Home Croissanterie

This lovely little cafe specialises in pastries and my goodness they do it well. The sea salt potato croissant is perfectly flaky and unlike many currently popular pastries is not overly greasy. Just the right amount of butteriness without seeming like it’s been fried. The tarte tatin is glorious. Possible the best I’ve had outside France. The staff are friendly and there is limited outdoor seating. In a suburb that seems to have a new bakery/cafe every month this is a great addition.

We have been to Home Croissanterie a few times now and each time has been a great experience. Each time too we have tried a new croissant and each time it was a super delicious experience. Their signature is potato and sea salt. Funky combo but it really works. It's buttery with a savoury kick, Each of the croissants are just perfect, intricate and of course delicious. Coffee is on point and the atmostphere is casual and relaxed. If you do come later on in the day some of their croissants may have sold out especially on the weekend. One of the best croissant experiences in Sydney!

Beautiful looking pastries and a great atmosphere overall. The presentation is spot on, but flavour-wise they were a bit too oily for my taste and landed around average that’s just my personal preference. That said, the staff were genuinely friendly and welcoming, which made the experience enjoyable. Definitely worth coming down and trying it for yourself to see what you think.

(3.5 stars - Visited on Sunday 14/12/2025 at 1pm) The pastries at Home Croissanterie were really good, and the coffee wasn’t bad either. Unfortunately, my experience was slightly overshadowed by the service at the counter. One of the staff members seemed a bit disorganised and came across as rude at times. She couldn’t remember which table order which - for example, she called out, “Hey, I have two iced coffees here, who ordered this with full cream? And this with oat?” and had a similar attitude when delivering the second round of drinks. The table next to us also just laughed and made similar comments. I understand it might have been a hot day or she could have been having a tough day, but it did make the experience a little off-putting. Hopefully, this was just an off day, as the food and coffee themselves are enjoyable.

(3.5 stars) The pastry creations at Home Croissanterie look impeccable. Ben Lai, who began his business with a delivery-model on Instagram back in pandemic times, inserts thin slices of potato between the layers of laminated pastry for his signature potato and sea salt croissant ($8/each). It’s drizzled with Alto extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with Olsson’s sea salt. I like it, but not in an earth-shattering way. Perhaps it’s olive oil detracting from the croissant’s hallmark butter. What does shatter though, is the pastry, with shards landing everywhere. You’ll find Lai’s bricks’n’mortar store in Balmain. It’s got a Scandinavian minimalist vibe, drawing your eye to the pastries, a strategically placed pallet of MAURI flour, and a shelf of high end cooking tomes. Noma 2.0 is a memento of Lai’s time in 2018 as a stagiaire (trainee) in René Redzepi’s second iteration of Noma. This Danish restaurant was ranked best restaurant in the world five times before previous winners were eliminated from running. It no doubt influenced the developed eye for consistency and detail across Lai’s range. Ham and cheese pastries ($12/each) are shaped like little strudels. The cheese is good quality but the ham bunches up in one corner, unlike the cleverly rolled through versions by Penny Fours a few doors up the road. I think Penny’s croissants also taste better. Fat pork sausage rolls ($10) with their layers of poppyseed dusted puff pastry are again messy eating. I’d prefer more seasoning in the interior—they needed lots of sauce.