Bake Shop (Prague, Czech Republic)

Kozí 1, Prague 1, 110 00, Czech Republic

 

 

The Bakeshop is a fancy bakery and lunch shop in the old center of Prague. It caters mostly to tourists and serves US and European style pastries, quiches and sandwiches at tourist prices. It has been around for quite a while and the inside is gorgeous.

I get an Mini Almond Croissant (CZK 60 or $2.50)) and an Apple Croissant (CZK 85 or $3.50). Both pastries are a bit dry but tasty (it is also already noon, so they were probably 6 hours old).

 

VERDICT: 80/100

Beautiful but quite pricey place that offers decent coffee and pastries.

Continental Bakery (Birmingham, AL)

1909 Cahaba Rd, Birmingham

 

Continental Bakery is a cute bakery and breakfast spot in the English Village, an upscale part of Birminghan. On this Sunday morning, there is a serious but very disciplined line outside. They have a massive selection of breads, cakes, cookies, pastries, and sandwiches.

 

I get a Butter Croissant ($3) and a Pain au Chocolate ($4.50). Both are underwhelming. The dough is more bread than croissant. The chocolate is low grade.

 

VERDICT: 82/100

Decent, quite pricey, but not remarkable.

Wild Love Bakehouse (Knoxville, TN)

 1625 N Central St, Knoxville, TN 37917

 

Wild Love Bakehouseis a hipster coffee shop on the outskirts of downtown Knoxville. In addition to (hot) drinks it serves a host of homemade pastries and cookies.

 

The display looks like a nice French bakery. The pastries are expensive but big and of very high quality. 

 

The enormous Croissant ($3.75) is buttery and very crispy on the outside (seems a US thing), while the Kouign Amann ($3.75), caramelized sugar and croissant dough, is crispy and sweet. The Pain au Chocolat ($4.50) has real dark chocolate in it, while the Almond Croissant ($4.50) is the only pastry to slightly disappoint (almond paste is a bit underwhelming).

 

VERDICT: 89/100

Very good pastries that are big but expensive.

Maté Factor Café (Savannah, GA)

 401 E. Hall St, Savannah, GA 31401

Maté Factor Café is a high-end café that serves various coffees and teas as well as breads, pastries, and sandwiches. It has two locations, one in Manitou Springs (CO) and one in Savannah (GA), which I visit.

 

I get several breads, one with sunflower pits and one whole wheat, which are both of European quality. I also get a blueberry scone with toasted almond, which is simply divine, and a humongous honey bun, which is so delicious it metls in your mouth. 

 

VERDICT: 92/100

What a wonderful place! Do try the delicious pastries!

Trdelník (Prague, Czech Republic)

Celetná 565/25, 110 00 Prague 1, Czech Republic

Trdelník is a special kind of rolled cake that is very popular in the Czech Republic and seems to have become a major tourist attraction in Prague. You can buy it everywhere. We bought it at a small shop in one of the most touristic streets of Prague.

I got a regular one, while SHH got one filled with nutella. Both were hot from the oven, really fresh and surprisingly tasty. I forgot the price, but it was undoubtedly much higher than if you buy it away from the tourists.

VERDICT: 86/100

Bit more expensive than at other places, but definitely not a tourist trap. Delicious!

Gettysburg Baking Co. (Gettysburg, PA)

17 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, PA 17325

Gettingsburg Baking Co. is a small bakery and lunch place in the historic and touristic downtown Gettysburg. It serves various pastries, sweets, sandwiches, and salads. This morning they are out of many breakfast items, so I get pastries.

The Stickiebun ($2.95) is really fresh and covered with sweet, sticky caramel and pecans. It is absolutely delicious! The Morning Roll ($2.65) looks traditional, but is remarkably light and fresh. It is also delicious!

VERDICT: 90/100

Gettysburg Baking Co. serves delicious fresh US pastries. Some of the best I had.

Niedlov’s Breadworks (Chattanooga, TN)

215 E. Main Street, Chattanooga, TN 37408, USA

Niedlov’s is a fancy bakery and lunch spot in a gentrified part of Chattanooga. They offer coffee and pastries for breakfast and sandwiches and salads for lunch. They also sell excellent, but very expensive loafs of bread. This Saturday morning there are several young women working, who are all quite sweet, but also incredibly incompetent.

We get two coffees, three pastries, and a breakfast sandwich for $19. The breakfast sandwich is egg and crispy bacon on wheat toast, which is buttered and crispy. It’s nice, even though I asked for it to be on a bagel. The almond croissant is big and filled with big pasty pieces of almond, the regular croissant is just that, regular. The cinnamon roll is a perfect combination of dough and cinnamon. Delicious.

VERDICT: 91/100

Excellent quality but incompetence and prices are bit annoying.

Shany Bakery (Haifa, Israel)

Derech Ha'atzmaut 53, Haifa 33033, Israel 

 

Shany is a small “conditory” (I guess an ‘anglification’ of Konditorei) and espresso bar in the busy port part of downtown Haifa. It has an amazing selection of cakes and pastries. Even better, it has a nice young waiter, the son of the owner, who explains my menu options in English.

I get the breakfast, which, in Israel, is a combination of bread, eggs, cheese, and salad. Presentation is amazing and it tastes as good as it looks. Bread is crunchy, eggs are very tasty, and salad is fresh. It comes with a drink and my fresh OJ is great too. I later get an almond pastry too, which is flaky, has a soft layer of almond inside, and is still warm.

VERDICT: 95/100

This is an amazing breakfast and pastry place!

Nadav Kinuchim (Ramat Yishai Industrial Zone, Israel)

Nadav Kinuchim (Nadav’s Desserts) is a small café/restaurant tucked away in a make-shift strip mall on the side of a motorway. It’s technically part of the Ramat Yishai Industrial Zone, about 30 km southeast of Haifa. This amazing restaurant serves an incredible selection of breads, pastries, and other meals. Its specialty is desserts and they come in a dazzling variety.

We get a chunk of the freshly baked sweet chocolate-challah bread, which comes in two varieties: with nuts or with a kind of poppy seeds. We take the latter, it’s still warm, and tastes delicious. It’s best comparable to a huge fluffy cinnamon role, but with slight chocolate flavor. The chocolate mouse has a base of white milky mouse with some cake in it. Great too.

VERDICT: 95/100

Fantastic place. I wish I could have tasted all the breads!

Cafe Intermezzo (Atlanta, GA)

1065 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta, GA, T: 404-355-0411

Café Intermezzo bills itself as Das Europäische Kaffeehaus (the European coffee house). It used to be in the affluent northern part of Buckhead, but has now moved to Midtown (and the airport). It is a very upscale Vienna-style Konditorei, which serves some 50 different cheesecakes, pies, and cakes, as well as an extensive breakfast, lunch and dinner menu.

After long consideration and consultation we choose the Chocolate Hazelnut Praline Torte ($7.99). It is a dense hazelnut mousse with pieces of hazelnut, a liquid layer of thick chocolate and a thin crust. Very rich, but very tasty. We also share the Chocolate-Raspberry Truffle ($7.99), a combination of cheesecake and chocolate cake with a layer of raspberry jelly in it. Very good.

VERDICT: 90/100

As good as it gets in terms of American Vienna-style cakes (although they are much richer than in Vienna).

The New Moon Cafe (Aiken, SC)

116 Laurens St NW, Aiken, SC 29801, T: 803-643-7088
 

 

The New Moon Café has three locations: two in Augusta, Georgia, and one in Aiken, South Carolina. We visit the Aiken one, which is an adorable little cafe in the cute downtown. It has a small terrace in front, a relatively small quaint front room, and a larger extension in the back. Most customers this summer Sunday are related to USC Aiken: (retired) professors and students. It also seems a favorite spot for recreational cyclists. It has great coffee, breakfast, and lunch selections.

I choose the Lumberjack Breakfast ($6.29): a big heap of scrambled eggs, a sausage patty, and two big slices of toast. It is both delicious and filling, the perfect breakfast. M. has a large Breakfast Parfait ($3.99), which includes coconut, fresh granola, and berries. There is not too much yoghurt, but it tastes very sweet, but nice. We also get a Cinnamon Role with chai icing and a Peach Muffin ($2.09 each). The first was a bit dry, but not too sweet, the second very moist, but not with a very strong peach taste.

VERDICT: 86/100

The New Moon Café is a very nice breakfast place for such a small town. Great atmosphere, good food.

Pronto Caffè & Gelateria (Lexington, VA)

26 South Main Street, Lexington, VA, T: 540-464-1472

 

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A gelateria in a small college town in the western hills of Virginia? Sure… No, really! Pronto is a small Italian café and gelateria in downtown Lexington that serves (ok) coffee, nice pastries, sandwiches (with real Italian meats) and amazingly authentic gelato (Italian ice cream). It is run by a first-generation Italian-American, who owns various other places in town.

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I get a large cup ($5.25) with stracciatelli, a kind of Italian chocolate chip ice cream (good),  kiwi (quite fresh), lemon (ok), and hazelnut (excellent). While the lemon is a bit disappointing, but that even happens in Italy, the hazelnut is absolutely authentic, better than I ever had outside of Italy.

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VERDICT: 92/100

Pronto serves some of the best gelato I have ever had in the US and the hazelnut could compete with the best in Italy.