Bakery and Pattiserie Roundup #1: Kova, Poilane, Little Bread Pedlar
As well as the more regular restaurant reviews, I would be remiss to not sample the many fine bakeries and patisseries in London, and highlight any gems that I happen across.
This past month I've partaken in Japanese patisseries from Kova, French baked goods from Poilane, and an assortment of baked items from Little Bread Pedlar.
Kova brings Japanese Patisserie (that is heavily inspired by the French) to a couple of stores in London, from the classics such as Japanese Soufflé and Strawberry Shortcake, to more modern adaptations like an assortment of flavoured Mille-crepes. As it was my first time at Kova, I went for their Asian bestseller, according to the store clerk: Matcha Mille-Crepes.
Matcha is a taste that, having not grown up with it, feels very bitter to most Western palettes, with a somewhat grass-like taste. Unsurprising, as matcha is ground green tea leaves. Similar to wine, the acrid taste does diminish with repeated exposure, and the matcha mille-crepes on offer at Kova are simply delicious.
To go with it, I had a 'dirty boba', a style of bubble tea that has the tapioca balls dipped in fried black sugar before the milk is poured over them. Wonderfully sweet, boba makes a good accompaniment to any dessert, but particularly one that is more on the umami side.
Kova's range of patisseries is stunning, and I'm very much looking forward to going back and trying the Strawberry Shortcake.
In contrast to Kova, Poilane is a French Bakery in Pimlico, selling traditional fare as well as eye-catching bread loafs, such as sourdough loafs with curling patterns on their topsides. Disavowing myself of buying an entire loaf, I went for the Pain au Chocolate and Custard Flan. Both were of good quality and light, but the Pain au Chocolat was certainly not very memorable, and the Custard Flan had me mooning for the Pasteis de Natas of Lisbon.
If you find yourself in Pimlico with a hankering for something sweet, Little Bread Pedlar should be your first destination. It has a few other stores in London, but the one in Pimlico was just a few minutes walk away from the Airbnb I have been staying in this past month, much to my good fortune.
They have a carefully curated selection of baked goods, and I am told offer various types of coffee (short of a drinks menu being anywhere in sight). I went for a cardamon bun, and a hazelnut chocolatine. The cardamom bun was nicely spiced and baked, but as I had already finished my coffee, was unfortunately pretty dry. The hazelnut chocolatine on the other hand. Wow. Probably the best baked good I've ever had (short of a 20 bag I got off a guy called Manny in Leeds). The filo-style pastry was perfection. I highly recommend a visit!
