Bakery & cakesChurch Road

Real Pâtisserie

Reliable bakery chain famed for eclairs and croissants

6.4/10

Local score

No. 38 of 141 cafés on r/brighton, from 31 locals across 25 threads.

82% would send a mate. Still recommended in 2026.

Locals rate this bakery chain highly for almond croissants, eclairs ('possibly the best on the south coast'), bread and sandwiches, with some ranking it above Gail's and Flour Pot. A few find the baguettes chewy and prefer Waitrose instead, and one longtime local mourns it replacing the cheaper Forfars with pricier £3 croissants.

Go for
A quick croissant, eclair or sandwich
Heads up
Baguettes can be chewy; pricier now than old Forfars

What locals say

Busby and Wilds and the Ginger Dog are good gastropubs. The Bristol is good pub grub. Real Patisserie does the best sandwiches. Marmalade is owned by the people that set up Bills. VIP for great pizza, although not really Kemptown. Hope that helps.
u/toec, 20177 upvotes“Best places for lunch in Kemp Town?”
Real Patisserie’s are good. They also have the best almond croissants in town- the really dense flat squashed kind. I find many other places the pastries _look_ good but taste very meh.
u/purplefennec, 202410 upvotes“Best Baguette in Brighton”
In general, I go for Gail's, with Flour Pot and Real Patisserie tied in second. Hellenic Bakery for broader, more savory stuff as well, and an honourable mention for Bind Street Coffee's baked goods - the cinnamon rolls are absurd, and will be the death of me.
u/Spock_42, 20225 upvotes“What is the best bakery in Brighton”
…through Quadrophenia alley instead of past that place. It's a terrible kind of yeasty nasty smell unlike anything I've ever encountered. I hold my breath when I pass there. It's near where the road coming from Sainsburys/the car park meets the main road. I'm told it's from the Real Patisserie baking stuff there. In any case it always smells terrible. The nearby greenway is unfortunately very smelly too, which is a shame as you can tell local people go to effort to make it look nice.
u/lystellion, 20183 upvotes“Where is the worst smelling place in Brighton ? Just walked past the bus stop by Morrisons on St James St and for some reason it smells so gross.”

Ranked from 21,200 r/brighton comments. Summaries are written by AI from what locals said; quotes are word for word. Not affiliated with Reddit. Back to the guide