East London's artisan baking scene, Layla on Portobello Road is making up for lost time at considerable speed. The philosophy here centres on wild grains, ancient bread-making methods, and a commitment to seasonal sourcing that extends all the way to the pastry counter. Their croissant dough does double duty in magnificent sausage rolls made with HG Walter pork — a piece of kitchen resourcefulness that also happens to taste extraordinary. Rhubarb cardamom pastries, wildfarmed peanut chocolate cookies, and an approach to waste reduction that never once feels like a compromise. Featured in London On The Inside and The Nudge as one of London's best. Early arrival is not a suggestion — it is a necessity.

3. Fabrique Bakery — Notting Hill

Notting Hill, W11 1LA · Rating: 4.6 (Google) · Daily: 8am–6pm

Originally from Stockholm — where Fabrique now has 19 locations — this Swedish bakery has brought its focused, no-fuss Scandinavian baking tradition to Portobello Road and made it feel entirely at home. Croissants are not the main event here; that honour belongs to the cinnamon buns, which Time Out and The Modern House have placed among the very best in London. But the wider menu of fudge cookies, vegan chocolate slices, and dark, serious rye bread is a reminder that a short menu with genuine conviction beats a long one with divided attention every single time. If you are making a Portobello morning of it, Fabrique is an essential stop.

4. Libby's

Notting Hill, W11 2AA · Rating: 4.6 (Google) · Mon–Sun: 8am–4pm

Libby's on Ledbury Road is doing something that still feels borderline miraculous: making genuinely excellent, hand-crafted croissants that are 100% gluten-free. Founded by Simon following a personal health journey and created in partnership with MasterChef: The Professionals winner Keri Moss, this dedicated gluten-free artisan bakery applies real pastry technique — proper lamination, proper flavour, proper texture — to every single item on its menu. The croissants, cinnamon buns, sourdough loaves and seasonal pastries have earned three Gold awards at the Free From Food Awards, and for anyone navigating a gluten-free life in London, Libby's is nothing short of a revelation. The rest of us would happily eat here regardless.

5. Sally Clarke's Shop

Kensington, W8 7EP · Rating: 4.4 (Tripadvisor) · Mon–Sat: 7:30am–4pm

Sally Clarke has been one of London's most important voices in seasonal, artisan food since she opened her restaurant on Kensington Church Street in 1984. The deli-bakery on Campden Street operates as an extension of that same philosophy: daily fresh breads and pastries from the in-house bakery, alongside premium seasonal deli produce that reflects exactly what is good right now. It is quieter than a queue-out-the-door destination, which is partly the point — this is somewhere regulars return to week after week, year after year. Chefs, journalists, and food lovers have been doing exactly that for four decades. A Michelin-starred institution that never needed to shout about it.

6. Layla Bakery — Ladbroke Grove

Ladbroke Grove, W10 5PQ · Rating: 4.2 (Google) · Mon–Sat: 8am–4pm; Sun: 8am–3pm

A short walk further up Portobello Road, the original Layla Bakery on Ladbroke Grove has been a west London obsession since it opened in 2021. The menu changes constantly, built around ancient grains, sustainability, and whatever the season is actually offering — glistening pastries, sourdough loaves, sweet treats, and sandwiches that are better than they need to be. When the last customer leaves in the afternoon, the space transforms into a natural wine bar, which tells you a great deal about the crowd it attracts. Recommended by both Time Out London and Eater London, and worthy of both endorsements.

7. Zeit and Zaatar — Shepherd's Bush

Shepherd's Bush, W12 8PP · Rating: 4.6 (Google) · Mon–Sat: 8am–6pm; Sun: 8am–5pm

Not a croissant destination, but an unmissable one. Zeit and Zaatar operates out of Shepherd's Bush Market and specialises in manaeesh — the Levantine oven-hot flatbreads that deserve to be as well-known in London as any French pastry. Topped with za'atar, akkawi cheese, or spiced sujuk sausage, these are baked to order and eaten immediately, ideally standing up. The sujuk and cheese version, with its deep maroon spiced meat and molten gooey cheese, is the one to go for. A genuinely distinctive cultural presence in a part of West London that is much richer for it.

8. Happy Sky Bakery — Shepherd's Bush

Shepherd's Bush, W12 9AH · Rating: 4.8 (Google) · Fri–Sun: 9am–3pm

Founded by Motoko McNulty in 2007, Happy Sky is one of London's longest-established Japanese bakeries and, frankly, one of its best full stop. The matcha pistachio croissants have developed a following that justifies the Friday-to-Sunday only opening hours — plan your week around it. Tokyo milk bread, yuzu custard tarts, chicken katsu sandos, and matcha mochi ribbons round out a menu that is playful, precise, and deeply satisfying. Named one of the UK's top 49 bakeries by The Times in 2023, Happy Sky has been earning that kind of recognition for years without any fuss.

What If Getting There Is Not an Option?

The honest truth about London's best bakeries is that they require a little effort — early alarms, weekend journeys on the tube, queues that form before the shutters go up. For most of us, that is a pleasure once a month. But the genuine daily desire for quality bread and pastry at home is something the city's food scene has finally started to take seriously. The demand for artisan breakfast delivery London-wide has grown considerably, and not just for convenience's sake — people increasingly want to know where their food comes from, who made it, and whether the packaging is going to haunt a landfill for decades. A pastry subscription UK-wide would once have seemed fanciful. Now it is a real and genuinely good option.

The most interesting shift has been the move toward sustainable food delivery London bakers are pioneering — zero waste bakery models where everything is baked to order rather than produced speculatively and discarded. Paired with bike delivery food models in inner London (quieter streets, lower emissions, faster for short distances), the whole proposition starts to look less like a luxury service and more like a sensible, considered alternative to a supermarket aisle. Artisan sourdough London delivered to your door before you have finished your first coffee is, it turns out, a very fine way to start a Saturday.

Butter & Crust: Artisan Pastry Delivered to Your Door

If Notting Hill's bakery scene has given you something to aspire to on your average weekday morning, Butter & Crust exists to close that gap. Working with the best local artisan producers in London, Butter & Crust delivers sourdough, pastries, and breakfast goods by 9am every weekend — so the Saturday morning experience of a great loaf and a proper croissant does not require you to leave the house before the heating has kicked in.

Deliveries in inner London are made by bicycle, and all packaging is fully recyclable — a bread subscription London residents can feel good about in every sense. Everything is baked to order, which means zero food waste and nothing sitting on a shelf wondering when it will be eaten. The subscription itself is genuinely flexible: pause it, skip a week, cancel whenever — no friction, no awkward emails. Butter & Crust currently covers most of London zones 1 to 3, with more areas coming on board regularly. If a weekend breakfast delivery London households can actually rely on sounds like something your kitchen has been missing, this is where to start.

Find out more and start your subscription at butterandcrust.com.

Sources

KURO Bakery — Notting Hill, W11 3JZ | kuro-london.com
Layla (Portobello Road, Notting Hill) — Notting Hill, W11 1LJ | laylabakery.com
Fabrique Bakery — Notting Hill, W11 1LA | fabrique.co.uk
Libby's — Notting Hill, W11 2AA | libbys.co
Sally Clarke's Shop — Kensington, W8 7EP | sallyclarke.com
Layla Bakery — Ladbroke Grove, W10 5PQ | laylabakery.com
Zeit and Zaatar — Shepherd's Bush, W12 8PP | facebook.com/ZzBakeryZytWZtrLndn
Happy Sky Bakery — Shepherd's Bush, W12 9AH | happyskylondon.com

Editorial sources cited:
The Modern House — featured KURO Bakery and Fabrique Bakery (referenced in bakery data)
Time Out London — featured Fabrique Bakery, Layla Bakery (referenced in bakery data)
London On The Inside — featured Layla Notting Hill and Happy Sky Bakery (referenced in bakery data)
The Nudge — featured Layla Notting Hill (referenced in bakery data)
The Times — named Happy Sky Bakery among UK's top 49 bakeries, 2023
Eater London — recommended Layla Bakery (referenced in bakery data)
Free From Food Awards — three Gold awards to Libby's (referenced in bakery data)