Croissant Crawl part III

ft. a very special guest | Acid cafe, Du Bonheur, Les Pâtisseries de Sébastien

The crawl to find the best croissant in Berlin continues, and this time I’m in good company. Lena from foodies.berlin came along and gave me a second opinion to dance with. A immunology researcher by day, foodie by night, it’s safe to say that I was in company with an expert. We met to munch and mingle our way through the best croissants Mitte has to offer.

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Acid Cafe

The new kid on the block — Acid Cafe opened it’s doors a handful of weeks ago, and it’s safe to say that it’s already made itself the place to be for meeting friends, tiptap sessions (they’re laptop-friendly!), first dates, and more. It checks all the boxes of a trendy coffee shop: Jungle on the speakers, whipped butter on display, vibrant merch, a minimalist interior, and matcha on the menu. Hailing from Madrid, with Copenhagen influences, Acid Cafe boasts a menu of classics with a twist. Sourdough bread, cardamom buns, Pan au chocolate (P.A.C. as they call it), miso granola, and of course, what we came here to try: the croissant.

The crown jewel of the display case, the 72 hour process behind this pastry makes them well worth the wait. Lena and I collected our goods and then made our way to Gipsdreieck park to unveil our treasure.

lights, camera, action!

At first glance, this croissant looked like it had just come back from a week in Greece. Its vibrant skin was evenly tanned, with a crispy exterior that teases you to see what’s underneath. Upon entry, the interior was a bit underwhelming, as the flakey interior was interrupted with a hole that gave me flashbacks to the Kajumi croissant.

Nonetheless, we ventured onwards to discover that the taste of the croissant was truly quite delicious. A twirl away from traditional, this croissant tasted brown buttery, and toasted. The contrast from the outside crunch to the pillowy inside was orgasmic, making the eating experience one that kept you wanting more. Overall, Lena and I met on mutual agreement of it’s deliciousness, yet decided that it wasn’t a croissant for every day.

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Du Bonheur

Chatting about our mutual love for food and comparing our restaurant hit-lists, we made our way up Brunnenstraße to our second stop. Du Bonheur came on my radar not by word of mouth, but from ChatGPT. My tech-internet-expert boyfriend inspired this line of questioning, which led me here:

Charming and cozy is right — upon walking in we were greeted with smiles from the staff and a stunning array of pastries. The humble croissants stood proudly among the likes of profiteroles, canelés, tartes, and millefeuilles that looked ready to go to the ball. The croissant pur beurre made its way into our hands, and we sought refuge on a stoop across the street to try.

Delightfully airy with a delectable buttery taste, this croissant brought us back down to earth after our trip at Acid Cafe. Everything that a croissant should do, this croissant did. Our only work of improvement was that it landed a bit drier on the spectrum, maybe this was the dinkel flour, but texturally it could have used a bit more elasticity. However, this note was easily forgotten after taking the next bite as the buttery taste tucked us in.

Du Bohneur: definitely delicious.

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Les Pâtisseries de Sébastien

The last leg of our trip was Lena’s recommendation, and luckily just around the corner from Brunnenstraße. The quaintest establishment out of the three, Les Pâtisseries de Sébastien looks unassuming but don’t be fooled because what comes out of their ovens is pure magic.

This croissant looked evenly baked with an inviting colour Palette around its exterior. Weight-wise, this one was light as air — if it had wings it would no doubt take flight. Upon first bite, this croissant blew me away. The impeccable texture was one thing, but the taste took me to new heights. It brought me back to the sweet buttery taste of the croissants my 11-year old self would eat from the bakeries inside the subway stations in Tokyo. I find butter in Germany to be a degree too salty, which is oftentimes reflected in the croissants (@ Albatross). I’m team sweet-butter, and it seems like the bakers at Les Pâtisseries de Sébastien are as well. The ingredient in this croissant that was missing from the others was nostalgia. This is the croissant for me — if it weren’t for Lena, I would still be running around Berlin blind. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

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Bonded by our shared admiration for food, it was eye opening to hear about her way of expressing this passion through other content forms. Being able to work together gave me the opportunity to see the words I type take on a different form.

Video link to come soon ;-)

Let us know which croissant to try next!

Keep up with Lena and foodies.berlin on Instagram and Tiktok :)

xx

P