When it comes to breakfast pastries, the croissant still reigns supreme. Start the countdown on Paris's best croissants - all freshly made in pâtisseries and bakeries across the city
While Londoners are losing their minds over Dominique Ansel’s cronut, the Parisian love affair with the croissant endures. These famously flaky pastries have been fuelling the city for hundreds of years – long enough to know there is nothing more tragic than a pale, soggy croissant to start the day. So after working our way through the finest jambon-beurre, we’ve scoured pâtisseries far and wide for the crème-de-la-crème of the capital’s croissants au beurre.
Ranked on appearance (golden all over and brown on the bottom), pastry quality and taste, these buttery beauties are well worth crossing Paris for. Your breakfast may never be the same again.
€1.50
Magnificient, glistening pastry…with an inside that's just as good as the outside. This airy croissant has stolen our hearts with its regal balance of good quality butter and sublime flavour.
Where? Des Gâteaux et du Pain, 63 boulevard Pasteur, Paris 15eme (or 89 rue du Bac, Paris 7eme)
€1.60
With an almond hint to its pastry, this croissant is elegant, crusty and golden. Worth every centime.
Where? Du Pain et des Idées, 34 rue Yves Toudic, Paris 10eme
€1
The right side of flaky, the shiny pastry smells heavily of butter and may require a good hand-wash after eating. Just the way we like it.
Where? Boulangerie Pichard, 88 rue Cambronne, Paris 15eme
€1.20
With a slightly rustic, rugged look, this beautiful (and hefty) croissant melts in the mouth. This is the sort of breakfast we’d want every Sunday. Or rather, every day.
Where? Laurent Duchêne, 2 rue Wurtz, Paris 13eme (or 238 rue de La Convention, Paris 15eme)
€1.15
Don’t let the unusual shape put you off, the pastry is beautifully delicate. It could do with being a little softer but it's still firmly in our top five.
Where? Boulangerie Terroir d'avenir, 1 rue du Nil, Paris 2eme
Chez Meunier (€1), 2 rue de la Chapelle, Paris 18eme
Sebastien Gaudard (€1.40), 22 rue des Martyrs, Paris 9eme
Gambette à pain (€1.10), 86 avenue Gambetta, Paris 20eme
Le Grenier à pain Abbesses (€1), 38 rue des abbesses Paris 18eme
Liberté Ménilmontant (€1.10), 150 rue de Ménilmontant, Paris 20eme
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