Alex S.
Yelp
If you've read my reviews you know that I have a deep, passionate love for carb-y things. And coffee. And Fabrique addresses both of these loves. In - *wait for it* - a Scandi-influenced environment under the arches of the railway. I mean, have you been looking at my Pinterest boards? This is basically: ALL MY INTERESTS IN ONE.
Fabrique is open 7 days a week (different weekend hours, though) and I've never been there when it was terribly busy. It's a bakery (as in: you see people working there, and placing things on racks and *making all the things*) more than it is a cafe; there are 3 or 4 small tables inside and, on warmer days, some metal chairs and tables outside as well. That said, with the garden of the Geffrye just around the corner, I view Fabrique as more of a "takeaway" than a "hunker down and read/work/do things" kinda bakery.
Oh, you're interested in the actual baked goods, you say? I was just keeping you in suspense. Here we dough! I mean, erm...here we *go*:
Fabrique does bread, it does sweet pastries, and it does a small selection of prepared sandwiches (e.g., smoked salmon, some cheese and fig; simple, but special).
Given its Swedish heritage a must-have are the kardamomma bulle (did I get that right?); a sweet dough twisted around with the distinct flavouring of cardamom. Although the top has some sugar/glaze, they are surprisingly not overly sweet. I adore these, and recommend everyone go for 'em, even though they are a slightly steep 2.50/each. Other skews on the classic are cinnamon buns and vanilla buns; try if ye must, but I really do strongly encourage the cardamom option.
Another option with a Scandi-twist: the semmelbuns. Oh wait, let me pull one up from Fabrique's own Instagram feed: https://instagram.com/p/zKSfygDIXh/?taken-by=fabriquebakery
These are basically sweet (but, again, not *overly* so) kaiser buns filled with a soft cream.
Ok, ok, I'm burying the lead here: the star? The bread at Fabrique. A dark rye, plain or with options like studded with cranberries. Seeded bread. Levain baguette. And the most most perfect bread for toasting called, appropriately: "Mr. Toast". Fabrique has a really interesting pricing structure for bread; it's not just per loaf. There are 3 prices, and the price you opt for decides how large your hunk of the massive piece of bread you get. I always go for the 2.70GBP-sized chunk of Mr. Toast; perfect for a toast-heavy breakfast for two without risk of any leftovers getting stale on the counter for days (this never happens with Fabrique bread).
Yelp note: TL:DR - best bread, fine to skip the coffee