Dominique Ansel bakery Belgravia

Amazing place and cakes!

Recently new to the area of Victoria, this bakery is a welcome addition to the area. Incredibly popular/busy at the moment, it is well worth checking out. Known for being the original creator of the Cronut, it is worth getting here early for the chance to try one. (Be warned, they run out pretty quickly!) We went early to grab Cronuts they only make limited quantities since it takes about 3 days to prove! However, we still missed out They have a wonderful selection of other delicious cakes cookies to wet your tastebuds. You can sit in and have a meal/cake with a coffee or grab a takeaway of cake (handy when it's very busy). Their chocolate chip and milk cookie shots are definitely a must try! They are served from 3pm onwards and the cup is made out of cookie which you can eat once you've drunk the milk from it. We tried some of the other pastries and desserts which were quite nice. The DKA is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside and the Milk Honey Tart is pretty yummy though the pastry case may be a bit too hard for some. They also sell macarons, salted caramel tarts, eclairs, madeleines and savoury items too, as well as coffee.

Well on my second attempt of lining up in the street like a line after 45 minutes I finall got served AND scored a last remaining "Cronut". This follow up visit was so important as after the first one I felt soo different. I chose different treats. Actually this second visit and £50 the lighter finished it for me. After standing in line as I say for 45 minutes forced to listen to the snobbish banter of a trend seeking student/tourist crowd I got my teeth into the fabled "Cronut". Man whats the fuss? A greasy cold so rubbery piece of chewed dough that I had trouble cutting with a serrated steak knife! The Guininess Vol au Vont had a gooey cold Mushroom gloop inside that when torn apart proved similiar to a croissant from The big 4 supermarkets it went all over my chin.Yuk. None of the components seemed to mesh.Crisped dash of cheese on top.Tough croissant vol au vent.Cold Gloopy sauce. Only the Oxtail soup was a work of genius-at least it was hot and made a great little meal of Oxtail & Noodles in a cup. @ £6. 3 other tarts I bought were not nearly as good as the first 3 I bought-Jasmine Lime and another. The atmosphere in there was OK regards staff but the customers seem to have the warmth of an ice box. Maybe its just the Victoriia bus station ambience as its a few stores down. Students,trend seekers,one feels this is the best option "Cos its like New York"though a very small part of "New York" one must say.

Having visited specially on a Sunday Afternoon to see "The New York cakes" I was not alone. On arriving outside over 100 .,mainly young,people were lining up around the shop out the door and round the block! I have to say I dound this a tad daunting as waiting times looked like getting on for an hour. The other food places in Elizabeth Street were near deserted. I ventured inside,past the waiting lines to view the cakes in the cabinet & sure enough each & every one was there. As were posters offering the custom varities. The kitchen & bakers were in full view. The tarts and pastries all looked very interesting if perhaps a little smaller than Id been expecting. Inside if you could get a seat you could sit on stools or chairs or just takew away I presume. Certainly very high quality and individualistic compared to all other bakeries in London. A step up indeed. Priced at around £6 each . It all looked very efficient & professional if not a bit harrassed understandably given the crowds. I will have to return during the quieter weekday when I might stand a chance of actually buying some of these yummy looking cakes. The huge crowds are a sign of how starved London is in this department.