Bien Cuit

Update to owner: thanks for the reply and sharing more about your products, its and good to know this is baked fresh daily and I'm sure your team works hard to make a wholesome and quality product. However I highly recommend your team do a quality audit. As a customer my question is now how do you recommend sawing through the crust that's rock hard? Attached is the bread ends as an example that I put in the bread box, it's literally inedible and feels like it would break your teeth. It's not about a softer loaf, it's about an edible bread as a whole loaf esp if you don't offer slicing. We purchase dense and fermented breads at other bakers, none are as impossible to cut, break, or bite as this. I would recommend checking if the product as your described is up to par or an edible state. Caution: waste of money and time. 10x worse than prepackaged loafs at wholefoods or defrosted trader Joe's. I went after work around 6.30pm to pick up a half loaf. I bought the rye and sunflower for $9, thinking it's convenintly on the way at grand central, and we'll have some artisanal bread for a treat. It was the most dissappinting bread if ever had. The staff handed me a precut and packed loaf from the back, it felt odd as I thought she would cut me a half loaf from the counter. The moment I held the paper package with the bread inside, I knew something was off. The load was harder than rocks, it wasn't spongy, it was clearly dry and burn. I thought it was a dark rye but the inside was as light as wheat bread but the outside was almost black. When I got home to slide it - I have a relatively new and very sharp bread knife, it was worse than sawing wood. The crust was inedible and broke off or was impossible to cut through, the bread was very dry on the outside, was dense and doesn't look risen on the inside, and the flavour was paltry. My arms were tired even just trying to cut a few slices, and all you could hear was a knife barely sawing through a rock hard crust. It was the worst waste of money, and absolutely horrified at how bad the bread was. Ole and Steen is 1000x better. Maybe the pastries are different, but don't bother. I can't understand how they have a few locations or what the hype is when the food quality is so poor.

I bought some almond croissant and pasties from the bakery tonight. The pastries look nice and tasted good. The staff there is friendly. There are a variety of bakery there such as bread, cakes, pastries. It is located inside the Grand Central station. So if I am passed by, it is good to try a piece of bakery with coffee.

Popped in to pickup a too good to go order, the guy at the register was very nice and assisted me right away. I received an olive loaf and a whole grain sourdough loaf. Both are beautiful and delicious.

Fig frangipane tart—tart crust far too thick and lacked flavor or interesting texture. Fig filling was OK. Buttercream topping was flavorful-good mouth feel Maybe it would have been better at room temperature. But very disappointed given the cost of the item.

Dry loaf with little flavor. Baguette was nice, as was the person who helped me. Expensive and not as good as bread that can be found elsewhere. I understand what bien cuit means well cooked, but this bread wasn’t just crusty, it was so dry inside that it had no appeal.

Wish I’d checked the reviews before spending money here. It looked like a French demi baguette, but tasted like a two-day-old sourdough roll. The ends were rock hard and impossible to bite into, even after microwaving. Sad face.

so happy this is here in Manhattan; it’s my favorite bakery. And I always travel to get my favorites; like everything on the menu. The service is always friendly and warm.

This place was listed on a top 10 list for breads in NYC and I've been craving a good sourdough. I was disappointed to find that this bread is very heavy and not what I expected. The outside looked nice and dark which is usually a good sign. But the inside was very very dense. The sourdough flavor isn't anything special. I've had stronger sourdough before and was hoping that this would be like that. The loaf cost me $13, which I would be willing to pay for very good bread, but this wasn't very good. I can get a more flavorful sourdough loaf with more air and a lighter inside for $5 at the local supermarket. I'm sure NYC has got to have good bread somewhere, but this isn't it. I'll keep looking elsewhere. I did give an extra star because the man who helped bag my bread was very nice and the location is beautiful and exciting to walk around, but I wouldn't buy this bread again.

We got the zucchini danish and orange croissant and both were delicious! It's a small little bakery inside grand central and super easy to miss, we passed by it multiple times just missing it. I would try their other pastries next time!

This review describes my sincere experience as a customer of this business on April 23, 2024. The baguette I purchased was hard as a stone, which is normal after a day or two, but I don't really expect that at first. Clearly, from some other reviews, I'm not the only one who feels this way. In fact, legend tells how this bread is so hard it was used to build Grand Central.

My wife jokes that these hard, dark, heavy bricks of bread may have been around since the Pilgrims first landed in the New World... but I think the bread is absolutely wonderful - for me, it's always a special treat - flavor, nuance, texture, craft. This year for Valentine's, I'm throwing hints to skip the card and chocolate - if she wants to make me feel special, I'm envisioning a beautiful half loaf of rye...

My review is for a Too Good to Go order. Got half loaf and a big scone for $6. The scone was just ok. The bread was too hard not fresh can't even cut-it with a sharp knife. I was so scared I'm going to break my teeth. Aw well took a chance not for me.

My review is solely for their lemon pound cake. They don't look at the pictures on their own website. The site shows a lemon-drizzle on top. What I received was one half inch of white bakery icing. Someone may have waived a lemon in the vicinity, but none present in the cake. No trace of the bergamot flavor of Earl Gray. The cake was basically tasteless, and not recently baked. Truly...a failure on all counts.

Not so bien. The sea salt buckwheat brownies were stale and hard. We tried to spiff them up with some vanilla ice cream but in the end tossed them in the garbage. I wish we'd gone to Magnolia!

Pain de mie has shrunk to half the size and it costs more now. Raise the price, BUT DO NOT SHRINK THD BREAD! Besides the shrunken loafs that seem to get smaller every week, the texture all wrong, hard, tastes stale, lack luster and flavor and really not a pane de mie in anyway !! Really sad, this bakery years ago was great~ not any longer! Really quality has gone down hill immensely ! Their pastries are expensive and lack flavor and are basic air .. you pay a lot for tasteless air! Baguettes are a disgrace (hard and tasteless, horrible texture). I do not recommend this expensive bakery any longer. Waste of money! The response from the store insufficient to my complaint! First of all i have been buying pain de mie from Bien cuit for 5 years!! I have been out of state this last year due to work. Upon my return i have bought the pain de mie 3 times. Thinking it was just an off day due to quality and size! 3 times i have received smaller loaves and texture and flavor way off from what we used to buy for years from you! I am a chef, so i am not joking around when i say the loaves have changed drastically in all categories. Disappointed and sad that whatever you are doing (new baker, different flour, weight) IS Not the same quality, size and taste from what it once was!! You say they are weighed! I believe this is true, they are just not the same weight they were a year ago or 4 years ago!!!!! Your reviews speak the same problems. This restaurant is saying i am spreading false reviews!! I am not! They are slandering me by saying so!! Their pain de mie is a lot smaller than it was for the last 5 years. I have been buying them religiously as they were great! Now they are small, lack flavor and proper texture .. i resent whoever is slandering me by saying i am writing false review! I am a chef! I know what i am talking about! Do not patronize this establishment! The not so great reviews by others are the testament to what has happened to a once great bakery. I believe they should look fir new management and a baker who can bring back the delicious baked goods that once were prevalent!!

I was really looking forward to trying the croissant here after reading so much about them. Then to find out I only needed to go to the Grand Central Market was even better since I am staying nearby. Unfortunately it was a massive disappointment. Croissant was $4.75 plus a tip I added and I am Canadian so the exchange rate is another 30% or so for me. And it was a soft (no crispy flaky exterior at all), also the exterior was a bit too brown for me and it literally had no taste - no butter or salt. I bit into nothing. I don't like wasting food and nearly stopped eating after two bites but continued on thinking it would be better. It wasn't. That was really wasted calories. What happened? I am perplexed. Sorry can't recommend.

I've heard of good things about Bien Cuit. I wish I was able to visit their flagship store to smell the wonderful aroma of freshly baked goods, but I guess a taste of their bread will be enough for now. This location is at the entrance at the Grand Central Market. A great and simple display of all their products for consumers to see. You can't go wrong with anything here. I got a pain Au lair bun and a simple slice of lemon bread. Although cold, it was quality. Definitely will be heading to Brooklyn next time

Baguette was visually pleasing but turned out to be dry, stale, disappointing. Maybe better in Brooklyn.

My first experience at Bien Cuit was visiting their bakery on Smith Street in Brooklyn. Just walking into their retail store and breathing in the aromas of their breads coming out of their huge ovens was an overwhelming sensory experience. We bought a few loaves of their breads as well as a few of their chocolate almond croissants and left their store debating whether this was reason enough for us to relocate to Brooklyn. While they have a few locations in Manhattan for folks like us who live north of the city, I had a hard time rationalizing the drive back to Brooklyn for one of their crusty breads. Well a few weeks ago I discovered that Bien Cuit sells their amazing breads and other treats at many of the local farmers markets in Westchester and Rockland ! For a full schedule of their locations,subscribe to their newsletter: https://www.biencuit.com/farmers-market-schedule

Never would have expected this place to land in grand central, but I'm glad it did! I've tried the chocolate almond croissant at the original location in Brooklyn and it's amazing, so definitely get that if they have it. When I visited this location, though, I had a pumpkin cake/bread thing that was super delicious.

Baguettes are a disgrace. Not baked the same day, and it shows: the crust is hard as a rock.

I've wanted to try Bien Cuit for a while so I was really happy that they opened up a location in Grand Central! Like everyone else I'd heard great things about their croissants, but after trying them I was pretty disappointed. Everything I got was bizarrely soft even though I came at 8 in the morning. I'm still planning to try to their original location at some point - they're probably/hopefully better when fresher. Plain croissant ($3.75) - very very soft :( the flavor is spot on - really great and buttery with just a slight touch sweetness, and there were so many gorgeous light layers inside, but the texture was just not doing it for me. The outside was completely soft and felt almost waxy. My friend really liked this though! Also it's massive - about 8 inches long, much bigger than the croissants from here that I see in coffee shops around the city. Almond croissant ($4.75) - got this at the recommendation of the super warm and friendly cashier. It's much denser from the just-sweet-enough almond filling, and it was also very soft despite being burned (apparent both visually and taste-wise...). The very ends are extremely hard and crunchy, since it's the twice baked kind (normal croissant split in half and then filled), and the outside in general is slightly crispier than the plain croissant, but most of it is still too soft. My friend and I liked this the least of the three we tried. Peach Melba eclair ($5) - I loved the vanilla peach filling and the crunch from the pearls on top but the choux pastry was completely soft. The red craquelin was also very soft and mushy and kept detaching from the rest of the pastry. The eclair also got disheveled and moved around during transportation even though it was taped on the bottom (probably my fault but I wish it had been secure). The filling flavor was really great though!!

This place is as close as you can get to France they are all breads from almost every region today I repurchased the Miche round bread And the whole wheat baguette They are delicious beyond compare a wonderful hard crust on both and a delicious flavor in the middle add your favorite olive oil or butter, garlic,raisins and just be in love I always come back and I'm always happy

Best almond croissant in NYC! The bread is also incredible. This is a great spot and I can't wait to come back and try more goodies.

Croissants here are so flakey and really good! I pass by this stand in Grand Central Market almost every day. What caught my attention was the Pineapple Danish. It is multilayered with flakey goodness and it has a nice crisp to it. What was interesting is that there is feta cheese on it which I would do without. But overall, this was really good quality pastry! Baguettes are another favorite of mine here. Super soft on the inside and light, crisp on the outside. It is a nice addition to bring home for pasta night. I wish they serve coffee too!

Got the baguette on Sunday 3:30 pm. Granted I should've known that it wasn't going to be fresh but I was shocked at how hard and difficult to tear off a piece it was. I must say its a good quality bread and since Ipaid $4.50 of my hard earned money (not that they care...they squeezed my money from the stale bread they sold me) I will take it home and heat it in the oven. To the management/owners, how about saying "we're not baking any new loaves so starting at a certain time 1/2 price?

Just had the strawberry rhubarb mousse cake---the cake looked, smelled, and tasted like early summer :) A definite step up from the run-of-the mill Asian strawberry shortcakes (although they have their own charms) that seem to be the only French-style cakes left around Midtown (apart from Angelina), now that Maison Kayser is gone. Extra points for the black cake backer(?) that keeps the cake from sliding around in the box on the way home...Bien Cuit is very good about little details like that. Given that I can't travel to Paris right now, I'm grateful to Bien Cuit for providing me a taste of Paris with its amazing baked goods that change with the seasons, just like at a Parisian boulangerie/patisserie. Looking forward to trying the raspberry lavender pistachio eclair next!

Found this place while randomly wandering Grand Central Market. I was drawn to the stand by the breads, but since I was too full to eat a whole loaf of bread and didn't want to carry an awkwardly-shaped bread with me around Manhattan, I went with desserts. Turns out this place is known for their bread and that's what I should have gotten instead. I started with the grapefruit tarragon danish, which was decent. It wasn't especially memorable, which was disappointing since it looked beautiful and sounded delicious. The pastry itself was lacking the delicate finesse I was expecting. The grapefruit and citrus flavors were nice. I didn't get much tarragon flavor. I suspect had there been more tarragon, the whole thing would have been better. A little bit of coarse finishing salt would have been nice as well. I'm a sucker for anything earl gray, so I also got the lemon early gray buckwheat tart. It looked amazing, but I wasn't a fan of it. The buckwheat tart was way too thick and tough for what should be a delicate pastry. The filling had a nice lemon flavor, but was way too sweet. And the earl gray flavor was lost altogether. I had a difficult time cutting through the buckwheat tart itself and it became a mess to eat. I ended up throwing out about half of it. Next time, I'll get bread.

This was recommended to me by a patient who is also a baker as the best croissants and big bread in town. I must say the stall inside Grand Central market did not disappoint. We ordered the chocolate almond croissant which is actually a normal croissant sliced into half and dipped in almond and then filled in with almond paste before being re-baked a full croissant form . It's basically a baker or a fat kids delight.

I haven't been to its original location in Brooklyn, which was nominated as the best bakery in the states twice by James Beard Foundation. I've been wanting to try it out until today I found a small counter concerned located inside the food market in GC station. So many options to choose from that made my mouth watery, and I decided to go from the very basic - petit plain with nuts and onions. With a slight savory taste, the bread possessed a soft yet chewy texture, heaven! I would love to come back and try more of their pastries, this is the best!

Love the desserts! I'm thrilled they opened up shop at Grand Central market as I've heard good things about them. The cakes are excellent! I must try their bread and other baked goods..

i'll preface this by saying I used the too good to go app so I didnt have a choice in what I git. however the three loaves I got were excellent - crispy in the outside and light in the inside. i'll be back to try a pastry too!

I stopped by after work one day after seeing Bien Cuit in a 'top bread in nyc' list somewhere (maybe Thrillist?). I'm pretty glad I did. The staff is super helpful and there was a pretty decent assortment of breads still left around 630ish. While I was hoping to find a whole bread bread, they did have multigrain - NOTE: they typically offer 1/2 loaves as well as full [large] loaves. I also wanted to try something sweet, and having heard all the hubbub about their chocolate almond croissants, asked if they had any left. Nope. Try again before 3. Oh well, still made pretty well with a pistachio danish. Overall: A little pricey but not too shabby.

UPDATE: Bien Cuit now charges $1 to slice their already overpriced baked goods. Bye. --- There's nothing better than a good sourdough with butter and Bien Cuit's miche is one of the best in the business. Issue is the price - $7 for a half loaf of bread is pretty nuts. I've had a few other things as we their namesake "Well Done" approach really only works for crusty bread. Skip the burnt cookie/croissants here and head to Financier for your patisserie needs.

Amazing bread: crusty, flavorful, everything that you could want. Also, a very good selection of pastries. Highly recommend for this area!

Went here after reading some rave reviews online. Decided to try one of the apple and almond tarts and the petit with sea salt and chive. The tart was decent, but I was disappointed to find that it was actually attached to the piece of cardboard that it was served on, so I wasn't able to even eat it properly. That being said, the petit bread was super flavorful and delicious and definitely worth trying.

So it's totally possible I'm out of the loop, but I can't seem to recall the last NYC sweet treat to inspire Cronut-like adulation... Edible Cookie Dough from Do? Or maybe the Cruffin from Supermoon??? I don't know... But allow me to suggest you throw some crazed adulation the way of the Salted Chocolate Buckwheat Cookie from here: So yeah... Deep, subtly sweet, earthy chocolaty flavor automatically propels this into the delicious zone. However, it's the unique texture that sets it apart. In fact, it is hard to describe, but am going to go with moist and cakey, yet firm. Indeed. This place represents a lot of what I don't like about the new Brooklyn, what with its insane prices that exclude regular working folks, so it is saying something for me to be feeling as enamored as I am about this Cookie. I actually had not been back here since it first opened and hubby and I took out a second mortgage to buy a loaf of bread... But we stopped in recently on a whim and am glad we did. Fwiw, we also got a Danish. Fig & Pistachio, I think. Flavor was there, but the pastry component was bordering on soggy. Not worth the $$$. But, oh that Cookie. It's even gluten-free! Not that I give a sh*t about that sort of thing, but maybe you do. Look for it, in all its tall, thick splendor, sprinkled with flaky salt and lumped in among all the other Cookies. You won't be sorry.

Having stumbled off a redeye at JFK, taken the subway into the city, and preparing to head up to Greenwich (the things we do for friends and weddings), I was both starving and unfocused when I stumbled on Bien Cuit. My lizard brain responded immediately to 1. baked goods that were 2. stuffed with yummy things. Giving in entirely to my id, I purchased both the ham and cheese croissant and the pain au chocolat -- in my exhausted logic, that was a balanced two course meal. And let me say that my lizard brain decision making was excellent. Flaky, crispy outside/tender inside buttery heaven punctuated by salty ham and creamy cheese was exactly the kind of calorie input my body needed. Did it also need the chocolate? No, but I damn well liked it and I did not regret it. It would have been amazing if they had the capacity to heat these suckers up, because that would have earned them the fifth star. But as a Francophile/former resident of the France, I feel somewhat qualified to opine that these were some of the better French pastries I've found stateside.

The apple cardomom pastry was to die for, even after being lugged around the airport and thrown in the fridge for consumption the next day. Yes, it was that good. It was sweet but not cloying with light, flaky pastry. The cinnamon and honey salt bolles were equally as delicious. The young man working behind the counter was an absolute doll. My new favorite place.

Located in Grand central Market. This has become one of my favorite places to visit. The bread is of extremely high quality. The pastries are to die for. The sweet & salty bun they had at the register was sublime. The people seem exceptionally nice and I love stopping by on the way home or sometimes on the way in to work. A welcome addition to the Grand Central Market.

$5.25 for a pain au chocolate - I want a refund. The croissant was dense. It should be crisp, have a crumbliness on the outside resulting in a mess of crumbs when I bite into it. The inside should be airy and light. I will not be returning to Bien Cuit anytime soon.

The first time, spending $6.00 + for a croissant, the draw was 'baklava croissant' ... it barely has any baklava, the croissant was burnt and a scant sprinkling of grounded pistachio on top. Not worth the price!

Having never been to the Brooklyn location, I was happy to hear about this one just opened in Grand Central Market. On the hunt for the best croissants in Manhattan, I came by around 8:30AM on a Thursday before work. If you can make your way through the rush hour crowd, you'll find the market to be a nice escape from the masses. Past the fresh produce, seafood, and grocery items, you'll see a large sign for the Bien Cuit stand. There's no coffee, but a great selection of baked goods, pastries, and especially breads, the variety and picture-perfect loaves looked heavenly. I got a plain croissant and a pain au chocolat (chocolate croissant), both have a distinct look that I haven't seen before: a dark outer layer with fine flaking, you can almost see the butter. Both were excellent, SO many layers in each, more than I've seen in any croissant I've had. Crispy and flaky on the outside and soft on the inside. The extra layers made it light but denser than other croissants. You'd expect it to taste a little burnt from how brown they are on the outside, not at all. The butter/dough is browned perfectly. Next time around I'll pick up some bread. Can't wait.

I always love the food at Bien Cuit--no complaints there. The person waiting on me this morning at Grand Central was decidedly unpleasant and taciturn. The staff is generally pleasant and accommodating, so this surprised me. I waited for this young lady to finish fixing her hair before she gave me her attention. She served me, and although she used paper to handle the breads I wanted, I asked why she didn't use gloves, especially because she had just had her hands in her hair. She said, simply: "I used paper." I said, but you just had your hands in your hair. "I used paper," she repeated, stonily. Listen, she followed the rules, I am sure, but boy----not nice. Will avoid her.

Decent croissants. I wish I could say I was impressed, but I was not. I think the bakery a few hundred feet over is a little better? That said, the selection here and in this whole grocery area is damned impressive. I would love to come back and do a re-evaluation when I'm not so rushed the next time...

Even though they aren't as good as they once were, I was thrilled when they opened up in Grand Central. Their bread should get 4-5 stars, but Bien Ciut only gets 3 stars because of their employees. They must treat their employees really poorly because every employee does not seem to want to be there. They are rude and upset when you pull them away from their phone. P.S. It seems that half the time I am there, the slicer is out of order. Frustrating!

Not my first time here, as I've visited the Smith St Brooklyn location before and had a lovely pain au chocolat with an iced cafe latte, but today's visit was review-worthy. Grabbed what I presume is a seasonal offering just before catching a train to CT: the cranberry ginger danish. Just yum. Flaky pastry, but not excessively crisp where all the flakes immediately shatter and crumble onto your lap, and the cranberry curd filling was a lovely level of tart and not overly sweet with the smooth texture balancing the flaky pastry. I'm no baking judge, so I won't ding them for not being able to detect any ginger... it was great as it was.

Very expensive for very bad pastry. I bought pasteria (6$ a small slice) hoping to relive the taste of my grandma's easter pie. What a disappointment ! The pastry dough was RAW and the ricotta filling was dry + flavorless. I suggest steer clear of this + stick to the breads. This baker knows absolutely nothing about baking Italian desserts. Next time I'll know better. Even the tourist traps In Little Italy can do a better job.

I love croissants!! So I was happy to find this place while spending some time in the Grand Central Market. I tried the almond chocolate croissant and the espresso banana bread. Both were delicious. Spent the rest of the day raving to anyone who would listen. I will definitely be back to try more when in NYC.

it looks very beautiful but i found the raisin-walnut bread excessively hard without the rich walnut flavor / purple hue which i have come to expect from san francisco sourdough-starter raisin walnut breads. not much of a sourdough tang either. i also think the price (8 or 9 a loaf?) was ridiculous considering it was not an impressive loaf. i also had a tebirke. perhaps i am not coming with the right expectations but i was hoping for something fluffier, with more lamination, more like a croissant. it was more bread-like, dense, and not particularly delicious -- if it were distinctly different from a croissant but still distinctly delicious i would not complain.

Amazing pastries and breads. Beautifully textured baked goods, and too delicious to share!

Bought the almond croissants for my husband and brownies for me. The croissants were burnt and hard and my husband couldn't believe they would sell them and not take them off the shelf. The brownies in a cute package but we're hard and stale. What a shame and disappointment. I pay for good quality. I will not here anymore. Be warned

This is a no frills stand in the Grand Central market. Do yourself a favor and get the almond croissant. Literally the best I've ever had in the entire city!

I was hoping for a tasty strawberry danish. But at 11 am it was dried out and just felt old. I was disappointed.

I give this place 2 stars because of the prices. I will say the food is overall good, but an almond croissant is $5.75. Other commenters have stated prices for other items that are certainly higher than the average bakery.

Baguette was so stale that my sharpest serrated knife could not even cut through it. The chive rolls were fresh-ish but lacked flavor. Ciabatta rolls were squishy with terrible crust and burnt taste. Complete waste of $14 and Brooklyn location should be ashamed of the quality of the breads being served in an upscale gourmet market.