We aren’t great for supporting local bakeries here in Ireland.
We tend to buy most of our baked goods from supermarkets out of convenience and that’s a real shame.
We’ve all tasted amazing cakes and breads served up fresh when on holidays on the continent. Nothing beats that feeling of ripping apart a fresh croissant or baguette and devouring it there on the spot.
There are a scattering of bakeries around Dublin but the very best is one that you’ll struggle to ever find and will probably have never heard of.
La Boulangerie Francaise is located in a small hosing estate called Applewood in the back end of Swords. Unless you live locally it’ll mean a very special journey and boy will that detour be worth it.
There isn’t a place laid out quite like it anywhere in Dublin. There are eight seats for eating in and you can peer into the very open kitchen to see the pastries, bread and savoury goods being made and slid into piping hot ovens.
It’s run by a husband and wife team who chat with regulars and seem to be loved by everybody. I’ve not been there when the queue is less than six people but nobody seems to mind waiting in the slightest as they know the deliciousness they are about to experience.
They serve great coffee and with dozens of small baked goods to choose from, you’ll find a treat to suit. This isn’t a place to come on a diet – nor should a bakery be.
They also do a roaring trade in cakes for events, special occasions and to take home with you. The bakery is always full of people chatting to the chef about making their own cake that little bit more personal and special.
I wish we had more bakeries in Dublin. Not big chains making bread for 1000s of people but rather places like La Boulangerie Francaise where the bread is made in front of you.
I wish there was a place like this on every corner in Dublin. What we have instead are amazing pubs which continental Europe doesn’t but wouldn’t it be amazing if we could have a mixture of both.
Jump in the car and check this place out and go eat all the carbs.
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