Bread Collection

Heading off to Knowle for some shopping my friends gave me this top tip: don’t leave without popping into the bakery. Will I know it when I find it? Oh yeah they replied…you’ll definitely know.
And, as usual, they were right! I drifted into this Aladdin’s den of all things baked, French and delicious, to be greeted by an amazing bread shop, deli and coffee house. All of the wonderful bread and cakes are made onsite. We tried a bakewell tart and a citron tart. The later was amazing, probably one of the best I’ve ever tasted.
They also have a fairly extensive range of cheese and charcuterie products.
Their in-​store coffee shop is open daily from 8.30am until 4.00pm serving homemade sandwiches, savouries, toasted melts and patisseries from the shop. Hot food is only available between 12.00pm and 2.30pm.
They are so good that they made it into The Time’s Top Ten Bakeries. Can’t get to Knowle? Panic not. They have a small, but perfectly formed, sister store in the Great Western Arcade opposite Snow Hill Station.

Shades of red and pink swirl through the crispy meringues in the shop window of this bakery. They are as big as medicine balls and they are all piled atop each other in a slightly chaotic way like they have fallen freely from a kind of Charlie’s Chocolate Factory in the sky. There is a surreal touch as the table they are sat on looks like it is close to buckling with the weight of these light and airy fancies.
Some two dozen traditional English, Mediterranean and artisan breads are baked at the simply named Bread Collection. There is also a delicatessen counter with pickles, chutneys, and a good selection of continental cheeses, including Comte, a kissing cousin of Gruyère. I eat this strong and slightly sweet cheese on its own, a cracker seemingly superfluous, and unnecessary. The foodies dream is made complete with a sit-​down coffee shop selling sandwiches, hot drinks, light lunches, and those psychedelic meringues from earlier. In addition to monging fine foods to eat in and eat at home, Bread Collection is a delightful place in which to spend time.