Suba Bakery

"We want Suba Bakery to come out with merch, so we can adorn ourselves with tote bags, caps, and keyrings, and declare ourselves members of their butter-based cult. If you too are a freak for all things laminated and flaky, you’ll enjoy this tiny, Gambian-influenced bakery. Come early for the pick of the bunch—aromatic caraway buns, pain au chocolat with toasted coconut flakes, and pillowy tapalapa bread. The mango-syrup-glazed croissant is one of London’s best pastries." - sinead cranna, jake missing

"Suba Bakery is a tiny, Gambian-influenced bakery that makes some of London’s best pastries. Inside everything is various shades of soothing carb-brown. There’s slatted wood that you can peep through to see bakers hard at work, burnished, burnt orange tiling, and the counter of delicious beige itself. There aren’t many seats at this Walthamstow spot, but if you can't nab a counter stool it’s still worth eating on the go and getting flaky croissant crumbs embedded in your jumper. Come early to have your pick of the bunch—aromatic caraway buns, pain au chocolat with toasted coconut flakes, and pillowy tapalapa bread. The plain croissant should definitely be part of your haul. It's got a proud, puffed-up dome shape, flaky, light layers that aren't overly buttery, and it's glazed with mango syrup to give it a shiny, crispy crust. photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch Food Rundown photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch Pain Au Chocolat This pain au chocolat’s golden brown chest is puffed up like it’s just won a competition. And it kind of has, as one of our favourite pastries in the city. The chocolate is dark, rich, and not overbearing. It’s also that perfect consistency somewhere between completely set and melted. Like all the pastries here, the lamination is expertly done. photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch Cinnamon Caraway Bun All rational people can agree that cinnamon buns are great. But sometimes they’re doused in thick, gluey icing that’s overly sweet. These aren’t that. There’s the right amount of sugary stickiness and the caraway balances the sweetness with a little warmth and spice. It’s vegan too. And we want the baker who created this to teach us braiding, because we’ve never managed a plait this neat. photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch Plain Croissant It says a lot that with all of the ‘look at me’ special flavours Suba has going on, we always order a plain croissant. It’s perfectly crisp, buttery, but not greasy or underbaked, and with more layers than a Christopher Nolan film. Cashew Croissant We’re going to call it, this is better than an almond croissant. Like the caraway cinnamon bun, the flavours are perfectly in balance. The cashew is sweet, but less so than a classic almond pastry, and it doesn’t get sickly. It’s also nutty and toasty, and we can eat a whole one without feeling like the rest of the day is a write-off. video credit: Sinéad Cranna Salmon, Whipped Cream Cheese Sandwich The bread is the main even here—it's tapalapa, a Senegalese bread shaped like a baguette, with a sourdough tang and a nice springy interior. The smoked salmon is, well, smoked salmon. The whipped cream cheese is a nice touch. But really we could eat hunks of this bread without fillings." - Sinéad Cranna

"For: Mango-glazed croissants There aren’t many seats at this Gambian-influenced bakery, but if you can't nab a counter stool, it’s worth getting flaky croissant crumbs embedded in your jumper as you eat it on the go. Come to Suba Bakery in Walthamstow early to have your pick of the bunch—aromatic caraway buns, pain au chocolat with toasted coconut flakes, and pillowy tapalapa bread. The plain croissant, with a proud, puffed-up dome, flaky, light layers, and a mango syrup-glazed, crispy crust, should definitely be part of your haul." - rianne shlebak, sinead cranna, daisy meager