Missed out on a Lune croissant? No problem, here are 10 you must try in Sydney (without the queue)
Get one with layers of chocolate curled around the pastry, a jalapeno and smoked cheddar croissant and one with potato and sea salt.
Sydney loves a good croissant, and never more so than when Melbourne croissanterie Lune is in town. Last weekend, more than 2350 people queued for up to three hours to score one of the limited edition Koko Black x Lune Belgian chocolate croissants in celebration of World Chocolate Day.
The three-day pop-up event amped up anticipation for Lune’s first Sydney store, set to open in Darlinghurst early next year. But croissant lovers need not wait for their fix: Sydney is already home to a large number of quality croissanteries.
Layers at St Leonards is the newest addition to the scene, with carefully crafted European-style croissants using premium French butter.
“Croissants are booming in Sydney at the moment,” says co-owner Frances Song.
“Ours are golden, light and moist − that’s what sets us apart.
“We do a pre-ferment bake which takes three to four days, and it means our baked product has a nice buttery flavour while remaining crispy and flaky.”
Song partnered with coffee roaster Jiyoon Song, baker Elwin Ung and pastry chef Coco Lam to open Layers in April, creating a cafe where the baked goods were just as good as the specialty coffee blend, made specifically for them by the team at Headlands.
Their bestselling product is the pain au chocolat, a chocolate croissant which layers milk chocolate so it curls around the pastry, rather than remaining in two ‘batons’ in the centre.
“When Lune took off in Australia it really set the bar so much higher for croissants,” Song explains.
“Before, croissants were this casual thing people would bake and eat each day, but Lune croissants were so amazing it meant bakers had to pick up their game and improve their recipes.”
Alongside Lune, popular Manly bakery Rollers is one of the few Australian kitchens using French butter Isigny to make croissants. They churn out more than 1000 croissants each day of the weekend, when they sell flavours such as chocolate cake, eggplant and hummus, and honey, ham and cheese.
The latter has become a bestseller at the small beachside bakery, with a mixture of leg ham, local honey, comte and gruyere cheeses rolled and baked into the croissant pastry.
It’s also a popular choice at Goodwood Bakeshop in Marrickville, where husband and wife team Alex Alewood and Jamie Goodin incorporate a little bit of sourdough starter into their croissant pastries.
“It’s just one of those extra processes we put in to make sure our croissants don’t just look beautiful, but they also taste amazing.”
From Friday to Sunday there’s a steady, fast-moving queue of customers, many of whom have memorised when each product of Goodwood’s rotating menu of goodies emerges from the oven. By 11am, the shelves are pretty bare.
Alewood explains its due to Goodwood’s sustainability focus. In an effort to lower food waste, only just enough are made each day. Any leftovers are transformed into delicious twice-baked croissants, such as the jalapeno, muhammara and smoked cheddar croissant or the almond croissant with yuzu and lemon jam.
“We’re just trying to do the absolute best we can because that’s what we want to eat and that’s what our customers deserve,” she says.
“I’ve travelled all around the world for good pastries, so it still blows my mind that people come to us.”
10 must-try croissants in Sydney
Layers, St Leonards
Pastry chef Elwin Ung steers away from the overt decadence of big, stuffed croissants in favour of the classics. The pain au chocolat, with its swirling layers of milk chocolate, is a stunning modern interpretation of the beloved French pastry. While you’re there, pick up a danish for later: there are several Korean flavours, such as house-made kimchi and bulgogi beef.
Lucien Baked Goods, Parramatta
The founders of popular Parramatta cafe Circa have stepped into the pastry scene, bringing small batch French croissants to Parramatta. General manager Anthony Nohra says pastry chef Adeline Rivis’ croissants are “one of the most buttery in Sydney”, with an “approachable, home-style feel”. Customers are currently “going bonkers” for their limited-edition truffle custard croissant, which sells out most days.
Goodwood Bakeshop, Marrickville
The sourdough-tinged croissants at Goodwood take the small, 12-person team four days to make. The result is flaky, buttery and a little more complex in flavour, earning it a strong following of fans in the inner west. Savoury fillings are particularly popular here, and the ham, cheese and mustard croissant is a real standout. Check their Instagram for weekly menu updates.
Tenacious Croissant, Darlinghurst
Korean-born pastry chef Yeongjin Park (ex-Lode) spends four days making his sourdough croissants, allowing them to undergo two rounds of slow 24 hour fermentation to create a flaky, complex and unbelievably light product. Fillings frequently change according to seasonality, with standouts such as the chorizo, parmigiano, pink peppercorn and pickled cabbage. While you’re there, try Park’s miso-glazed portuguese tarts, which are some of the best in Sydney.
instagram.com/tenacious.croissant
Rollers Bakehouse, Manly
Croissants are laminated and shaped on site, in front of customers, at this small beachside viennoiserie. While the plain croissant rivals some of the best in Sydney, the filled alternatives (such as chocolate cake or pistachio) are often too enticing to pass up. Save room for the patatas bravas pastry, with crispy potatoes, manchego cheese, chorizo and guindilla pepper piled on top of their buttery croissant dough.
Buttercrumbs Croissant, Five Dock and Ultimo
Frequent daily bakes at Buttercrumbs mean you’re far more likely to eat a croissant, steaming hot and buttery, straight out of the oven. Owner and head baker Youna Choi learnt her craft in Korea, honed it in Australia, and went on to develop her own recipe after eight years in the game. Choi has recently become known for her cubic croissants: airy and bite-sized filled with fillings such as tiramisu.
A.P Bakery, Newtown and Circular Quay
It’s all about the attention to detail with the beautiful buttermilk croissant at A.P Bakery. “We stone-mill wholegrain rye ourselves for this dough, which brings a little life to the fermentation and character to the flavour,” says head baker Dougal Muffet. “I find the acid and fermentation notes of the buttermilk add complexity and balance to the dough that you can’t achieve with dairy milk.”
Crescent Croissanterie, Crows Nest
The croissants crafted by pastry chef and co-owner Elly Kim are the culmination of more than 15 years of pastry making experience in Korea, the US and Australia. They’re lustrous and golden, handmade with great care, and often sell out by noon (consider yourselves warned!). The range of fillings is significant and varied, with everything from thick house-made mixed berry jam to their famous “dirty chocolate”, dusted with dark Belgian cocoa.
instagram.com/crescent_croissanterie
Home Croissanterie, Balmain
Arrive before 11am to get your hands on the coveted potato and sea salt croissants, with thin slices of roasted potato swirled through layers of buttery, salt-flaked pastry. These are the ingenious creations by baker and owner Ben Lai (ex-Noma, Quay), who established a following for himself on Instagram in 2021. Lai opened his first brick-and-mortar store in March, where he specialises in creative croissants such as maple bacon and almond and creme brulee.
instagram.com/homecroissanterie/
Lode, Surry Hills
Lode croissants are a work of art, with layers of delicate golden pastry finely crafted by baker and co-owner Lorenzo Librino (ex-Momofuku Seibo, Tetsuya’s). “I strongly believe our croissants are simply unbeatable in Sydney,” co-owner Benjamin Spencer tells Good Food. Make sure to try the signature Crown487 croissant: a circular, rose-hued pastry filled with white chocolate and decorated with raspberry glaze.
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Bianca Hrovat – Bianca is Good Food's Sydney-based reporter.