What is the best croissant in Upper East Side, NYC?
We wanted to find the answer to this question ourselves. To do this, we decided to go to all of the best cafes and bakeries possible in Upper East Side to try as many croissants as possible. We did this also to answer this question for you, in case you ever find yourself in Upper East Side with the intense longing for a delicious croissant.
About the Croissant
The history of the croissant is quite controversial. There are several legends surrounding the croissant and it’s creation. An interesting YouTube video describes the complicated history of the croissant and who is thought to have created it. France is famous for croissants today, as they are often thought of as the inventors of the croissant. It is thought that the croissant first began to be commercially produced in America in 1981, though surely they were being produced by French immigrants much earlier. I read an article in the New York Times that describes the increased production of croissants in New York City in the 1980’s. Regardless of the croissant’s history, there are many aspects that go into making a delicious croissant. There are many croissant experts today in NYC, so we set off to try to taste as many croissants as possible.
Methods
For our “best croissant” challenge, we had several rules. We wanted to create a statistical analysis of croissants to find the absolute best croissant in Upper East Side of New York City. As with most parts of the city, there isn’t a strict outline as to what street belongs to what part of the city, so we tried to stay between East 60th St and East 90th St for this challenge. We chose to not go to any large chains such as Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, or Le Pain Quotidien. Also, to standardize the ratings, we chose to try a plain croissant (or the “plainest” croissant possible) to give accurate ratings.
For this challenge, we decided to rate each croissant from 1-5 in 5 different categories. Luca and I both did separate ratings, which were then averaged. The average scores for each category were used to tabulate a weighted total rating for each croissant. Each of our 5 categories are important, but we think that taste is the most important, so this had the most weight in each score. The weighted amount for each category is listed below.
The Categories
Flakiness
Flakiness refers to the amount of flakiness present in the croissant. We feel that a good croissant should have the right amount of flake and golden crisp on the outside. A score of 1 refers to a croissant that has zero flakiness while a score of 5 refers to a croissant with the ideal perfect flakiness in all the right places. Flakiness was weighted 20% in the weighted average.
Overall Taste
I think this is the most important category. Truly, the taste of the croissant is what matters most. We only tried plain croissants, so we looked for the taste you would want to expect in a croissant. We also considered aftertaste in this croissant and if we wanted to eat any more after the initial bite. A score of 1 reflects a croissant that does not taste good at all and leaves a bad taste in your mouth, while a score of 5 refers the ideal croissant with a buttery, smooth taste that was irresistible. Taste was weighted as 50% in our weighted averages.
Texture
When considering texture, we evaluated if the croissant was the right consistency and had correct moisture. The ideal croissant is light and airy, with the right amount of moisture without being soggy. A croissant rated at 1 was very dry, dense, and unappetizing, while a croissant rated at 5 was airy and soft. Texture was rated as 20% in our weighted averages.
Visual Appeal
Visual appeal can add a lot to your sense of taste. This is one our reasons for including visual appeal in this rating system. Some croissants looked absolutely gorgeous and some looked quite terrible. A score of 1 reflects a very ugly croissant, while a score of 5 reflects the most beautiful croissant you can imagine. Visual appeal was weighted as 5% in our weighted averages.
Ease of Consumption
Ease of consumption can also affect your entire croissant experience. You want to eat a good croissant, but don’t want to be covered in a shower of flakes after one bite. This rating took into account how messy eating the croissant was. A score of 1 reflects a croissant that is difficult to eat, either due to its flakes or grease, while a score of 5 reflects a croissant that was super easy to eat and didn’t leave us needing to brush the crumbs off after eating. Ease of consumption was weighted as 5% in our weighted average.
Disclaimer: These ratings are subjective based on our taste preferences, but we tried to be as objective as possible. Also, these ratings are in general and based on one specific day, so there are many variables possible that could have skewed results.
As you have been so patiently waiting…. here are the results!
The Best Croissant in Upper East Side, NYC is…
1. Orwashers Bakery
Rating: 4.6/5
Location: 308 E 78th St
Price: $4
Location Experience: This bakery was super cute and had so many different types of breads to buy. It was hard to resist buying some of the delicious fresh loaves sitting in baskets on the walls.
Flavors and Unique Features: This croissant was very buttery and flaky. It had all the right qualities that a good croissant should have.
Other Notes: This is a NYC company that has a few locations across the city, including Upper East Side and Upper West Side.
Rating Comments: This croissant ranked high in all categories, with overall taste, flakiness, and visual appeal receiving the highest scores. It’s lowest score was ease of eating at 3.5/5 due to the amount of flakes that fell off while taking a bite. This croissant was delicious and so wonderful to try. Orwashers plain croissant has a rich buttery flavor that gives a pleasant experience overall.
2. Bel Ami
Rating: 4.3/5
Location: 30 E 68th St
Price: $3.75
Location Experience: This is a small, but fancy, shop close to Central Park. Here they have many pastries and cookies available for purchase.
Flavors and Unique Features: This croissant had such a great buttery taste that kept on asking you to take another bite. It had a range of flavors within it’s golden layers.
Rating Comments: This croissant had high ratings in all categories as it was just such a great croissant. To me, this croissant was the most beautiful croissant we saw out of all the Upper East Side croissants. It was delicious and beautiful; there’s not much more you can ask for with a croissant.
3. Miss Madeleine
Rating: 4.23/5
Location: 400 E 82nd St
Price: $3.50
Location Experience: This shop was super adorable! The outside of the shop is bright pink. The inside of the shop is small, but there are several seating options outside. They have many choices of pastries and French desserts. They also have several different homemade jams available for purchase.
Flavors and Unique Features: This croissant had the perfect amount of crisp and had flavor without being overwhelming.
Other Notes: This was Luca’s absolute favorite croissant of the day.
Rating Comments: This was a delicious croissant. Again, with this croissant, all categories ranked pretty high. For me, the lowest ranking was the appearance. The croissant was a little strangely shaped, but for what it lacked in appearance, it surpassed in taste.
4. Black Star Bakery
Rating: 3.6/5
Location: 1597 York Ave
Price: $3.25
Location Experience: Black Star Bakery is a super cute bakery with many food options and seating options. They have unique pastries, baked goods, and sandwiches. There are also many seats- inside, outside, and on a cute patio out back.
Flavors and Unique Features: There was a good butter taste.
Rating Comments: This croissant rated high on taste. The taste was good, with a lot of butter tones. The lower ratings on this were the texture and flakiness. The texture was uneven with areas of really light and areas of really dense. It was also a little difficult to eat as it produced a lot of crumbs when taking a bite.
5. Ralph’s Coffee
Rating: 3/5
Location: 888 Madison Ave
Price: $4.50
Location Experience: Ralph’s Coffee is a very fancy coffee shop associated with the Ralph Lauren Brand. When we visited, there was only outdoor seating and ordering, but it is a cute shop and feels luxurious.
Flavors and Unique Features: As noted, this was a chocolate croissant on the inside, so we evaluated the non-chocolate parts of the croissant.
Other Notes: With Ralph’s Coffee, they only had chocolate croissants and I will say that trying the croissant parts with the chocolate made the taste and everything better as a whole, but we kept the ratings as only for the plain croissant bread to keep the results standardized.
Rating Comments: This croissant ranked high in visual appeal. The lowest score for this croissant was flakiness. It wasn’t very flaky and was only soft when taking a bite. However, the taste was good. This is definitely a “middle of the pack” type of croissant, but I would definitely try it again.
6. Le Reveil Coffee
Rating: 2.98/5
Location: 1322 2nd Ave
Price: $2.50
Location Experience: This location was small, but very close to the Q line subway stop. There was also several tables with seating outside.
Flavors and Unique Features: This was the only completely round croissant we tried during the croissant challenge.
Rating Comments: The highest rating for this croissant was it’s visual appeal. The other qualities rated around the middle. Definitely wasn’t the best croissant that we tried, but it wasn’t the worst either.
7. Birch Coffee UES
Rating: 2.9/5
Location: 171 E 88th St
Price: $4.00
Location Experience: I love the Birch Coffee location on Upper East Side. Their 88th St location is small, but has a big personality. There are also tables outside to hang out with your croissant and coffee.
Flavors and Unique Features: The taste was good and buttery.
Other Notes: I will note that the coffee at this location is delicious as well.
Rating Comments: The highest rating for this croissant was in the ease of consumption. The lowest ratings were flakiness and texture. It didn’t have much flakiness and was a bit soft for a croissant. This croissant would be better if it had a little more crunch or texture.
8. Eat Pretty
Rating: 2.78/5
Location: 501 ½ E 83rd St
Price: $4
Location Experience: Eat Pretty is a super cute tiny café in the UES. Everything is pink and there are fun flower arrangements. The inside is tiny, but filled with life. There are many choices of drinks, sandwiches, and pastries here. Outside, they have several seating options.
Flavors and Unique Features: It had a buttery flavor, but there was something a little off about the buttery taste to me.
Rating Comments: This croissant ranked highest in visual appeal and ease of eating. It was pretty to look at, but fell a little short with flavor and flakiness. Flakiness was the lowest rating for this croissant. There wasn’t much crunch.
9. Sant Ambroeus Coffee Bar
Rating: 2.3/5
Location: 1136 3rd Ave
Price: $4.90
Location Experience: The location is fancy. The tables inside are very elegant and you can have table service for little sandwiches, coffee, and pastries.
Flavors and Unique Features: This is a vegan croissant. There was a hint of citrus that we didn’t taste in any of the other croissants we tried.
Other Notes: I had always wanted to try the Sant Ambroeus Coffee Bar since Sant Ambroeus is well know throughout the city, so I may have had high expectations.
Rating Comments: This croissant ranked lowest in visual appeal and flakiness. Overall, it wasn’t great. There wasn’t anything that ranked high for this croissant. This is the only croissant that we tried that I would definitely not buy again. It looked unappetizing and wasn’t very good at all.
Recap
To review, the rankings of the best croissant in Upper East Side NYC are:
1. Orwashers Bakery
2. Bel Ami
3. Miss Madeline
4. Black Star Bakery
5. Ralph’s Coffee
6. Le Reveil Coffee
7. Birch Coffee UES
8. Eat Pretty
9. Sant Ambroeus Coffee Bar
Liz’s Favorite: Orwashers Bakery
Luca’s Favorite: Miss Madeline
Most of these croissants were absolutely delicious and worth a try. You can’t go wrong with most of these croissants. We had so much fun doing this challenge and hope that it can be of some use to you! Let me know if you know of any other delicious croissants we should try in the city!
Thanks for reading!
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Nam says
You know I love croissants, and your yummy critiques definitely made we want to have one right NOW! lol A very fun blog!