Boulangerie Bon Matin

[Deleted User] · October 2011

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gardener-joe · October 2011

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andy · October 2011

Maybe I've been lucky, but I've always had great service there. Not just OK, but comment-worthy good service.

odd stewart · October 2011

I think you've been lucky Andy. I tried it a few times and it's not been that good. It has a hotel buffet feel to me. It's almost a bit awkward, and my scrambled eggs tates of cinnamon. And the coffee was bad. I do go in occasionally if with a friend but for me it's just the occasional takeout now. Haven't tried the cakes.

Liz · October 2011

I have also always found them really friendly, especially the guy who runs the place (I think). And I love the fact that they put the beans with the veggie breakfast in a separate little pot so that they don't get all over the toast. It's the small things...

dorothy · October 2011

I can't believe how long they take to put a bit cake into a box. Only the artisan boulangerie place in Crouch End is slower. I find it really annoying.

sophie · October 2011

emine i had the veggie breakfast yesterday and have an actual proper beans blister on my tongue too! shall we get together and sue for loss of tastebuds? i found the service almost too attentive - i was waiting for a friend to join me and in the space of five minutes, four different members of staff came to interrupt my reading ask whether i wanted to order. there weren't many smiles but they were nice. and, and, worst of all. yesterday they had a guy on the conservatory roof 'cleaning' it and then putting bamboo sheets over it (presumably to try to stop it getting so dirty), but he didn't clean it properly, just wiped half the crud off with a kitchen towel and smeared the rest around. and now it's preserved under bamboo to put me off my food forever more. i do quite like it there though.

Eliz · October 2011

I wouldn't say the staff are sullen but the service is incredibly slow despite the fact that there always 5 or 6 of them standing around behind the counter not doing much. I've been there 3 or 4 times but it's usually been as a second choice when the Front Room is packed out on a weekend lunchtime. The room is lovely though and I quite like their lemon drizzle cake.

krappyrubsnif · October 2011

I think the secret of the service at BBM is that if you're nice to them, they'll be nice to you. I agree, that they can seem a little cool and impersonal at first. I think they work long hours for not much reward. You can feel like just another item of passing trade. I'd been going there quite a few times before any of them cracked a smile, but now I find them perfectly friendly and on the whole competent, quick and helpful.

emine · October 2011

It is a lovely space and the food, while overpriced, isn't bad - except when it inflicts injuries on you. Sophie, interesting I'm not an unlucky one-off! I haven't been able to have anything sharp or hot all day because of the blisters. Which basically means no crisps or tea (my staple diet) so I'm extra cranky. Every time I've been there I've felt like I was troubling the staff. The slowness is annoying, but it's the unfriendliness that I really don't like. It doesn't compare to the welcome you get just about everywhere else in SG.

emine · October 2011

I am supernice to all waiters (having been a waitress) and I must have been there five or six times to eat, and countless times for takeaway cake (cakeaway?), and on each visit they have been the same. Maybe they just don't like me.

miss annie · October 2011

Thing is, when you work in a restaurant, cafe or shop, a big part of the job is to be at the very least pleasant and welcoming to customers - even if they aren't always polite to you. Yes it's probably not well paid but it's their job, they should do it properly or do something else. And who knows, if they were friendlier people might tip. It's all very well having a nice looking place but if customers are made to feel unwelcome why on earth would they go there?

kreuzkav · October 2011

I agree with the previous comments. BBM doesn't fit in to Stroud Green. It might fit in more on upper street or Crouch End . It's very generic and goes against the family run or more individualistic places around here. Calling a place a French name and it being like a glorified Gregs is a joke.

I cycle or walk by it every morning on the way to work and the staff change like the months. Bad sign

andy · October 2011

It is family run and whilst you can complain about the service, I don't think it's generic. And the three or four people I think I have had good service from have been there more or less from the start. As ever, kreuzkav, don't let pesky things like 'facts' get in the way of your prejudices.

Arkady · October 2011

As others have noted, I think that the owner/manager seems very friendly and helpful, but hasn’t instilled that ethic in all of his staff. I love the ambience, the art exhibitions and the veggy breakfast. It is a bit steep though, especially for the cakes and smoothies. And at least the beans aren’t cold or overly soggy as in most cafés. I love sunshine but their breakfasts tend to end up as mush. “It’s generic”? Absolute nonsense. There are four or five ‘generic’ cafés along SGR, BBM is not one of them.

Margolada · October 2011

They have very good chocolate croissants, and beautiful interior. For me it is a great addition to the area, maybe they will make the 'italian' cafe near crossroads to get some refurbishment?

odd stewart · October 2011

It is a good thing for the area. Just seems a little hit and miss. Perhaps it will take time for it to feel more inviting.

AmR · October 2011

Now.
I went there and have been bitterly disappointed.

First of all: they call themselves a boulangerie, which left me a bit dubitative since they had only 2 plain white boring baguettes and one single brown bread for sale at 3pm...
HUH!!!!????
So yes, I'm desperately french, but this is NOT a boulangerie ( in what you call a pub you don't build a tea room right?)
Voila, it may be a patisserie... Not sure because:
Secondly they were so un-friendly/un-smiley/un-welcomy that I vexed my stomach and left without buying anything.

ADGS · October 2011

I only noticed yesterday that the 'boulangerie' in Crouch End offers the exact same cakes as BBM, clearly from the same supplier. Which would tend to support the accusation that the place is pretty generic, albeit generic in a deeply North London way.

kreuzkav · October 2011

It's very generic when it comes to being a cafe trying to be upmarket, like some of the ones you get on Upper street and in Crouch End. It lacks a warm identity. It might be run by a family but doesn't have that feel.

I'll have to do more research when passing by to see if the staff stay the same. I've noticed many changes of staff over the months on weekday morns. Maybe holiday staff? Maybe I'm wrong.

I tried the Mega-cafe a month ago and the veggie-breakfast was really good. The name's bad though! The one a few doors from the taxi-cab hut did a nice one too!

[Deleted User] · October 2011

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Brodiej · October 2011

@BBM haters Ok, we get you don't like it and you don't like going there. Enough already! :-) If the stuff tasted like shit it would have closed down. As it is, its coining it in and this is their second location. Guess they're doing ok? A perspective from my work - Making puff pastry is a nightmare, thats why loads of people (bakers) outsource it to factories where it can be done on a grand scale, and they don't do it badly either. From there you can "thaw and serve" or bake from frozen. Quite useful if your customer base isn't french, and who don't predictably order shit-loads of croissants every day. Fresh pastries are better, but i totally get why people go down the frozen route. Manage your stocks, less waste, don't taste too bad etc. Not sure about the cream cakes etc.

[Deleted User] · October 2011

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tosscat · November 2011

I hear the cakes in Moka are very nice.

krappyrubsnif · November 2011

I had no idea that anywhere except the most up market cake shop or tea room in Hampstead or Kensington or Tunbridge Wells actually made their own fresh cakes in this day and age. My expectations are obvioudly seriously cramped. I've always rather assumed these things must be made by some large bakers somewhere and the shop's job is just to sell them. I mean, as BrodieJ says, who's going to spend all day turning out puff pastries and be able to sell them at a reasonable price? Economies of scale and all that.

As far as I'm concerned the cakes at BBM are good enough for me even if they have been frozen, chilled or mass produced, and it's better to have the shop there than not. If they really were hand made, would they be affordable and would BBM be able to stay open?

Having said that, the carrot cake at Front Room probably is home made and is the best I have ever tasted (except for Mrs K's. of course).

More power to SG.org - an online teach-in on the econmics of the tea shoppe trade! Thanks, Misscara.

[Deleted User] · November 2011

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WillM · November 2011

So if it was called Cafe Bon Matin, you wouldn't have a problem?

krappyrubsnif · November 2011

Maybe cafes and 'bakeries' should be obliged to specify more precisely the source of their produce - 'this cake has been previously frozen', 'from part-baked', whatever.

I've always been deeply, deeply suspicious of the label 'home made'

[Deleted User] · November 2011

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graeme · November 2011

Am on Misscara's side on the principle of the apparent misappropriation of the word 'boulangerie', as there may be a tacit understanding by some consumers as to what that actually is.

Though it doesn't appear there's anything legally misleading if they are not categorically claiming to bake the produce "fresh" on the premises (I think that's the word that has been mentioned in Trades Description Act). <a href="http://www.food.gov.uk/multimedia/pdfs/labeltermsreport0204.pdf">Section 5.14 "Baked Goods" </a>

It's not the first nor the last time a consumer will forgo quality to buy in to a brand/lifestyle. I quite like going in there, but know that I'm almost certain to be disappointed with everything except the sunshine.

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