St. JOHN Bakery

Hot cross buns wasn't worth the fuss. Dry and not enough fruit. Real shame because it looked fantastic. Bread also not the freshest. Will be sticking with toad bakery in future.

St. John Bakery on Druid Street is a gem for anyone who appreciates fresh, quality pastries. I tried the almond croissant, and while it was a bit pricey at £4.50, it was absolutely delicious and worth every penny. The croissant was perfectly fresh, with a flaky, buttery exterior and a rich almond filling that made each bite a real treat. The bakery has a great selection of pastries, all of which look incredibly tempting, and it’s clear they use high-quality ingredients. If you’re in the area and looking for a satisfying pastry, I highly recommend stopping by St. John Bakery—you won’t be disappointed!

Thought I'd get a sourdough loaf and a couple of doughnuts from this place on a whim, while in the area. Never thought I'd pay £4 for a jam doughnut, but thought they'd be the best doughnut in London for that price, but they looked sad and dry, do didn't bother. Got a small sourdough loaf for £3 instead. It was a bit strange that the staff didn't ask me if I wanted the last loaf that had probably been on display all day given it had the price tag impaled in it. Got home and it was stale. Once we revived it with some water and an oven we realised it simply wasn't flavourful and you could barely taste the sourness. Shame. Not recommended.

It’s become a bit of a tradition to swing by the St. John Bakery in Bermondsey for a vanilla custard doughnut and an almond croissant. Both are excellent — and somehow even better when it’s part of the ritual, especially with a stop at my favourite WatchHouse coffee shop just around the corner.

I am afraid I have a very mixed view of the St John bakery on Druid street. I tried it for the first time and I purchased an almond croissant and a soda bread loaf. No complaints about the soda bread which was good quality and very tasty but the croissant was dry and was not so good. When you are paying St John prices you should expect fresh produce and on this occasion I was left very disappointed.

Little gem in the beer mile. The options are limited but the deliciousness is infinite. Cannot recommend the cinnamon knot enough. They don’t serve coffee but there is a coffee shop just around the corner.

Tasty pastries, especially their donuts are impeccable! My favourite was vanilla doughnuts. They could be quite pricy but the vanilla donut won’t deceive you!

Too dry and little flavor. Even worse than tesco or lidl. It must have been few days since being made. They should not have sold this.

Admittedly I did not visit this location in person, but my boyfriend picked up some bread and pastries and brought them home. Vanilla doughnut was the best thing, and the almond croissant and jam doughnut were solid. Sourdough loaf was good but not amazing - I thought the same when I ate it at the restaurant a few weeks later.

Really cute bakery tucked away in the corner of Neal's Yard. They're known for their doughnuts (per the super nice person behind the counter). They have weekend special flavors - today was pistachio cream which is the one I got. The doughnut was super fluffy and the cream was overflowing! It was very delicious and would definitely recommend this place!

I had a Chocolate Doughnut that I liked a lot, there was a lot of filling and the chocolate cream was really good, not too sweaty, not heavy in consistency and with a perfect texture!

I'm not sure what all the hype is about since the donuts here were very ordinary. I also tried the egg tart, which was even more underwhelming.

The place where you can get the best doughnut in London. I'm being purposefully ambiguous. This is because I really don't want you all to go here.

I have lived in London my whole life and have been to many a bakery. My wife is French and suffice to say she knows a good pastry. This was by far and a way the most expensive and most bland donut we have had. We are not snobs. Yet after having tried the chocolate, cream and cranberry donuts I feel compelled to urge anyone considering against it. I was so upbeat prior to trying this that I bought 6 donuts and walked a fair while to get here. However, we had bites of all 3 kinds and gave the rest away to a homeless man. Will not return. My French wife actually just said 'the one in Tesco tastes better than that'. PS love St John the restaurant. Farringdon is an institution.

Amazing doughnuts worth travelling for and other interesting British cakes and pastries. Friendly service and deliicious, down to earth breads and sweet treats. Perfect place before Maltby street market and its crowds.

Items Selected: Eccles Cake Brownie Custard Doughnut Cranberry Doughnut Discarding more than half of the underwhelming leftovers from Comptoir Gourmand as I progressed down Druid Street it would not be long before I arrived at Archway 72 and with smiling faces behind piles of bread ready in wait my first of two experiences with the team of St. John would prove well deserving of accolades long received. Far more focused in scope than several of the Druid Street stalls with no more than a half dozen sweets plus a well culled collection of breads it was entirely with focus on the former that my order arose and with 9£ exchanged for four items weighing what seemed like literally 4lbs I made my way to a small park to enjoy - a wise choice considering the delicious mess soon made. Beginning first with something of a signature before trending to things more familiar it was the flaky golden shell of an Eccles Cake that first met my tooth and breaking through to a dense pocket of currants and spice I couldn't help but smile, the flavor unlike anything found stateside though somewhat reminiscent of a fruitbread that would pair well with coffee or good cheese. Moving next to a more 'American' pastry offered only on Saturdays and equally well praised it was in a duo of doughnuts that I indulged and with crunchy sugar crystals overlying fluffy pockets of custard and jam I couldn't help but reminisce of the paczki enjoyed on Fat Tuesdays past, each bite extruding filling onto my hand and the bench beneath. At this point taking a break given the day's already substantial eating plus that yet to come it was not until a few hours later that I finally finished my sampling and although dubbed a "brownie" by the St. John team the item I actually encountered was something far more - a sort of fudge or ganache infused into a nearly-flourless chocolate base that slowly melted on the tongue.

When I take people down here*, they get REAL suspicious... They have a point, there is only one true** reason to venture down under the railway arches. Trust me. The best fucking doughnut ever. Vanilla bean infused cream bursting open and ejaculating in your mouth, this is a good time. A damn good time. 'Fuck Tim Horton's' exclaimed my Canadian companion. I wouldn't though, his doughnuts just aren't that good. Not like St John's. Oh St. John's, I waited 11 months to have your sweet, creamy goodness in my mouth again and it was worth the wait. I'd do it again. And again. *You can also get these in the Neal's Yard Dairy in Borough Market but they are 75 pence more expensive. ** Kiss my ass, Monmouth. Your queues are too long and your patrons too yuppy.

Mmmm, sweet doughnuts. St John's custard doughnuts in particular really are the best ever - they're so light and fluffy and melt in your mouth that it's hard to believe they've got any calories in them at all. And after one bite, you really don't care anyhow. It's a bit of a trek around the back of London Bridge station to the industrial style bakery housed under an arch, and it's sufficiently hard to find that a visit seems to take on the attributes of a proper quest. But it's soooo worth it. The bread is also excellent, but it's all about the doughnuts. Don't stint yourself - you'll want more than one.

I don't know SE1 very well (nor any of London, I'm a newbie!)...so when the lovely Linzi M. led me down 15 minutes of sketchy side roads enroute to "the best doughnut in London", I have to admit I was skeptical. "Can you actually get a decent doughnut in England?!", wondered the Tim Hortons' loving Canadian soul inside me. But onwards we went, to a place you'd only know about if you were IN the know. "We're gonna find it....here?" Away from the hustle, bustle and thousands of tourists I usually associate with SE1 (I think, like a newbie would, just about London Bridge, & Borough Market & the crazy immediate surroundings)....we finally came across St John Bakery. It wasn't anything impressive to look at. A simple pop-up in kind of an unsightly warehouse. However, Linzi's encouragement, combined with a massively long queue (a good sign), kept me waiting nearly 10 minutes for one. Verdict: Yep, the best goddamn doughnut I've had in London. Or possibly...ever. Really. But shhhhhhh. Don't go telling everyone.

Everyone has been raving about the doughnuts here, so I had been looking for an excuse to drop by. This happened today, when I walked from the City over to their shop near Tower Bridge. It was different to what I had expected: literally some tables set up in one of the arches under the rail bridge with the baked treats being prepared out the back. I came here for the doughnuts and I spotted them immediately. Vanilla custard and lemon curd. Waiting for me to purchase a couple and consume them. I did show some discipline though - I took them all the way home and shared them with my wife. I was impressed with the filling, more than I had expected. My wife commented on the freshness of the doughnut and how it wasn't oily (which we have noticed with other doughnuts before). I was disappointed with the interaction I had in the shop. The man behind the counter left me waiting and he seemed distracted the whole time. It seemed like he didn't want to be there. But the doughnuts are that good - this is why I have gone with the 4-star rating.

This bakery is highly overrated to me. Very expensive, and they do not even have a machine to slice the bread. That's like a pub without beer to me. Further, the bread has a stone-hard crust and is extremely hard to slice at home. I would not recommend this place.

No matter how far you are from Bermondsey, the doughnuts make the trip worth it. Fresh, puffy, pillowy clouds of heaven, the donuts are filled with various custards. They usually have a seasonal flavor or two, plus vanilla, chocolate, butterscotch, lemon curd... I love them all. They're £2.50 each, so bring cash as their card reader has been broken on occasion, requiring me to do a thing I don't like: choosing between doughnuts. The service is some of the most warm and welcoming service I've experienced in London. A couple tables outside if you want to eat there, but mostly a grab & go place.

This is the bakery for the St John Bread and Wine restaurant chain and produces their wheety loveliness exclusively for their restaurants. Well, almost. On Saturday it is open to the general public and you can nip in and buy some loaftastic sandwich wrappings, then pick up your veggies from another railway arch a few yards away

Came into this little cafe to warm up and to try their famous donuts. Was not disappointed, they were delicious. They also have great coffee drinks.

Last night, I dreamt of doughnuts. Sweet, custardy doughnuts dancing in fields beneath light fluffy doughnut clouds. I not sure that this a sign of too many or too little doughnuts from St. John Bakery. I expect that it is the latter as I can see how an absence of doughnuts from this bakery could provoke withdrawal symptoms and disturbed dreams - they are that good.

Got the vanilla custard and bayleaf doughnut from Malty Market. Very good. You know you're getting quality here and even with doughnuts it doesn't waiver.

i traveled well out of my way to try these donuts that had been so raved about. i was expecting a long cronut type line but was pleased to find that there weren't many people waiting at all. i decided to go with the traditional vanilla creme filled donut and made my way to a secluded table to experience the wonders that i imagined this donut was going to bring. the donut was good and i most certainly ate the whole thing, however i was a bit disappointed after all the hype. it was definitely tasty but nothing life changing, i still think a krispy kreme classic HOT NOW donut takes the cake for being the tastiest donut around.