The Best Sourdough in Kensington
There is a particular sort of London morning that begins with the smell of warm bread drifting along a pavement: crust crackling, butter melting, coffee doing its best to keep up. Around Kensington and its neighbouring streets, the search for an excellent loaf can quickly become a very pleasant bakery crawl. Whether you are after a properly fermented sourdough, a Swedish cinnamon bun or a croissant worth crossing town for, this is a corner of west London that takes its baking seriously.
Here are the bakeries we would visit when only the good stuff will do — including a few excellent spots just beyond Kensington proper.
The Best Bakeries In And Around Kensington
1. Sally Clarke's Shop
Location: Kensington — 1 Campden Street, W8 7EP
Rating: 4.4/5
Hours: Monday–Saturday, 7:30am–4:00pm
A Kensington institution since 1984, Sally Clarke’s Shop is the sort of place that makes a daily loaf feel like a small luxury. Its own bakery produces fresh breads and pastries, while the shop adds a refined deli selection and seasonal artisan produce. This is a quietly confident destination for bread, with the reassuring sense that everything has been chosen by people who genuinely care about what ends up on your kitchen table.
2. KURO Bakery
Location: Notting Hill — 95 Notting Hill Gate, W11 3JZ
Rating: 4.8/5
Hours: Monday–Friday, 8:00am–4:00pm; Saturday–Sunday, 8:00am–5:00pm
KURO is a boutique pastry specialist with a gift for laminated dough and a signature bake that has become something of a local celebrity. The Sākuro is a flaky, sugar-dusted croissant roll filled with chocolate or vanilla cream, while the almond croissant is another serious draw. Expect queues, especially when the weekend pastry mission is underway — but this is the kind of queue that tends to end happily.
3. Libby’s
Location: Notting Hill — 61a Ledbury Road, W11 2AA
Rating: 4.6/5
Hours: Monday–Sunday, 8:00am–4:00pm
Libby’s makes a compelling case that gluten-free baking should never mean settling for second best. Everything is made fresh and 100% gluten-free, from sourdough loaves and croissants to cinnamon buns, seasonal pastries and celebration cakes. Created in partnership with MasterChef: The Professionals winner Keri Moss, the bakery has collected three Gold awards at the Free From Food Awards — a welcome destination for anyone who wants excellent baking, with or without gluten.
4. Fabrique Notting Hill
Location: Notting Hill — 212 Portobello Road, W11 1LA
Rating: 4.6/5
Hours: Daily, 8:00am–6:00pm
Fabrique brings a slice of Stockholm to Portobello Road, and its focused menu is all the better for avoiding unnecessary fuss. The Swedish cinnamon buns are the headline act, with Scandi-style rye bread, brownies, fudge cookies and vegan chocolate slices providing excellent supporting roles. It is a concise, well-drilled bakery offering: go for the bun, stay for the rye.
5. Layla Notting Hill
Location: Notting Hill — 212 Portobello Road, W11 1LJ
Rating: 4.7/5
Hours: Daily, 8:00am–4:00pm
Layla takes a thoughtful, modern approach to baking, working with wild grains, ancient bread-making traditions and Wildfarmed flour. Its menu is inventive without becoming showy: croissant-dough sausage rolls, rhubarb and cardamom pastries, and peanut chocolate cookies all make clever use of ingredients and leftovers. Early arrival is sensible; the good things here are known to disappear.
6. Reemies Chelsea
Location: Chelsea — 137 Fulham Road, SW3 6SD
Rating: 4.6/5
Hours: Monday–Saturday, 9:00am–6:00pm; Sunday, 10:00am–6:00pm
Reemies’ first bricks-and-mortar shop opened on Fulham Road in 2025, bringing its much-loved banana bundt cakes to Chelsea. The range includes vegan versions alongside the signature bakes and pastries, all served from a distinctly pretty pink-and-red storefront. It is a cheerful stop for a sweet treat, particularly when the weekend calls for cake rather than a sensible breakfast.
7. Birley Bakery Chelsea
Location: Chelsea — 28–30 Cale Street, SW3 3QU
Rating: 4.5/5
Hours: Monday–Friday, 7:00am–6:00pm; Saturday–Sunday, 8:00am–6:00pm
Set within Chelsea’s artisan food district, Birley Bakery pairs its photogenic surroundings with a broad, dependable selection of fresh bread, pastries, cakes and chocolate. It is the sort of place that works for a quick morning loaf as well as a slower browse through the sweet things. Add in its baking school and there is plenty here for both committed home bakers and people who simply enjoy eating the results.
8. Little Sourdough Kitchen
Location: Fulham — 237 Munster Road, SW6 6BT
Rating: 4.5/5
Hours: Daily, 7:30am–3:30pm
For a bakery where sourdough is very much the main event, Little Sourdough Kitchen is the obvious Fulham detour. Its naturally leavened loaves sit alongside croissants and a changing daily pastry selection, all served in a small café with a distinctly neighbourhood feel. It is as much a friendly community meeting point as a bread specialist — the sort of place where “just one loaf” is an optimistic plan.
Visit Little Sourdough Kitchen
What If Getting There Isn’t An Option?
Sometimes the ideal bakery is not around the corner. London mornings are busy, the weather has opinions, and nobody wants to abandon a warm duvet for a loaf — even an excellent one. That is why artisan breakfast delivery London services have become such a useful part of the weekend ritual: quality baking arrives at home, and the day starts with something considerably better than a hurried piece of toast.
There is also a growing appetite for more thoughtful food systems. A bread subscription London service, a pastry subscription UK option, and a sustainable food delivery London model can all make good baking more regular while reducing unnecessary journeys. Add bike delivery food London, recyclable packaging and a zero waste bakery approach, and the pleasure feels rather more considered. For busy households, weekend breakfast delivery London can be the difference between a proper breakfast and coffee consumed over the sink.
Butter & Crust: Great Baking, Brought Home
For food lovers who want the bakery experience without the bakery crawl, Butter & Crust is a particularly lovely solution. The service works with some of London’s best local artisan producers to bring sourdough, pastries and breakfast goods to your door by 9am every weekend.
Deliveries are made by bicycle across inner London, with recyclable packaging and a baked-to-order approach designed to avoid food waste. The flexible subscription lets you pause, skip or cancel whenever life gets in the way, while coverage across most of London’s zones 1–3 — and expanding — makes it an appealing option beyond Kensington too.
In other words, if you are searching for artisan sourdough London can be proud of, but would rather not queue before breakfast, Butter & Crust is worth knowing about. Fresh bread, excellent pastries and a slower Saturday morning: that is a pretty convincing combination.
Sources
- Sally Clarke's Shop — Kensington, W8 7EP | sallyclarke.com
- KURO Bakery — Notting Hill, W11 3JZ | kuro-london.com/kuro-bakery-london
- Libby’s — Notting Hill, W11 2AA | libbys.co
- Fabrique Notting Hill — Notting Hill, W11 1LA | fabrique.co.uk
- Layla Notting Hill — Notting Hill, W11 1LJ | laylabakery.com
- Reemies Chelsea — Chelsea, SW3 6SD | reemiescakes.com
- Birley Bakery Chelsea — Chelsea, SW3 3QU | birleybakery.co.uk
- Little Sourdough Kitchen — Fulham, SW6 6BT | Facebook