Toad Bakery; Camberwell, London
London bakery diaries pt.2
Buzzing off our success at Pophams Bakery, Anna and I decided to go to Toad Bakery next. Aesthetically pleasing as all London bakeries tend to be, we made the trek out to Camberwell- a horribly connected little borough in South East London (truly, truly horribly connected). Unlike last time, we did not foolishly turn up at 2 PM on a sunny Saturday. Nay. This time, we were confident in our timings. 1 PM on a random Tuesday. What could go wrong?
A lot apparently.
It seems that the voracious appetites of Londoners are not only confined to sunny weekends but rather to any day of the week—even cloudy, cold Tuesdays. By the time we arrived, they were fresh out of iced coffee- a fact that irked Anna immensely- and only had a few pastries up for grabs. Undeterred, we forged on and ordered one of everything.
We ordered (from top to bottom):
A tofu BLT
A bresoala and manchego pastry
A marzipan and plum sun bun
I wasn’t holding out massive hope for the tofu BLT, especially since it was raw, marinated tofu. Let me say it proudly and with 0 shame. I was SO wrong. It was a supremely flavorful sandwich, with the tofu marinade elevating an admittedly flavorless ingredient to one that dazzled my tastebuds. Spicy and perfectly accompanied by fresh veg and a tangy vegan emulsion (vegan mayo in short terms), I was happily surprised and quickly polished off my side of the sandwich.
The bresoala and manchego pastry was one I was very excited about, mostly because I adore manchego cheese. But on the flip side, this did not live up to expectations and was rather dry and average; the pastry itself was 10/10, with no criticism to be found on the actual patisserie. While the flavors were good, the dryness and lack of harmony made me sad and disappointed. It's a perfectly decent pastry but a hard follow-up to the tofu BLT.
To end, a little sweet treat, as all girlfriend outings deserve. A marzipan and plum sun bun. We quickly ascertained that this was a brioche bun with a layer of marzipan at the bottom, creme patisserie in the middle, and glazed plums on the top. I LOVED this. The brioche was so fluffy and well done but not overly sickly or sweet like some brioches can be. The marzipan added that lovely nuttiness while the creme pat delivered that sweet kick we were searching for. A quick burst of fresh flavor from the last plums of this season, and I was a VERY happy camper. My favorite sweet treats are those that aren’t actually that sweet.
In terms of ambiance, they could do better. Not much of an outdoor seating area, and the available seats aren’t very comfortable. The lack of iced coffee was also very saddening, and I wish they had slightly more pastries available. HOWEVER, that is probably more of a reflection of our lateness rather than the bakery. A very solid bakery run and one that I could see myself returning to.
Final rating: 8/10