5 Stars without hesitation. TL;DR - Get a coconut bun and a laminated type pastry (croissant, Kouign-Amann...) to start and you'll be in heaven, head across the street to first sip cafe & round out your best morning ever. I'm privileged to admit this is our neighborhood French Asian fusion bakery. Easily one of the best French or Asian bakeries in all of Chicago, sorry everyone else they won. There isn't a hint of pretentiousness or artisanal hipster prices in the shop (yeah I'm looking at you Lost Larson ;P). The head baker at this humble spot is not fucking around, the combo of physics defying textures and flavors they're able to achieve with their baked goods are simply astounding. Run don't walk to try them all. I've never had a single item from here that wasn't fantastic. Anything with laminated dough (Croissant, Kouign-Amann...) will certainly blow your socks off. Their buns are all also killer, I personally prefer La Patisserie's BBQ pork bun to Chiu Quon's down the block. The service is quick and friendly and the ambiance is... well it's very simple... just a cute clean take away bakery. I prefer a simpler bakery with amazing tasting affordable goods than a gorgeously appointed bakery where I'm paying a premium for the ambiance and mediocre bakes. They recently went viral for a combo chocolate chip cookie croissant and it was actually better than the hype (almost unheard of for typically fickle influencers). The thing you might not realize is that they're constantly making amazing mashups that are just as (if not more) delicious. For instance yesterday we had a Kouign-Amann sweet craquelin top kinda mashup... it was amazing! Delicate shatteringly crispy crackle top with soft laminated interior and addictive subtle sweetness. Just go here, get some buns to start (I recommend the coconut) or the BBQ pork if you're feeling savory and then head across the street to First Sip coffee and have a hot Pistachio mint latte... you'll be back 100% thank me later.
Cute little spot without much of a seating area. Their hopia and sesame ball were both good, but the cookie/croissant was overly sweet. Overall, prefer some of the other nearby bakeries.
I was here on a trip and stopped by because they had HK milk tea. The bakery is very cute and was very clean inside. The service is amazing as well. Let me tell you--the food here is amazing! The milk tea is smooth and strong. Not too sweet, very addicting. All the buns are soft and the dough has a nice bite to it creating an incredible mouth feel. My favorite was the BBQ pork bun; it had a delicious pork filling that wasn't overly sweet or gamey. I had a chance to talk to the owner Peter Yuen. He is an amazing pastry chef who works very hard at perfecting his craft. I'm from Boston so I can't come here too often but this is definitely a must visit destination.
Got a surprise bag from here and received 7 refrigerated buns: 4 ham and egg, 1 tuna, and 2 custard. The bread heats up nicely after the instructed 30 seconds in the microwave. I tried the tuna bun first and was pleasantly surprised by how the bread retained its satisfying chewiness without tasting underbaked. The bottom was a bit closer to having that underbaked/wet feel, but that may have been due to the microwave and is a common trait of filled buns even when bought fresh/unrefrigerated, in my experience. The bread was also sweet, which complemented the more savory tuna filling nicely. The tuna filling was yummy and similar in taste to the kewpie mayo + canned tuna in onigiri. Decent amount of filling to bread ratio (although on the smaller side of decent). The ham and egg bun was wetter on the bottom (perhaps due to the sponginess of the egg?). Nothing super special in terms of flavor (I would recommend the tuna over it) but filling nonetheless. The custard bun had a smooth egg custard filling with a relatively strong vanilla flavor. I really liked it, but the amount of filling was on the smaller side- I had to chew through a hunk of bread (which still tasted good, nonetheless) to get to it. Definitely less filling than the other Asian bakery down the street, but smoother texture and sweeter/more vanilla-y. I personally wouldn't buy a bun at its store price ($2.70 is a bit steep for a bun in my opinion, and I don't think the amount of filling is abundant enough to justify the price), but the surprise bag price comes out to about $1.00 per bun, which I think is a good deal. The employee was very friendly, and there was a tiny kid (I'm guessing the bakery owner's?) hanging out at a table in the front, which was vaguely reminiscent of the little kid cashiers doing homework at Asian restaurants.
I've been here a few times now and I genuinely enjoy returning for the spicy Korean bbq bun. They have a nice little selection here and the staff is always friendly. As far as price point, it seems slightly higher than other typical bakeries, but they are hard to find at times in Chicago... especially on the North Side, so I am not complaining. Will be a returning customer!
La Patisserie P had such amazing pastries. It's a small bakery at Argyle that's definitely worth a visit. Love that they have Filipino pastries there which is amazing. One of my favorites from La Patisserie P are the pork floss buns! so sweet and savory. Very addicting. Their egg tarts are also amazing as well as their ham and cheese buns.
Great place, but small but stocked with lots of goodies. The food is delicious , had the Provençal quiche and chocolate croissant. Both very good. Service is great despite the big crowds lined up the door. It's a bit pricey and parking is hard to find in the area.
I get a taste for a croissant occasionally, and I have found that the best way to get a very good one is right out of the oven. I can't speak for how LPP's croissants are late in the day, but if you get a chocolate one right after they come out of the oven, they are insanely delicious! I took mine outside to eat because I knew I'd make a giant mess, and I did. Then I decided I needed to get one for my son, so I drove back and got him one too. Lady behind the counter was very nice.
You wouldn't expect a bakery with a French name in the Vietnamese neighborhood of Chicago to have lots of Filipino goodies - I sure didn't the first time I walked in - but that's what La Patisserie P has loads of, along with several other Asian countries represented. Even though Chiu Quon is across the street you can get bbq pork buns here, but also pepper steak buns, curry buns, spicy Korean bbq buns, and more. For my fellow Filipinos you can score giant butter ensaymadas, hopia with different fillings like pork or munggo (mung bean) or ube, or a pack of pandesal. They sell croissants, Japanese custards, cookies with intense butter flavoring - just a huge variety in this tiny store. LPP has become a must visit anytime we're in Argyle, we always leave with a huge box of goodies and I'm disappointed in myself that I didn't know about it sooner. Hopefully other people aren't as deprived of LPP as much as I've been.