Bread Ahead
There are many things I would like to get ahead of.
There was that time that I was racing and was determined to get ahead of the next competitor. As he remained just out of reach for several hours, that helped me push just that little bit harder.
Or it could have been that time I really really wanted to be picked for the team instead of being one of the laggards shuffled into the back. Jumping and waving to attract attention had a counterproductive effect in that case.
More recently, I have heard that people are trying to get ahead of the queue for the vaccine through various legitimate but sometimes nefarious means. It is cheering when such attempts at underhanded dealing are swiftly given the finger.
In such dark times, I had to drop by Bread Ahead to get ahead of bad feelings. The world doesn’t seem so dark when you have a piece of cake in front of you. Perhaps if I restate this case loudly enough, wishes might become reality. No hints there to my household co-habitor. Then again, perhaps such efforts are wasted as she doesn’t read my blog for some reason…
Carrot cake. Dreamy and delicious. Airy but moist with cream cheese frosting, it managed to find that balance between stodgy and whimsical.
Praline doughnut. Alright but a bit stodgy. Not to my particular liking but then again perhaps I am spoilt by piping hot specimens. The dough just wasn’t that interesting even if the filling was good. It was a little dear for fried bread as well.
Raisin sourdough bread. This was magnificently bouncy and fulsome. Bread Ahead definitely is ahead of the curve here as this was great with delightful springiness in each bite. This was a reason to come back and is excellent topped off with a dollop of butter.
It seems that Bread Ahead is trying to get ahead of the game. In some elements they succeed although there is the danger that in order to take advantage of rampant commercialism, something is lost. On other occasions I have seen, it can be value for money, service or quality or sometimes sadly none of the above. Not to mention any names of celebrity chefs who have walked down this road to entirely foreseeable reputational damage. How the mighty have fallen.
For the Ahead crew, their detraction was their service as it was rather brisk and caustic. I prefer to have my server wait for me to finish my sentence before they run away to do my initial bidding and then make a face at me (your eyes tell the story above your mask) when I continue my order requiring them to get more boxes. I enjoy slavic devotion as much as the other man but only when there is method to that. On the positive side, although the prices have increased, the quality of product seems unadulterated by excessive popularity. So if you are undeterred by the no-nonsense service in search of baked goods, you could do much worse.
A quiet eating 8/10.
A pastry was GBP4 excluding drinks and service.
8 Southwark Street,
London SE1 1TL