Gail’s Bakery

A couple of weeks ago whilst visiting Helen we headed into central London for a late breakfast and then some shopping. We had passed Gail’s bakery in Wardour Street, Soho once before but it was busy and there were no free seats, this time we were lucky, we had beaten the rush.

This Soho bakery was opened just after Christmas in 2011. The first Gail’s bakery was opened in 2005 in Hampstead where they hold an annual event ‘Gail’s Garden Party which consists of around 30 stalls “showcasing Britain’s top artisan food and drink producers, live music, arts and crafts for the kids”. There are 13 Gail’s branches around London selling bread, cakes and pastries using fresh, natural ingredients with no artificial colours/flavours or preservatives, made fresh every day.  You can also pick up a choice of breakfasts such as healthy granola with organic honey, traditional English or a rather chic French style with brioche. Soup, salads, artisan sandwiches and dips are also on offer. Gail’s recently opened their first restaurant in Bloomsbury called Gail’s Kitchen which serves fabulous sounding dishes inspired by bread and the bread oven.

Once inside, we sat at some little stools along a side window which looked onto a small pedestrian-only street with people going to and fro, so the bakery is in a good position as most people were looking in as they were walking by.  It is great for people watching in the hustle and bustle of Soho. There are also a few high stools at the counter and a large table at the back of the bakery for larger groups.

There was plenty of choice with most of the cakes were in the window on display and the pastries on the counter. We settled on a white chocolate & strawberry scone and a chocolate & almond croissant to share and two coffees. The coffees were very nicely presented with a nice decoration on top of the froth, which adds a nice touch I always think. The scone was indeed fresh. It contained  large chunks of white chocolate and the top was quite crispy as it had sugar on it which had gone crusty. This was nice and added some sweetness, although the scone wasn’t too sweet. The scone contained strawberries inside which made a nice difference too.

We both decided that the chocolate & almond croissant won the ‘most tastiest’ contest today. Again, it was very fresh,  with a slightly gooey almond centre, flaked almonds on top and even some whole almonds inside, which were a lovely surprise.

The only downside to our visit was the door to the bakery. It didn’t close properly and as it was a rather chilly winter’s day, it made it a little uncomfortable to sit and enjoy our cakes. But the service was warm and friendly and the prices were good – two coffees, two pastries £10.30.

We enjoyed our visit to Gail’s and will definitely return to try something different. We are also keen to try Gail’s new restaurant which we can imagine dishes are served with the freshest of bread. You can’t go wrong with a visit to Gail’s. It be classed as a London chain but Gail’s certainly haven’t lost their local quality and community charm.

Living life, loving cake,

H x