the best croissants in melbourne – Ultimate List

Not all croissants are created equally! We have the definitive list of the best croissants in Melbourne. Dutifully tried and tasted over a few months. We will tell you which shops will have you saying oh la la and which places to avoid. We try classic croissants, pain au chocolats and almond croissants. Think you know a good French pastry when you see one? Think you know what to look for? Read on and see if you agree with our assessment.

First of all, we want you to know that the croissant tasting was carried out in Melbourne. Sorry residents of other Australian cities. We started taste testing a year ago, got busy but have  been back to most of the places that are still trading. Unfortunately 2 of the good places which made our best croissants in Melbourne list have closed! The prices have been updated for 2024!

Secondly, the croissants underwent rigorous taste testing and photographic sessions. We have to say the croissants were very good models – no temper tantrums and no diva like behaviour. They were usually served with a fresh Italian coffee, how very French.

Thirdly we put our waistlines on the line in the name of research! Croissants have a whopping 400 to 500 calories depending on which one you choose. But as they say, croissant in, croissant out! Well actually, we just made that saying up, but we did walk to every location to try and equalise the energy intake!

What make us a good judge of croissants? Well, for one thing we have been to France over 10 times.

C was born in England and France is just across the English Channel or Le Manche, as the French like to call it. C has been eating croissants since childhood. We have sampled croissants in over 50 French cities and towns on our travels, so we know what we’re talking about.

This is what you’re looking for in the best croissants. It comes down to three very simple factors:

Lamination – this is the numbers of layers you see when you cut, bite or rip into your croissant. If it’s all stuck together in one blob it’s a flop! The croissant should be full of air and “puffy”. It it is flat, it is crap. The French call this feuilleté – which means lots of layers. The word “feuille” means leaf  and is also used to mean leaf of paper. The classic “mille -feuille” a custard or vanilla slice, literally means a thousand layers. Try counting the layers next time you eat one!

Buttery taste and greasy fingers – croissants are not a diet food and they’re called a treat for a reason. High in saturated fat and white flour, they’re the enemy of your healthy eating lifestyle. We put our waistlines on the line for you! If you’re not licking your fingers and feeling guilty after a croissant, then it wasn’t a good one, we say!

Flaky but chewy at the same time – this may seem oxymoronic, but it is very important. When you bite into a croissant, it should make crumbs, but, you should also be able to pull a section off!

When ranking our croissants, we also factored in the price. Is more expensive always better? Read on to find out!

Jump here to the Price comparison table

Winners of best Croissants in Melbourne

Winners of the best croissants in Melbourne for taste are a joint first place – Agathé Patisserie (pronounced a-gah-tay) and The Crux and Co. If we’re factoring in price too, then The Crux and Co wins for taste and price. Sadly the Crux and Co is no longer trading at the time of writing, but, who knows, it may be back! Both places  used to sell out by midday for the pain au chocolats and almond croissants. The plain croissants are the ones that are left at 3pm.

What we like about these two places is they also sell a variation of croissant that has to be tried – matcha – green tea. They’re in high demand and we had to ring ahead and reserve one because we’re not morning people! The other croissant to try is  the chocolate almond croissant. Who can resist a pain au chocolat crossed with an almond croissant? Not us!!! 

Agathé Patisserie has two locations – one in the South Melbourne Market and a tiny stall in the CBD in the Royal Arcade, aptly named Agathé Petite. Delivery is available sometimes, check the website. 

Coming in at second place

This was such a difficult choice to make and like all good judges say, you all deserve to be winners! Well what a load of bleep, bleep, bleep. You get second place because your croissants taste good, they have great lamination, they’re buttery and they’re flaky! But now Crux and Co has gone, second place has to go Lux Bite in South Yarra.

They also make amazingly cutesy wutesy cakes in one person and 8 people sizes. Damn, now that’s a shop you need to enter with caution. You go in looking for the best croissant and come out with a heart shaped cake, filled with vanilla mousse, elderflower jelly, strawberry compote and vanilla sponge! Going out for one croissant in Melbourne is dangerous stuff, not only for the wallet but also for the waist line!

You can order online from Lux bite too! How good is that. To see their up to date prices for croissants and cakes, click here.

The médaille de bronze (third place)

In third place for taste and price Only1invillage declares The Bread Club in Albert Park. Well done  and a big “félicitations” to the French owners Tim Beylie and Brice Antier. Don’t worry if you don’t live near Albert Park, they have another shop in North Melbourne. The croissants were délicieux and won’t dent your wallet.

The Bread Club also sell sandwiches, cinammon scrolls, pain au raisin and of course bread, as the name suggests. $5.50 for a pain au chocolat, $7 for an almond croissant which is huge and very densely filled with the frangipane and $5 for a classic croissant.

Oh did we mention they also bake cookies? Do not enter if you’re trying to avoid fat, sugar and refined white flour!

Heralded by the New York Times as the best croissants in Melbourne was Lune Patisserie. When we read about all the hype and from word of mouth we were excited to try this legendary place. Dressed in full combat gear for the battle of the croissants, we headed into the city. Just short of 5kms from our place, we joined the queue which was about 12 deep. Boy this had better be worth the wait!

Not only are Lune’s croissants the most expensive they are also over rated. The pain au chocolat is no better than Lux Bite or Bibelot’s. The almond croissant is as good as The Bread Club’s and Agathé so the price (see the table above), cannot be justified in our opinion. It’s all hot air in our opinion. Breaking news – Lune is now open in Sydney, Australia.

Inside the store, the prices were clearly marked next to each pastry. The huge shock of the almond croissant asking price of $11.70 was the first thing our eyes were drawn to. Are you insane Lune? This almond croissant had better take us to the moon (lune is French for moon) and back! It did not, by the way.

Bibelot in South Melbourne is also a place to buy ice cream and exquisite mini cakes. The plain croissant was buttery, flaky and puffy. Three ticks!  The almond croissant had a healthy dose of crushed almond inside and a generous sprinkling of flaked almonds on the outside. Well done Bibelot. Naturally you can also get coffee with your croissant at Bibelot.

Bibelot’s pain au chocolat has a mini chocolate brownie on top – talk about death by chocolate. The lamination was good and there was a decent strip of chocolate inside.

Around the corner, on the next road is Austro Bakery in South Melbourne. The huge whisk and spoon in the window tells you that it’s a bakery and patisserie in one. Sadly in 2024, it is no longer trading. A new cafe is taking its place.

Austro Bakery sells out of the basic three croissants (plain, almond and pain au chocolat) pretty quickly. We had to go twice as the first time 10.30am was too late! We still included a photo because the croissants looked and tasted good!

Bakemono in the city is a Japanese inspired bakery which makes very good croissants with a unique Japanese twist. Of course you know what a yuzu is right? Ok, it’s a Japanese citrus fruit which tastes a bit like a lemon, a grapefruit and an orange. From the outside it looks more like a yellow orange. Google it!

Naturally we had to try the yuzu and almond croissant, a strawberry custard and a pain au chocolat. Add a dollar to the prices above.

Lamination was great, flakiness was great. Chewiness was spot on!  The only down side was the price and it was difficult to find!

Hidden away amongst the busy Clarendon Street strip in South Melbourne is the aptly named South Melbourne Bakery. 

Not immediately obvious that you can buy croissants here, the South Melbourne Bakery was a great surprise. Sitting next to the sourdough, cakes and sausage rolls were the buttery delicacies we were after. The almond croissant has a creamy inside and the pain au chocolat had two strips of solid chocolate. Yummy! 

Coming in next is a relative new comer to the scene. Fully opened in January 2022 complete with a beautiful interior and exterior is Brûlée in Port Melbourne. When first tested, the croissants were too doughy, but now they are great. They are flaky, light and airy but chewy at the same time. They are also a third bigger than your average croissant. This is reflected in the price.

The pistachio croissant had a rosewater flavour which they say is actually orange blossom water.

The pain au chocolat was very buttery with a good amount of chocolate. The lamination looked good from the centre when we cut it open. A thumbs up we’re pleased to say. Expensive prices and a beautiful interior. They also serve breakfast and coffee.

Ned’s Bake  sometimes called Neds Local European in Prahran is on other blog lists. 

We were very disappointed. Again a great interior to eat the pastries but the taste – meh. The snail scroll (escargot) we tried was heavy and thick. The plain croissant was just well, too plain. No finesse in it.

Another disappointment right on our doorstep was Noisette. Boasting a new renovation for the Port Melbourne store we were eager to try it after over a year’s closure.

The cakes and eclairs are very good however, but we won’t be going there for the croissants. Not sure if the Noisette in Bentleigh is any better as we were put off by our local one. However, good news is that the éclair and pistachio delice are excellent! So it isn’t a complete write off!

Woodfrog is a chain with branches in South Melbourne, St Kilda,  the city, Camberwell, Brighton,Kew, Armadale, Toorak, Doncaster and Elsternwick. We tried the South Melbourne branch and our hopes were dashed.

The pain au chocolat didn’t even look very puffy but we had to try it just to prove ourselves right. However the sourdough bread was very good.

Tivoli Road Bakery in South Yarra, lauded by some was not great. So not great, that we didn’t even take a photo of the products! Sorry Tivoli Road Bakery ONly1invillage does not rate your viennoiserie. 

In summary the best croissants in Melbourne

Most authentic and well priced croissant – Agathé pâtisserie

Deserved second and third place – Luxe Bite and The Bread Club

Unique flavours and authentic – Bakemono

Fell well below expectations, too expensive and over hyped – Lune

Left us deflated – Ned’s Bake and Noisette

Lacking lamination – Woodfrog

Didn’t rise to the occasion no pun intended  – Lune 

It’s all overbaked – Tivoli Road

Please open again somewhere in Melbourne – Crux and Co and Austro Bakery

We hope you have enjoyed our Best Croissants in Melbourne guide. Bookmark this page if you’re visiting Melbourne and if you’re a Melbournite (a person whom resides in Melbourne) see if you can check these places out and add more! I’m sure there are some more undiscovered gems in Melbourne, but seriously, we have a couple of kilos to lose first!

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